Philadelphia Phillies make contract extension to Cole Hamels a priority - MLB Update
According to an official who is related to the organisation which is interested in acquiring Cole Hamels, the Philadelphia Phillies are more concerned about the contract extension with the left hander than about trading him.
As the season enters into a decisive phase, the teams are making due adjustments on their rosters in order to keep themselves in contention. By including those players that they think can help their cause as they aim to eschew the collapse which they can
be vulnerable to in the second half.
In this respect, the organisations in particular the Texas Rangers and the Los Angeles Dodgers want to acquire Hamels from the Phillies before the July 31 trade deadline.
However, far from attending to their attention and responding with enthusiasm, the Phillies are too obsessed with the idea of contract extension. The task of preparing modalities and finalising the decision about the duration of the renewed agreement is
taking more of their time.
In-turn, it is making the clubs wait and expect the Phillies to come up with a response to their trade interest.
Hamels is going to become a free agent if Philadelphia let him off after this season. The fact the organisation is convinced that Hamels can keep their rotation solid for the years to come as they are bent on his retention.
In this regard, earlier they threw an offer worth $120 million five year contract to him, on which further progress has not been made yet. According to the reports, Philadelphia is also considering a six year deal in case Hamels insists on the issue of getting
more time under the contract.
Meanwhile, sources claim that John Boggs, Hamels’ agent, is extremely busy in negotiating the contract extension. They say the Phillies, unless something out of the ordinary happens are going to go all-out to retain Hamels.
One of the members of the club commented on the Phillies’ approach toward Hamels.
"They want to sign him, and that's their priority," said an official. "They're really not even entertaining (trade) offers at this point."
As the negotiations progress, one can expect that within a few days an announcement may be made about Hamels by the Phillies.
It will be interesting to see what decision the Phillies are going take regarding Hamels as they look serious in retaining him.
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