Before we dive into Philly's payroll flexibilities, I want to explain why Cole Hamels is a bona fide ace and deserves ace money, almost at the level of CC Sabathia money. Look at how he's done the last four seasons...
2008-2011:
50-41, 3.29 ERA, 845.2 innings, 8.2 K/9, 2.1 BB/9, 1 HR/9, 1.13 WHIP, 44.4 GB%, 126 ERA+, 16.6 WARAt 28 years old, Hamels is right in the beginning of his prime years, as he'll be 29 years old if/when he reaches free agency, and based on the numbers the last four seasons, he's worth a big contract. In fact, if you look at his last two seasons, you'll agree with me further...
2010-2011:
26-20, 2.92 ERA, 424.2 innings, 8.6 K/9, 2.2 BB/9, 1 HR/9, 1.08 WHIP, 48.5 GB%, 136 ERA+, 8.6 WARIf you still don't agree with me, don't forget, Hamels is left handed--which is huge for pitching your home games at Yankee Stadium--and his agent is John Boggs, not Scott Boras. Finally, not to mention, he's 7-4 with a 3.09 ERA career in the postseason while winning the 2008 World Series MVP, which is pretty neat, albeit in a small sample.
Look, Cole Hamels is still under the Phillies' control through the end of the 2012 season, we already know that, but what we don't know is if the Phillies have enough dough in their pockets to re-sign him. Let's take a quick look at the guaranteed dollars on the Phillies payroll for the 2013 season, courtesy of Cot's Baseball Contracts....
- Roy Halladay- $20M
- Ryan Howard- $20M
- Chase Utley- $15.286M
- Cliff Lee- $25M
- Jonathan Papelbon- $13M
- Placido Polanco, Ty Wigginton, Carlos Ruiz, Jose Contreas, Laynce Nix- $3.8M
Instead of dragging this story on and on, because I'm sure you're tired of me talking about the Phillies, I'll just say it's basically a coin flip if they're able to sign Hamels, who, like I stated, deserves ace money.
Tyler Kelpner also wrote a story suggesting the Yankees may wait until next winter to make a splash anyways. Read that story HERE. He also suggested Matt Cain, someone who I am not fond about joining the Yankees on a big contract one bit, but then again, that's a post for another day. Who knows, maybe the prices for Garza and Jackson come down to respectable levels and the Yankees scoop one of them up. But gut feeling tells me we're going to have a rotation of Sabathia, Nova, Hughes, Garcia, and Burnett come April. I mean, it could be worse. Don't believe me? Head over to Citi Field this spring. See what I mean?
--Jesse Schindler, BYB Staff Writer
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