The much-rumored Phillies ace Cole Hamels has been traded to the Rangers, CBSSports Baseball Insider Jon Heyman reports. The trade is a 6-for-2 swap. Here are the details, per multiple reports:
To Rangers: LHP Cole Hamels, LHP Jake Diekman, cash
To Phillies: C Jorge Alfaro, OF Nick Williams, RHP Alec Asher, LHP Matt Harrison, RHP Jake Thompson, RHP Jerad Eickhoff
The trade is expected to be finalized Thursday after each club gets a chance to review medical records and whatnot. The cash changing hands will also need approval of commissioner Rob Manfred as well, though that is rarely an issue.
The lefty Hamels, 31, has pitched to a 3.64 ERA and 3.51 K/BB ratio this season. For his career, he owns an ERA+ of 124 across parts of 10 big-league seasons and was MVP of the 2008 World Series. Four times he’s finished in the top 10 of the NL Cy Young balloting. He tossed a no-hitter on Saturday in what will go down as the final start of his Phillies career.
Hamels is owed the balance of a $23.5-million salary this season. Through 2018, he’s owed, at minimum, another $76.5 million. The Rangers aren’t completely out of the race this year, though acquiring Hamels is clearly geared towards the future. They want to pair him with Yu Darvish going forward.
In Diekman, the Rangers are getting a 28-year-old hard-throwing lefty reliever who had a 3.80 ERA with 100 strikeouts in 71 innings just last year. This season Diekman has a 5.15 ERA with 49 strikeouts in 36 2/3 innings. He is under team control as an arbitration-eligible player through 2018.
As for the Phillies, they are taking a flier on the 29-year-old Harrison, who has made only nine starts since 2012 due to back problems. He had career-threatening spinal fusion surgery last summer. Harrison returned a few weeks ago and has a 6.75 ERA in three starts and 16 innings for the Rangers this year. He is owed approximately $32 million through 2018.
The Rangers originally acquired Thompson from the Tigers in last summer’s Joakim Soria trade. The 21-year-old has a 4.72 ERA with a 78/30 K/BB in 87 2/3 Double-A innings this year. Prior to the season, Baseball America ranked Thompson as the No. 2 prospect in the Rangers system and the No. 43 prospect in baseball.
Alfaro, 22, was the team’s No. 3 prospect and the No. 67 prospect in baseball coming into the season according to Baseball America. He is hitting .253/.314/.432 with 15 doubles and five home runs at Double-A this season. Alfaro had ankle surgery in June and is done for the season.
Williams, 21, was considered the No. 13 prospect in Texas’ system by Baseball America before the season. He did not make their 2015 top-100 prospects list but did rank No. 97 last year. Williams is having a great year, hitting .300/.357/.480 with 21 doubles, 13 home runs and 10 steals at Double-A.
The 23-year-old Asher has a 4.43 ERA with a 97/37 K/BB in 107 2/3 innings split between Double-A and Triple-A this year. He was ranked as the club’s No. 13 prospect before the season by Baseball America. Asher did not make the publication’s top-100 list.
Eickhoff, 25, has a 4.30 ERA with a 104/36 K/BB in 106 2/3 innings at Double-A and Triple-A this summer. He was not ranked among Texas’ top-30 prospects in Baseball America‘s 2015 Prospect Handbook.
The Phillies had been understandably seeking a package of high-end prospects for their ace left-hander and that is exactly what they landed. Thompson, Alfaro and Williams are all top-100 caliber prospects right now and both Asher and Eickhoff are close to contributing at the major-league level.
With Hamels off the board, the best remaining starters on the trade market are David Price, Mike Leake, Ian Kennedy, Jeff Samardzija, Yovani Gallardo and possibly Hisashi Iwakuma. The Tigers confirmed on Wednesday they will listen to offers for Price, who will have no shortage of suitors.
The Rangers won the Cole Hamels sweepstakes on Wednesday. (USATSI)
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