The Phillies are going nowhere and need to rebuild and Cole Hamels is one of the best lefties around. That would normally amount to serious trade talks, but nope:
To date, Phillies telling other teams Cole Hamels is not available.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) July 22, 2014
I dunno. On the one hand you could probably get an awful lot for Hamels given the demand for frontline pitching. The Phillies could use a top position prospect to kickstart the rebuild and Hamels could probably get it for them. On the other hand, Hamels is still in the first half of a six-year, $144 million contract extension he signed in late July 2012. It’s not crazy to think that, if the Phillies can somehow rebuild quickly, Hamels could still contribute to the next good Phillies team while that deal is still going on.
I just don’t know how you can rebuild quickly without him.