Amaro talks about Hamels and Halladay
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Amaro talks about Hamels and Halladay
Bob Brookover, Inquirer Baseball Columnist
LOS ANGELES -- The disparity of recent contracts among baseball's most elite pitchers probably has not helped negotiations between the Phillies and John Boggs, the agent for Cole Hamels.
At one end of the spectrum, you have Jared Weaver, who signed a heavily discounted five-year, $85 milliion deal to continue pitching with the Los Angeles Angels.
"I know people still talk about it and how big some people think it is," Weaver recently told USA TODAY. "But honestly, I wouldn't change a thing. It's tough for me saying the contract is a discount. Come on, it's $85 million. It's more money than I ever thought I would make in my life."
At the other end of spectrum, you have San Francisco's Matt Cain, who signed a six-year, $127.5 million deal with the Giants. He is around the same age and has similar career numbers to Hamels, so it's more than fair for Boggs to demand that kind of deal or even slightly more for his client.
"I don't have any issues about evaluating Cole," general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said Monday. "Cole is a top-of-the-rotation pitcher. He has pitched well and we hope to be able to sign the guy. That goal has never really changed. We know what he is and we know what he brings to the table.
"Whether we can get to the finish line and keep him in our uniform, that's another thing entirely, but we know what we'd like to do. That hasn't changed. Regardless of the other things that have happened (with the team) this year, those things I don't think affect his personal situation."
Factor in that both Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee took less money to pitch for the Phillies than they could have received elsewhere and that is something else that could complicate the on-going negotiations between Boggs and Amaro.
"That's why I say, 'It always takes two to tango,' " Amaro said. "It's not just the Phillies. It's the Phillies and Cole and what his goals are and his wife's goals, the agent and the family. It's kind of everybody involved that is going to take it to the level where hopefully we can get something done. It's a big decision for a lot of people."
Halladay against TBA. The Dodgers left the ballpark Monday night without naming a pitcher for Tuesday night's game against the Phillies.
The Phillies, after a 3-2 win that gave them their first three-game winning streak since May 26, left knowing that they would send Roy Halladay to the mound Tuesday for the first time since a May 27 start in St. Louis.
What the Phillies don't know for sure is how many innings they will get out of Halladay in his first start since he landed on the disabled list with a shoulder injury. They also do not know how much he will resemble the guy who dominated opposing teams in his first two seasons in Philadelphia.
"The one thing I know about Roy is that regardless of how sharp he is, he's going to do everything he possibly can to get people out," Amaro said. "He's going to give you everything he's got and he's going to compete just as strong and hard as he ever has. Whatever he does, you can't fault him.
"But, yeah, I am interested in seeing how sharp he is. He's a pretty good option for us."
Given how often Halladay has picked up his teammates when they have struggled to score runs, this would be a good night for the offense to come through against an emergency starter for the Dodgers.
In order to make room for Halladay on the 25-man roster, the Phillies outrighted righthanded reliever Brian Sanches to triple-A Lehigh Valley.
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Match the Cain deal and it is likely done.— Jiminfl- Hamels has already made it clear that he wants at least a 6 year deal. If the Phillies were truly serious about keeping him then they would have offered him 6/130-140— cuda440
- He is too close to free agency not to try it. He gains nothing by signing a extention now.— cuda440
- There is no way of knowing but I am thinking it is more likely Cole is holding up the deal or it would be done.
— JamesSeitz - Damn double post!— Paul SoTX
- Hamels said he wants to give the Phillies a chance to match whatever he gets offered. That means he wants to field offers. They should not trade him under any circumstances. The return in draft choices is a better deal than whatever they might get offered now, because now he is just a rental and not signed long term. make a fair offer, he will reject it. DO NOT TRADE HIM! Play it out, try to get a wild card spot.— Paul SoTX
- Hamels said he wants to give the Phillies a chance to match whatever he gets offered. That means he wants to field offers. They should not trade him under any circumstances. The return in draft choices is a better deal than whatever they might get offered now, because now he is just a rental and not signed long term. make a fair offer, he will reject it. DO NOT TRADE HIM! Play it out, try to get a wild card spot.— Paul SoTX
- Considering he is the best player on the team and hasn't hit his prime yet, he should be priority #1....Although a CA boy, I like the blue collar fire he brings to the game. If you are going to trade players, lay Pence out there first...He produces a little but between his ugly swing and pulled up socks, he is hard to watch and doesn't represent a true Philly...— briman
- I am a kind of neutral on resigning Hamels.
I see his real value to the Phillies as a drawing card even if the Phillies are not contending. That is no insignificant consideration.
Assume that the Phillies are out of the race by July 31 or before.......
This team could decide to rebuild rather than retool if the right circumstances present itself.
That may be influenced by the players or prospects they can get if they deal.
Just for the sake of speculation.......
Suppose you could trade Hamels to the Rangers and get Olt.
Suppose you could trade Victorino and Rolline to LA and get Dee Gordon.
Suppose you could trade Hunter Pence to Toronto ( now that Bautista is on the DL ) and you could get one or two of their prospects from their minor league rich system.
Suppose you could trade Juan Pierre to the Reds for a prospect. ( It has been reported numerous times that they want him to lead off )
Suppose you could trade Polanco for a prospect before the deadline.
Suppose you could trade Wiggington for a prospect before the deadline.
Suppose you felt you could pick up a few free agent or two at year end that are younger such as a Bourn or a Headley.
