Cole Hamels ready for trade but wants to be with the Philadelphia Phillies long-term - MLB News
Knowing that the Philadelphia Phillies are heading towards being a seller before the July 31 trade deadline, starter Cole Hamels is bracing for the changes. He says, if he is traded, he will not feel like being betrayed by the club. However, he loves to
be with the organisation long-term and invoking free agency option is the last thing he will be resorting to.
He has been one of the few star performers from the struggling Phillies’ rotation. While most of the pitchers either went for plenty of hits or failed due to lack of support from the offence, Hamels has been relentless in his pursuit of drawing strike-outs
and winning games for the club. In light of this, his demand by the teams that are in need of quality hurlers on rotation will be high.
Regardless of where Hamels lands after the trade, his affiliations with the existing organisation will take some time before breaking apart. He has kind of developed an emotional link with the Phillies and that he feels is one of the reasons why he will
not like to part ways with them.
"It's an organization and I understand the business side and I won't be offended," Hamels said. "I think you need to know your players and because I think I've been here long enough, I think (the front office) pretty much understands my personality and they
know that if something had to arise, I wouldn't be offended and I still would give them the benefit of the doubt and come back, because this is one of the best organizations I've ever seen."
At the same time, Hamels is not oblivious to the idea of a likely free agency scenario. If the Phillies are not going to retain him, the Los Angeles Dodgers are the club he will prefer going with. For him, the Dodgers are his home team and offering services
for them will be the prized opportunity.
Meanwhile, one cannot ignore the fact that these are just initial expressions by Hamels and who knows within the next few weeks, his preferences will be changed.
Therefore, precise judgment about where he is going to play in the next season cannot be made until both the Phillies and Hamels get back to the negotiation table and evaluate various options.
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