the return on this hamels trade sounds horrendous. exactly what I've expected under this abortion of an executive team. they just don't get it...fucking idiots
who are you hearing they are getting in return?
jorge alfaro - catcher chi chi gonzalez - rhp nick williams - LF and possibly another low level guy yet to be named
alfaro is the main get here. I think centering a return for an ace in his prime around a catcher is ridiculously stupid (but certainly not surprising because it's the phillies). It's like trading an NFL qb for a tight end
THIS.
Honestly, though, I don't mind this trade. Allegedly, Hamels blocked a trade from Houston, so that's who I would've liked to have seen them make this deal with, but I think they did as well as they were gonna do.
I think Thompson and Williams can be players. They went from a woeful farm system to having 5 of the top 100 prospects.
I can't argue with what they did. And I'm not going to bitch about Diekman, but I still like him. Think he's going to get better, but who knows playing in Texas.
This regime has always had a hard on for catching prospects. I will never understand that. I think it's really dumb.
The trade is a colossal disappointment for me. Now the farm system has one potential superstar (crawford), a bunch of number 3 starters (at best), and what projects to be league average players -- most of whom have terrible approaches at the plate (just like their current roster).
People can try to talk themselves into this trade based off of meaningless prospect rankings, but they didn't get enough back for a top 10 league pitcher in his prime who's on a team friendly contract. Hell, the phils even sent money to texas in the deal and took on a terrible contract. At minimum they should have gotten a top tier prospect in return.
It's an epic fail...typical for this franchise. middleton needs to fire everyone and start over.
Buster Olney @Buster_ESPN 2m2 minutes ago The details of the Hamels' trade underscores: PHI had far less leverage than expected, and were greatly boxed in by his no-trade provision.
Alright, alright, alright!
Tom O. "I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?"
-The Writer
And don't get me wrong, I don't necessarily think it's bad, i just think it's comical they didn't get top prospects after 18 months of posturing
Exactly
I hate this trade
and the beat goes on...
If I had known then what I know now...
Vegas 93, Vegas 98, Vegas 00 (10 year show), Vegas 03, Vegas 06
VIC 07
EV LA1 08
Seattle1 09, Seattle2 09, Salt Lake 09, LA4 09
Columbus 10
EV LA 11
Vancouver 11
Missoula 12
Portland 13, Spokane 13
St. Paul 14, Denver 14
Way worse. It's definitely a good sign when you see all the websites and writers that routinely bash Amaro and the Phils way of doing things concede they made just about he best possible deal they could.
The fact that Marcus Hayes doesn't like it makes me feel better about it.
The one thing I will say is that I would take the Tigers haul over the Phillies 10 times out of 10 and they had a much less valuable piece
Phillies seems fine. Some half way decent potential but nothing like Norris
except Hamels wasn't accepting a trade to Toronto and he already turned down Houston. Your choices were Texas and the Dodgers and the Dodgers clearly weren't giving up their top 2 prospects.
The one thing I will say is that I would take the Tigers haul over the Phillies 10 times out of 10 and they had a much less valuable piece
Phillies seems fine. Some half way decent potential but nothing like Norris
except Hamels wasn't accepting a trade to Toronto and he already turned down Houston. Your choices were Texas and the Dodgers and the Dodgers clearly weren't giving up their top 2 prospects.
Yup. Plus he turned down a chance to go to Houston. Bottom line is the Phils made the best deal available to them. Reasonable people understand this.
Odds are the Phils got good deal in return for Cole Hamels
David Murphy
IF THE Phillies had fallen in love with Mike Olt as hard as fans wanted back in 2012, they would have traded Cole Hamels for a guy who has a .158 batting average, .579 OPS and 119 strikeouts in 314 major league plate appearances.
So before anybody lambastes the front office for failing to land any of this year's supposed blue-chippers in their long-awaited trade of Hamels, consider the possibility that it wasn't a failure at all, but, rather, a prudent decision to limit their exposure to risk by agreeing to a diversified package of talent that contained a solid mix of predictability and projectability.
