According to ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark, the Phillies have told teams that they want their “best offer” for left-hander Cole Hamels by Wednesday.
Once the “best” deal is on the table, the team will have until 4 p.m. on Friday to make a decision on where to trade him, or to even trade him at all.
The Phillies have been in discussions with a number of teams, but according to ESPN’s sources, about half of the talks have been initiated by the Phillies in an attempt to see if certain teams are willing to move prospects that were previously untouchable.
“Clubs speaking to the Phillies believe they have reached the stage where they’re attempting to “work through” all their options with ownership and are “trying to decide what they want to do,” according to Stark’s sources. However, those teams believe the Phillies intend to deal their ace before Friday’s 4 p.m. ET trading deadline unless they decide none of the offers brings them enough in return, whereupon they would resume trying to trade him in the offseason.”
While it was reported that the Giants were making a “strong push” for Hamels, the team has had trouble matching the Phillies’ asking price for the 31-year-old. One source who spoke to Stark this morning simply said that there was “nothing happening” between the Giants and Phills.
MLB Network insider Joel Sherman has reported that an AL executive told him that starting pitchers David Price and Jeff Samardzija are likely not going to be traded.
If Price and Samardzija stay put, Cole Hamels’ value will skyrocket, and so will the Phillies’ leverage in regards to orchestrating a profitable deal.
