MLB 2014

[Mr.Bill]

Philly it looks like your team has given up..

That said over the years I've seen Hamels pitch a whole bunch of times against the Mets, I've never seen him better than he was last night.. He was lights out, in the 6th inning he threw something like 23 1st strikes to the 1st 24 batters.. I've never seen him that good.

I got the feeling he might have been auditioning for a job somewhere else.

[Philly]

Phillies are asking a ridiculous price for Hamels. They want 4 or 5 top prospects. Was at the game last night and it was awesome watching Cole go to work like that and seeing Utley hit a grand slam. But we both know Cole isn't always as good as he was yesterday. He got out of trouble in the first but if he didn't he probably would have fallen apart for the whole game as he does when one thing goes wrong.

[Mr.Bill]

[Philly]

Hamels also has a long contract too tho. Can swing either way but it's a contract through 2018.

[Philly]

[Mr.Bill]

Younger players usually don't have a full 'no trade' clause in their contract.. But he probably does have a partially no trade. If he comes out and flat out says I want to be traded since he has only a partial no trade then the Phils could send him anywhere(to any team not on his list). So him saying he wants to stay with the Phillies could be his way to telling the Phils, and everyone else he's willing to be traded, but only to a team he's absolutely agrees to be traded to.. Because yeah he is moody, and a headcase at times. So any team that's not on his list might be wary of trading for him..

I would imagine he'd be willing to go to most of the big market teams, and that's good because they can afford him.. BUT some of the big market teams, like the Yankees, have little in their farm system to offer the Phils.. Yanks farm system right now doesn't have much talent in it, especially not enough to get someone like Hamels..

Mets have a ton of talent in their farm system right now, but they don't need another starter, and I doubt he'd want to go to the Mets, too much bad history there..

And 2 other lefties are on the trading block too, Price and Lester, And these 2 are definitely going to be traded, where with Hamels it's not nearly as definite.... So that doesn't help Hamels either.

[Philly]

The trade deadline has passed....and the Phillies did nothing. They didn't move anybody. Not a single trade. Ruben Amaro Jr was already a contender for most hated man in Philadelphia. Now he's got no competition.

[Mr.Bill]

They can still move through waivers and be traded. So it's not totally over, yet.. August 31st is the drop dead deadline.

Price and Lester got moved, no surprise there. The Lester trade was a little weird though. Teams with the best record in baseball seldom trade their clean-up hitters at the deadline.. But Billy Beane is maybe the best GM in all of sports, so who am I to argue. Moneyball baby..

Mets did nothing, which is OK with me.. Except for Colon there wasn't anyone I thought or expected them to trade.. I'm glad they kept the kids, keep them and let them develop. They got some great young arms.

Edit: And Cliff Lee is done for the year. He pitched last night, but left early due to elbow soreness. Phils already put him back on the DL.. Phillies won't be getting rid of him this year or even the off-season.. And if it's really serious maybe not even being able to trade him next year.. They owe Lee $25 million for next season... Phillies have some serious problems.

[Philly]

Amaro told Papelbon that he and the other veterans are part of the Phils plans for next year. They're just going to try again with this same core. The man is delusional.

[Mr.Bill]