Falling in love with a prospect is a dangerous thing to do, because it can make you forget that all prospects are a guessing game to some degree. Your job is to know as much about them as you can, to formulate as accurate a projection about their future as you can, but also to remember that there is a significant amount that nobody can ever know or project, and to build the variability of that unknown into whatever formula you use to place a value on them. The value of each prospect in a package diminishes the value a team can expect out of the subsequent pieces.
Say you estimate that Player A has a 50 percent chance of developing into an elite player and a 70 percent chance of developing into an above-average big-league regular, while Player B and Player C both have a 10 percent chance of becoming elite and a 50 percent chance at becoming above league-average. While Player A gives you a much better chance at landing an elite player, he also gives leaves you more exposed to the risk that you won't land an above-average big-leaguer, because the combined probability that either Player B or Player C develops into an above-average big-leaguer is 75 percent.
The actual calculus is a bit more complicated because, well, it is actual calculus. We're talking about the same kind of processes that actuaries use to determine insurance rates and risk pools.
But the principle is pretty basic: A player like Hamels is worth a certain amount of eggs on the trade market. Put all of them in one strong basket instead of two weaker ones, you've got a better chance of getting all of your eggs home safe. You might also have a better chance at losing them all, depending on how you calculate the chance that the strong basket fails.
In Jorge Alfaro and Jake Thompson the Phillies appear to have done a deft job of diffusing their risk. Alfaro has the higher upside, with raw power that scouts consider elite. His ceiling goes all the way up to someone like Pudge Rodriguez. At the same time, he carries some significant risk, with strikeout and walk rates that could prevent him from ever being able to hit big-league pitching. (He has 61 strikeouts and nine walks in 207 PAs at Double A this season.) But that risk is at least partially offset by Thompson, given the variety of ways in which a pitcher of his profile can help an organization even if he falls short of his potential.
One of the problems with the Phillies' trade of Cliff Lee in 2009 was that all three players they landed were boom-or-bust. Phillippe Aumont might have had a higher ceiling than Thompson, but he also had a much lower floor, given that he was still walking batters at an alarming rate two full years into his minor league career.
This isn't an argument that the Phillies would have been unwise to trade Hamels for Corey Seager or Julio Urias or Aaron Judge, just that they seem to have made the best of what is an unenviable situation for any general manager attempting to acquire young, cost-controlled talent in the current market. Even if only one of these players develops into a meaningful contributor on a playoff-caliber team, the deal will be more successful than most that get consummated this time of year.
Another thing to keep in mind is that it takes a lot more than 25 players to field a playoff team, and the bulk of those extra players are pitchers. The Phillies would be a bad team regardless of their rotation, but it is their pitching that makes them look like a historically awful team. The lack of depth at the position in the minors is something that they have addressed over the last year, adding arms like Zach Eflin, Nick Pivetta, Ben Lively and now Alec Asher and Jerad Eickhoff in addition to higher upside pieces in Thompson and Aaron Nola. Nola and Thompson are the two that are most likely to develop into starters in a playoff-caliber rotation, but starters like that often get hurt, and a team needs a capable replacement to stay in the playoff hunt. Sometimes, those replacements can surprise you, like the Phillies saw with Kyle Kendrick, J.A. Happ and Vance Worley.
The package for Hamels appears to be a solid mix of ceilings and floors, probability and potential. The Phillies' next playoff contender will not be built overnight. It will be a process of attrition. This was the obvious next step, and it was a good one.
The one thing I will say is that I would take the Tigers haul over the Phillies 10 times out of 10 and they had a much less valuable piece
Phillies seems fine. Some half way decent potential but nothing like Norris
Blah blah blah blaaahhhhhhhhh.
As of the last updated list I could find of Hamels here were the list of teams he was allowing trades to: Dodgers, Angels, Padres, Cardinals, Nationals, Braves, Yankees, Red Sox, and Rangers.
Every team that was brought up to which people are saying did better, etc etc etc etceteraaaaaa.....Tigers? 'Stros? My penis? Where are they on there? Lemme put on my readin' glasses, and check that list again...
