Phillies Notebook: Hamels deal not yet a pressing issue for Phillies

MILWAUKEE - Cole Hamels might be the Phillies' most valuable trade chip, and he might be entering his final season before free agency, but Ruben Amaro Jr. shot down the notion that he will be shopping his talented lefthander if the two sides cannot work out a contract extension this offseason.

While Amaro has yet to engage Hamels' agent, John Boggs, in substantive negotiations, he says he does not feel any urgency to do so.

"I think our goal is try to keep Cole long term," Amaro said yesterday. "We know how important it is to have those guys at the top part of our rotation, now and for the long term. You look in the past and you look at the teams that have had success for a long period of time, a lot of times it is because of their starting pitching. Look at Atlanta, they had those three, four, five guys every year. That's why they won 14 [division titles] in a row. That's still a goal, to keep Cole around long after 2012. Hopefully, we can do that. We haven't addressed it yet; we'll address it at the appropriate time, but I think Cole knows exactly how we feel about him."

Clearly, the Phillies feel that trading Hamels would undermine the foundation on which they have built their roster. And a look at their depth supports that point of view. Amaro said yesterday the Phillies plan to retain righthander Kyle Kendrick, who proved to be a valuable swing man in the rotation and bullpen last year. Kendrick could make a case for a significant raise if he gets to the arbitration process, but the Phillies feel the depth he provides is a chance worth taking. Righthander Joe Blanton, who will earn $8.5 million in the last year of his contract, missed most of last season with an elbow injury, and Vance Worley, who finished third in NL Rookie of the Year voting, is coming off his first full season in the majors.

"We have some other fish to fry right now, some other pieces of the club that we need to take care of," Amaro said. "I've already expressed that to Cole and his agent. They understand it. We have until next October, really, to do a deal with Cole. It's not a pressing need, but it's something we are absolutely on top of."