According to FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal, Phillies' ace Cole Hamels is being targeted by the St. Louis Cardinals, along with former American League Cy Young Award winners David Price and Max Scherzer, in order to upgrade their rotation.
St. Louis-native Scherzer's price may be too steep, however, and Price entering his contract-year with arbitration ahead may narrow the 11-time World Series champions' interest to just Hamels.
Hamels is signed relatively cheap, based on market value comparison, through 2018. He will earn $23.5 million per year until 2019, where he has a team and vesting option in his contract. The former is worth $20 million, and the latter will vest for $24 million if the following occurs, according to Baseball-Reference:
- 400 innings pitched in 2017-18, including 200 innings pitched in 2018
- Not on disabled list with a shoulder or elbow injury at the end of the 2018 season
The Cardinals sudden desire to improve their rotation starts with their worry of Adam Wainwright, Jaime Garcia and Michael Wacha's health. Rosenthal's sources believe the Cardinals prefer to add a left-handed starter, which again leads to the Phillies' southpaw being the best candidate out of the three starting pitchers.
According to Rosenthal:
The Phillies want premium talent for Hamels, who is owed $90 million over the next four years. Teams usually balk at trading top prospects while taking on expensive contracts. The good news for the Cardinals is that they could acquire Hamels without his permission; they are not on his no-trade list.
A large reason why Hamels would not block a trade to the Cardinals is that his wife, former Survivor contestant Heidi Hamels, is native to Jefferson City, Missouri.
Rosenthal later adds that the Phillies' asking price for their 2008 World Series MVP could end up being "prohibitive" in getting a trade completed:
The Cardinals’ biggest problem, perhaps, would be satisfying the Phillies.
To secure Hamels, the Cardinals likely would need to part with [Carlos] Martinez or [Marco] Gonzales as well as an outfielder such as Randal Grichuk or Stephen Piscotty (the Phillies have long coveted Peter Bourjos as well, sources say).
Right-handed pitcher Martinez, 23, has 94 games of experience already under his belt, with 16 of those coming in the postseason. Gonzales, 22, is a lefty ranked as the #3 prospect in St. Louis' organization by MLB Pipeline. He had 117 strikeouts in 122 innings last season combined in his quick rise in the organization with their A+, AA and AAA-ranked clubs.
Grichuk, 23, is the #8 ranked prospect. He was traded to their organzation last November, along with Bourjos, in exchange for David Freese and Fernando Salas. Grichuk is remembered for hitting a homerun both in the NLDS against the Dodgers, and in the NLCS against the Giants. During the regular season in 2014, he batted .245 with 3 home runs and 8 runs batted in.
Piscotty, 23 is the Cardinals' #1 ranked prospect. Starting out as a third baseman in 2012, he has since transitioned into the outfield with the AAA-ranked Memphis Redbirds. In 2014, he batted .288 with nine home runs and 69 runs batted in. 32 of his 144 hits were doubles.
Matt Rappa (@mattrappa) is a contributor to Philliedelphia.com.