I WISH Norris was in the Phillies' farm. Easily would be the first Phils jersey I would buy in 5 years, even if he wasn't on the team yet.
But.....soooo.....if my aunt had balls she'd be my uncle. That's the moral of this story I'd say.
The one thing I will say is that I would take the Tigers haul over the Phillies 10 times out of 10 and they had a much less valuable piece
Phillies seems fine. Some half way decent potential but nothing like Norris
Blah blah blah blaaahhhhhhhhh.
As of the last updated list I could find of Hamels here were the list of teams he was allowing trades to: Dodgers, Angels, Padres, Cardinals, Nationals, Braves, Yankees, Red Sox, and Rangers.
Every team that was brought up to which people are saying did better, etc etc etc etceteraaaaaa.....Tigers? 'Stros? My penis? Where are they on there? Lemme put on my readin' glasses, and check that list again...
I WISH Norris was in the Phillies' farm. Easily would be the first Phils jersey I would buy in 5 years, even if he wasn't on the team yet.
But.....soooo.....if my aunt had balls she'd be my uncle. That's the moral of this story I'd say.
The one thing I will say is that I would take the Tigers haul over the Phillies 10 times out of 10 and they had a much less valuable piece
Phillies seems fine. Some half way decent potential but nothing like Norris
except Hamels wasn't accepting a trade to Toronto and he already turned down Houston. Your choices were Texas and the Dodgers and the Dodgers clearly weren't giving up their top 2 prospects.
Yup. Plus he turned down a chance to go to Houston. Bottom line is the Phils made the best deal available to them. Reasonable people understand this.
The fuck? Did you guys just agree on something? There is hope in the middle east! I see my beloved Reds trading their shit all away and just need to remind ourselves that nobody knows how these things will work out for a few years. Cole could tear his elbow up tomorrow playing catch with his kids. (Hope not) Have to see what you can get and take the best offer out there. (I guess the best offer not from a division rival.) I would have thought they would take less on the prospect side and insist that some moneybags team (Dodgers/Yankees) take big Howard as part of the deal. Maybe they tried, who knows.
The one thing I will say is that I would take the Tigers haul over the Phillies 10 times out of 10 and they had a much less valuable piece
Phillies seems fine. Some half way decent potential but nothing like Norris
Blah blah blah blaaahhhhhhhhh.
As of the last updated list I could find of Hamels here were the list of teams he was allowing trades to: Dodgers, Angels, Padres, Cardinals, Nationals, Braves, Yankees, Red Sox, and Rangers.
Every team that was brought up to which people are saying did better, etc etc etc etceteraaaaaa.....Tigers? 'Stros? My penis? Where are they on there? Lemme put on my readin' glasses, and check that list again...
I WISH Norris was in the Phillies' farm. Easily would be the first Phils jersey I would buy in 5 years, even if he wasn't on the team yet.
But.....soooo.....if my aunt had balls she'd be my uncle. That's the moral of this story I'd say.
ha, I didn't realize he could block the Jays
What's his problem with Toronto, Cliff? Toronto's cool. I mean, I'd go.
The one thing I will say is that I would take the Tigers haul over the Phillies 10 times out of 10 and they had a much less valuable piece
Phillies seems fine. Some half way decent potential but nothing like Norris
Blah blah blah blaaahhhhhhhhh.
As of the last updated list I could find of Hamels here were the list of teams he was allowing trades to: Dodgers, Angels, Padres, Cardinals, Nationals, Braves, Yankees, Red Sox, and Rangers.
Every team that was brought up to which people are saying did better, etc etc etc etceteraaaaaa.....Tigers? 'Stros? My penis? Where are they on there? Lemme put on my readin' glasses, and check that list again...
I WISH Norris was in the Phillies' farm. Easily would be the first Phils jersey I would buy in 5 years, even if he wasn't on the team yet.
But.....soooo.....if my aunt had balls she'd be my uncle. That's the moral of this story I'd say.
ha, I didn't realize he could block the Jays
What's his problem with Toronto, Cliff? Toronto's cool. I mean, I'd go.
