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No time like the present to trade Cole Hamels

It was inevitable that Phillies' ace lefthander would be dealt as they continue their rebuild.

Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Cole Hamels (35) watches from the dugout against the St. Louis Cardinals at Citizens Bank Park. The St. Louis Cardinals won 12-4.
Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Cole Hamels (35) watches from the dugout against the St. Louis Cardinals at Citizens Bank Park. The St. Louis Cardinals won 12-4.Read more

COLE HAMELS WAS going to be traded. He was. Don't get all weepy about it. He gave you your moment on Saturday. He was going to be traded because he had to be traded. Because the Phillies wouldn't have nearly the leverage ever again that they had now, because any team in the market for a top-of-the-rotation pitcher in the offseason would have had the financial wherewithall to sign one on the free-agent market, where David Price, Johnny Cueto, Jordan Zimmermann, Jeff Samardzija, Scott Kazmir and, presumably, Zack Greinke will all be available (not to mention a host of other intriguing candidates such as Mat Latos, Brett Anderson, Ian Kennedy, Wei-Yin Chen, Doug Fister, Yovani Gallardo, Hisashi Iwakuma, Mike Leake and Bud Norris).

The market was not getting any better for Hamels than it is now. When people ridiculed the Phillies for hanging on to him last year, this was the situation for which they failed to account. The market was better now than it was last year, when Price and Samardzija were both available as non-rental top-of-the-rotation trade candidates. The Phillies decided the extra year of injury risk was worth it given the offers they received, and it paid off.

The question now:

What next?

The Phillies need to build both an offense and a rotation, and they won't win until they do both, and you can survive a lot longer on a putrid offense with a young, talented rotation than vice versa (see the Mets, Giants and Rays).

The odds still say they won't play a meaningful September for at least three years and probably more, but they can at least avoid being the worst team in the majors by spending some money on short-term deals in the free-agent market. This isn't the NBA. The benefit of being the absolute worst is much smaller, and the ability to flip some of those shrewd short-term investments for prospects is much larger. They shouldn't lock themselves into any long-term contracts that will drag into the next open window and diminish their chances to maximize their payroll during that time period. But there is little reason not to sign a corner outfielder and/or first baseman to a one- or two-year deal, even if it is in the tens of millions, given their current dearth of young talent at those positions. The future should always take precedence. But there is a difference between a potential piece of the future and a placeholder.

Hamels? He is already part of the past, but it isn't lip service to say that he is now in a better place.

As for the prospects the Phillies got back? We'll see. If history is any indication, we'll wait a lot longer than we'd like. This was always going to be a process. Jorge Alfaro, a catcher, does not profile that much differently than Tommy Joseph, another highly touted catcher, when they acquired him for Hunter Pence. But that doesn't mean much. If that sounds like a hedge, well, it is. That's the thing with prospects. Nobody knows.

What we do know is that Hamels had to be traded now. I doubt he would have garnered anything comparable at this time last year. Even if the deal has zero impact on the future - as has been the case with many previous deals for aces - it had to be done. And it was. Welcome to the future.

On Twitter: @ByDavidMurphy

Blog: ph.ly/HighCheese