After being asked by Comcast SportsNet's Michael Barkann if he thinks he will ever utter the words 'we've just traded Cole Hamels', Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. replied, "I would sincerely doubt it."
Amaro Jr. followed by saying,
"I know there's a lot of speculation coming from a lot of different angles on that, but we've never been out there telling people we were going to be trading Cole Hamels. The only thing we've been telling people is basically the same thing we've been talking about since October: we're kind of open-minded on everything and keeping all of our possibilities alive.
In whatever way we can improve our ballclub not just for now, but for the future as well, we will look into it. I understand there's a lot of talk out there about it, but it's a part of the game."
Hamels, 31, is 108-83 with a 3.27 ERA in 275 games as a Phillie over nine seasons. He was the 17th pick overall in the 2002 amateur draft, and has finished in the top-eight of National League Cy Young Award voting in four seasons thus far in his career.
Many teams have been rumored to be interested in acquiring Hamels this offseason, such as the Red Sox, Padres, Dodgers, Cardinals and Rangers. The fact that the Phillies have not 'bitten' on an offer yet as a part of their rebuilding process shows that they truly value their lefty ace.
The San Diego, California-native has started in 13 postseason games for the Phillies over 2007 through 2011, and is most revered for his 2008 postseason outings. His contributions went a long way to him being named Most Value Player of the World Series, and in securing just the second championship in the franchise's history.
Matt Rappa (@mattrappa) is a contributor to Philliedelphia.com.
