Phillies' Hamels could return to Chicago as a Cub

CHICAGO - The Phillies' Saturday starter stood in left-center field early Friday afternoon, shagging fly balls in front of Wrigley Field's iconic ivy while groups of position players rotated in for batting practice.

Anyone watching could have wondered whether Cole Hamels might be back here a couple of weeks from now, when the Chicago Cubs play their next homestand. The National League wild-card contenders are among the potential suitors for the Phillies' ace and top trade chip with less than a week before baseball's highly anticipated July 31 non-waiver trade deadline.

Cubs president Theo Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer will get to watch Hamels front and center on Saturday afternoon when the 31-year-old lefthander makes an important start against their club. While Hamels' track record speaks for itself, the front offices of the teams vying for him would surely feel more confident if the former World Series MVP looked more like himself Saturday than in his previous two starts.

"I expect to see him like himself every time he goes out," Phillies interim manager Pete Mackanin said before Friday's 5-3 win. "I think the last two outings were hopefully an anomaly. The stuff is there. The command wasn't there the last two starts, but the stuff is there. You know what he's capable of doing. He's still one of the best in the business."

Hamels, unavailable for comment before Friday's series opener, saw his ERA rise by 0.89 over his last two starts, his 18th and 19th of this arduous season. In his final outing before the all-star break, on July 10 in San Francisco, Hamels allowed nine runs - eight in one inning - and lasted only 31/3 frames. Last Sunday against the Miami Marlins at Citizens Bank Park, he lasted only three innings and allowed five runs on eight hits.

Regarding the importance of a bounce-back performance from Hamels on Saturday, potentially the pitcher's final outing before the deadline, Mackanin responded, "For me, every start's important."

"I mean, if I were with another team and interested in him, I would just be looking at the stuff, not necessarily the command, and keeping in mind that the circumstances may be affecting him," added Mackanin, who has experience as a major-league scout, for the New York Yankees in 2008 and 2013.

"But the stuff is there. He's healthy, and because of his history and what he's done, that would not deter me from wanting him. Let's put it that way."

The Cubs, whose rotation is headlined by Jon Lester and Jake Arrieta, could trade for Hamels and greatly bolster their chances at one of the two wild-card spots. They would then have Hamels under contract for the next three years at $23.5 million per season. The pitcher's contract calls for a $20 million team option or a $24 million vesting option (contingent on innings pitched) for the 2019 season.

They could also instead opt for one of the many rentals on the trade market.

"We're actively trying to make our team better," Hoyer told reporters before Friday's game. "We're obviously on the phone nonstop, trying to be in communication with everyone.

"It's too early to say definitively, but we wouldn't be making this many calls and working as hard as we are if we weren't trying to make things happen before the deadline."

The Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston Red Sox and Texas Rangers are other potential landing spots for Hamels, who may very well need to wait until the hours or minutes before Friday's deadline to learn where he will pitch in August, September and October.

@jakemkaplan