Hometown Hero? Could Cole Hamels be the newest Padre?
- Updated: January 17, 2015
(Courtesy of @dallasnews)
Just when it appears the Padres offseason is finally drawing to a close, rumblings of another blockbuster deal start to surface. This particular trade is centered around Philadelphia Phillies Ace Cole Hamels. Hamels was drafted by the Phillies in 2002, 17th overall. He grew up in San Diego and attended Rancho Bernardo High School in Northern San Diego County. That right there adds some intrigue to this deal. Bringing in a hometown kid, especially one of Hamels’ skill level would be huge for the Padres and vault them into almost certainly being contenders in the National League West this season. Should A.J. Preller pull the trigger on yet another blockbuster deal?
Why Cole Hamels? Hamels in his tenure with Philadelphia won a World Series, was also the World Series MVP, and was elected to three All-Star Games. Hamels just wrapped up his 9th major league season, in his career he has compiled 108 wins, posting a 3.27 ERA with a dazzling 1.14 WHIP. Last season, Hamels put together a 9-9 season with a career-low 2.46 ERA and he finished 6th in Cy Young Award voting. In his 9 year career he has reached the playoffs five times and pitched in two World Series. Right away you can see why the Padres are interested, a veteran pitcher with plenty of postseason experience should be on nearly every team’s radar. With Phillies G.M. Ruben Amaro finally looking to sell and trade away some of the veterans from the glory years, it seems now is as good a time as any to deal Hamels. Considering the success Hamels has had, his 4-year 94 million dollar deal is relatively club friendly for a team that is looking for a true number 1 starter to put in their rotation. This upcoming season will be Hamels 10th as he enters the back-end of his prime as he will turn 31 this season.
(Courtesy of @one_strike_away)
Now lets take a look at the kind of package that would be required to bring in a talent like Hamels. The Padres would undoubtedly have to deal at least two of their big three prospects. After all the offseason moves, a once robust farm system is more average now. On the Phillies radar would most likely be 22-year-old RHP Matt Wisler. Wisler has climbed up the Padres system very quickly and could pitch in the Major Leagues as soon as this season. The next piece in a possible trade would come down to either C Austin Hedges or OF Hunter Renfroe. With Hedges you have your backstop for years to come as he is the widely regarded as the top defensive catching prospect. Renfroe is less of a risk, as he has projectible power that should have no problem translating to the Major League level. That would most likely just be the start of a package worthy of Hamels. The Padres would probably have to include another prospect perhaps a guy like OF/1B Alex Dickerson. The question is though: Are the Padres willing to sell the farm for Hamels?
Another question the Padres front office encounters is: Do they need Cole Hamels? The lone bright spot in an otherwise dismal season was the emergence of Right-hander Tyson Ross. Ross pitched his first full season in the majors racking up 195 strikeouts and twirling 22 quality starts. With the knockout slider, Ross can at times be un-hittable and really showed flashes of being a top of the rotation starter. He parlayed his success in his first trip to an All-Star Game. Taking up the No.2 and No.3 spot in the Padres rotation would most likely be Andrew Cashner and veteran Ian Kennedy. Cashner had an injury-plagued season but was very effective when he was able to pitch every 5th day. When he was healthy, Cashner posted 2.55 ERA with a WHIP of 1.12 in just over 123 innings. Ian Kennedy arguably had his best season since 2011 when he won 21 games as a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Kennedy finished 13-13 with 3.63 ERA while also racking up 207 strikeouts. Which was good enough for 5th in the National League.
Right there you have your three set guys in the rotation. For the remaining two spots, off-season acquisitions Brandon Morrow and Josh Johnson could fill in if they return to form. Johnson is targeting a return in June following Tommy John Surgery that derailed his season a year ago. Also vying for spots in the rotation could be Casey Kelly, Cory Leubke, Odrisamer Despaigne and Robbie Erlin. Luebke, Kelly and Erlin are wild cards in a sense considering they have all had arm trouble at one point or another the last couple of seasons. Based on those guys alone that would leave the Padres with 9 guys battling for 5 spots in the rotation. As we saw last year, you can never have too many starting pitching options as the depth of the rotation was really tested with all the injury trouble. So at this moment in time it seems as if no, the Padres don’t necessarily need Cole Hamels.
Considering how quick deals like this seem to come to fruition under A.J. Preller I would not be surprised whatsoever if Hamels was starting for the Padres Opening Day in Los Angeles. Would you like to see Cole Hamels as the final piece to the Padres 2015 plans? Let us know what you think!
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