WOULD YOU STAND PAT WITH YOUR VETERANS, AND TRY AND SQUEEZE ANOTHER CHAMPIONSHIP OUT OF THIS AGING GROUP, OR WOULD YOU RELOAD FOR FUTURE YEARS ?— candidly - This comment has been deleted.— Quixote II
- Heidi will lobby to stay in Philly because of the secret affair she's been having with warbiscuit. — s
- Amaro has had since 2008 to figure out how to sign Hamels to a long-term deal. Given all the other deals he's done since then, you'd like to think he was reserving negotiating space to do this, despite troubling signs to the contrary. Hamels may be thinking the same thing. If Amaro lets him walk, or trades him, then Ruben will look pretty foolish and inept for letting the franchise's best ever home-grown pitcher leave. And an SI.com article about Yankees' possible interest in Victorino flat-out states Amaro is considered by other GMs to be a lousy trader. RAJ is in an unfamiliar spot, not flush with cash and dealing from strength, as the deadline approaches this year. Hope he's up to the task.— ijj
- Ruben is the GM. He can't tip his hand. So we have to sit back and wait.— ACBaughman
- I can't sit here and laugh at most of these comments. There is no doubt in anyone's mind that RAJ wants to resign Cole Hamels. Most of you post, "just sign him". Ok, why don't you all play GM and make an offer to Cole. What would that offer be? 6 years $120 million? "Sorry", says Cole. "Cain got 6 years $127 million and I have as many rings as he does, as many Cy Young's as he does, but I have a WS MVP a Playoff MVP, and I'm left handed". Now, what do you do all you GM's? How high do you go with your offer? What do you think it will take to realistically sign Cole? Remember, he can taste free agency within 3+ months. At that point, he can start the bidding and have teams bid against each other. The open market is scary, especially when other teams will go over the luxury threshold. In the end, it will be up to Cole to determine if he really is honest to us Phans and truly wants to remain a Phillie. My instinct tells me Cole is giving lip service in the press, saying all the right things as to not catch the ire of Phillies phans right now. But, once he either signs (yeah) or hits the trade market in 13 days, look out for the verbal rhetorect.— drhoffman
- My hunch (also known as my wild-a**ed guess): Neither 5 years or 120m will be enough, no matter what either one of those is paired with. 6 years guaranteed and somewhere north of 130K total may do it.
Next up: Tonight's lottery numbers.— s - PAY THE MAN!!!— sackvicknow
- Phillies have done a much publicized horrific job of managing the payroll. I'm wondering if they can even afford to shell out $300 million for three pitchers, with another $50 million due to Papelbon. $350 million over time for four slots on a 25 man roster? Ludicrous.— DameB
- Heidi wants out, otherwise RAJ wouldn't have even put her name in the conversation. The only question now is whether Cole wants to saty more than Heidi wants to leave.— drbob1
- The next time Amaro tells the truth will be the first time. Hope I am wrong but based on his track record Amaro has a hard time telling the truth. Don't know if he is delusional and just a lying really doesn't matter. Have to hope Cole wants to stay with the Phils. Won't blame him if he jumped ship given who the GM field manager and pitching coach are.— gates2012
- Come on-Six years at 20 million per and let's stop the games. The fans want Cole Hamels period. He is getting better and tougher as he gets older. The thought of him slipping away and into another uniform makes me ill. Do it Reuben! Take it Cole!— sumtime08
- 6 years, 120 million should be palpable to both sides. I think Cole and his family is accustomed to Philly and don't necessarily want to return to the west coast. It comparable to Lee and Doc and just a tiny discount to Cain. Plus if the media spins it as he's taking less to stay, he'll be a golden child the rest of his life like Lee.— outoftowner7519
- Sign him now!With some hitting in the past he could have won 20/year iseveral times.— philsfansince1946
- I laugh when people keep telling the Phillies to just sign Hamels. It takes two to tango and what if Hamels really wants to be a free agent and possible head home to LA LA Land? Remember, his wife is former reality TV star and I bet she'd love to get back on the west coast.— fischman
- sounds to me like Amaro is not making any progress.
— vipers53 - Wow, a positive comment about one of the Phillies from warbiscuit. This is a red-pinstripe-letter day!— Dave Clemens
- one can assert that Hamels shoud be paid more/more years than Halladay, Lee and Cain ... Hamels has been NLCS and WS MVP, and when you take away his one poor year and poor post-season (2009 --when he was having a baby, or whatever excuses you want to give), his career and post-season stats are even more impressive— warbiscuit
- Hamels is a better pitcher right now than either Halladay or Lee, therefore I have no problem with him being paid more than the other two. — SteveS11
- One can also assert that you're still a tool — DogBiscuitthedope
- I meant to say ONLY the cartels...— dasher
- Dasher - Are you hip to the fact that this doesn't really clear up the confusion?
— phillyl0 - I agree, just get it done already!— parteetyme
- Mexican drug cartels take longer torturing people than Amaro is taking in torturing the fans with all this hopeful talk and no action.— dasher
- Dasher - Are you hip to the fact that this makes no sense whatsoever? — phillyl0
- If the Phillies don't re-sign Hamels, they will have to go onto the market to replace him. A similar replacement will cost similar dollars. So sign Hamels already. It's simply the cost of doing business. Top pitchers get what top pitchers get. I don't understand what all the hand-wringing is about.— bongo dave
