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Cole Hamels has years of strong play ahead of him, didn't need to go

Phillies did not need to rush Hamels out, but the 31-year-old lefthander will likely keep producing.

Cole Hamels.
Cole Hamels.Read more(Yong Kim/Staff Photographer)

HAMELS HAD TO GO, because Papelbon went . . . right?

One must determine the other, correct?

If the Phillies are serious about rebuilding, then they had to move Cole Hamels for surefire prospects . . . didn't they?

Really Why?

If the Phillies did not move Hamels, you could not have blamed them.

Hamels is the rarest of birds; a franchise cornerstone in his absolute prime, capable of excellence and leadership and impeccable professionalism.

The only Phillies pitchers comparable to Hamels in the last 45 years are Steve Carlton, who is in the Hall of Fame, and Curt Schilling, who should be. That's only three 100-win pitchers in almost five decades.

So, rare.

There was no concrete argument to be made for trading Hamels to the Rangers for some prospects.

He was under the Phillies control for the next four seasons, including a team option for 2019.

It would have cost the Phillies less than $95 million to retain Hamels through 2019. At first glance, that seems like a lot of money, especially since he almost certainly would not pitch them to the postseason until at least 2017. But considering what Zack Greinke and David Price will fetch this offseason, Hamels is a bargain. Phillies brass last month said that salaries would not impede the rebuilding process one way or another.

Besides, Hamels' comparative affordability would have only added to his attractiveness as an offseason trade piece.

Any desperate, immediate longing for prospects is fraught with flaws.

Not long ago the Phillies were rich in pitching "prospects." Gavin Floyd was untouchable. So was Brett Myers. For a while, moving Kyle Drabek was unthinkable.

In the end, the only prospect among that group who fulfilled his promise was . . . Cole Hamels.

Hamels is 31. He has no significant injury history. He is as fanatical about maintaining his body as he is freakish in successfully doing so.

He preferred to play the next few seasons with a team more likely than the Phillies to win a World Series, but, frankly, his finest hours came in 2007 and 2008, with Phillies teams that were unlikely to win a World Series.

He expressed no any real displeasure with his circumstance. He has been neither lax in his preparation nor distracted in his performances.

The Phillies could have asked for no better example for talented young prospects Aaron Nola, Zach Eflin and Jesse Biddle.

Not that Hamels is entirely conventional.

Occasionally, Hamels will feel out of sorts. He will ask for an extra day between starts. He will insist on a week or two of rest.

Whatever. It's working.

Long before Chip Kelly hit town, Hamels embraced alternative nutritional habits, alternative maintenance habits (such as Active Release Technique chiropractic care) and who knows what other alternative lifestyle habits.

He is, after all, a lefthanded Southern Californian who bought a mountain in Missouri and is building schools in Africa.

But he was Philadelphia's lefthanded Southern Californian. If the Phillies were wise, he would have remained that for four more years.

That seems to be the difficult piece of information for prospect-crazed deconstructionists to digest. In Hamels, the Phillies led to market the most precious of commodities: a stud starter at a modest price for at least four more years.

Hamels is not a rental, like Price or Johnny Cueto, whom the Reds moved to Kansas City.

Hamels is an investment property.

They should have asked for the moon. He's worth the moon.

The last time Hamels was supported by a decent lineup and defense, in 2011 and 2012, he went 31-15 with a 2.92 earned run average. Assume that he pitches as well for the next four seasons.

That's 62 wins with a sub-3.00 ERA.

How many times did Schilling win 31 games with a sub-3.00 ERA in consecutive seasons before age 31?

Zero.

Then, in his first four full seasons out of Philadelphia playing for contenders, Schilling averaged 18 wins with a 3.11 ERA.

Schilling was 33 when he left the Phillies. He got only better. He won three World Series rings and went 10-1 with a 2.12 ERA in the postseason.

Unlike Hamels, Schilling was able to force the Phillies to trade him. The team got Diamondbacks pitchers Omar Daal, Vicente Padilla, Nelson Figueroa and first baseman Travis Lee; at the time, a respectable haul.

It took seven years for Hamels to approach replacing Schilling.

It took eight years for Schilling to replace Carlton.

In eight years, Andy MacPhail will be 70 years old.

Maybe he will enjoy his retirement gift as much as Pat Gillick did.

On Twitter: @inkstainedretch