Toronto is a bunch of nerds. Think they live in New York City, play in a stupid dome, and are incredibly underrated as a terrible group of fans. Go play hockey, Canadians.
The one thing I will say is that I would take the Tigers haul over the Phillies 10 times out of 10 and they had a much less valuable piece
Phillies seems fine. Some half way decent potential but nothing like Norris
Blah blah blah blaaahhhhhhhhh.
As of the last updated list I could find of Hamels here were the list of teams he was allowing trades to: Dodgers, Angels, Padres, Cardinals, Nationals, Braves, Yankees, Red Sox, and Rangers.
Every team that was brought up to which people are saying did better, etc etc etc etceteraaaaaa.....Tigers? 'Stros? My penis? Where are they on there? Lemme put on my readin' glasses, and check that list again...
I WISH Norris was in the Phillies' farm. Easily would be the first Phils jersey I would buy in 5 years, even if he wasn't on the team yet.
But.....soooo.....if my aunt had balls she'd be my uncle. That's the moral of this story I'd say.
ha, I didn't realize he could block the Jays
What's his problem with Toronto, Cliff? Toronto's cool. I mean, I'd go.
Toronto is a bunch of nerds. Think they live in New York City, play in a stupid dome, and are incredibly underrated as a terrible group of fans. Go play hockey, Canadians.
It is a nice city. Rather world-class, I'd say. New York of the North. How 'bout that?
"And frankly, the city they claim to represent is no longer the Greatest City In The World. Have you been to New York lately? It’s a fucking trash pile. New York was already a town of starry-eyed yokels, conformists doing a stint in the big city before settling down on the set of a John Hughes movie, legit war criminals, and what not. But now it comes with a permanent toilet aroma."
The one thing I will say is that I would take the Tigers haul over the Phillies 10 times out of 10 and they had a much less valuable piece
Phillies seems fine. Some half way decent potential but nothing like Norris
Blah blah blah blaaahhhhhhhhh.
As of the last updated list I could find of Hamels here were the list of teams he was allowing trades to: Dodgers, Angels, Padres, Cardinals, Nationals, Braves, Yankees, Red Sox, and Rangers.
Every team that was brought up to which people are saying did better, etc etc etc etceteraaaaaa.....Tigers? 'Stros? My penis? Where are they on there? Lemme put on my readin' glasses, and check that list again...
I WISH Norris was in the Phillies' farm. Easily would be the first Phils jersey I would buy in 5 years, even if he wasn't on the team yet.
But.....soooo.....if my aunt had balls she'd be my uncle. That's the moral of this story I'd say.
ha, I didn't realize he could block the Jays
What's his problem with Toronto, Cliff? Toronto's cool. I mean, I'd go.
Toronto is a bunch of nerds. Think they live in New York City, play in a stupid dome, and are incredibly underrated as a terrible group of fans. Go play hockey, Canadians.
It is a nice city. Rather world-class, I'd say. New York of the North. How 'bout that?
"And frankly, the city they claim to represent is no longer the Greatest City In The World. Have you been to New York lately? It’s a fucking trash pile. New York was already a town of starry-eyed yokels, conformists doing a stint in the big city before settling down on the set of a John Hughes movie, legit war criminals, and what not. But now it comes with a permanent toilet aroma."
Not my words, Cliff. Not. My. Words.
Stop it. It is a fine Canadian city. Have been an number of times, always had a good time, but that's where I leave it. And at the end of the day, you're in Canada.
I don't know if you noticed, but Philly doesn't exactly smell like roses.
The one thing I will say is that I would take the Tigers haul over the Phillies 10 times out of 10 and they had a much less valuable piece
Phillies seems fine. Some half way decent potential but nothing like Norris
Blah blah blah blaaahhhhhhhhh.
As of the last updated list I could find of Hamels here were the list of teams he was allowing trades to: Dodgers, Angels, Padres, Cardinals, Nationals, Braves, Yankees, Red Sox, and Rangers.
Every team that was brought up to which people are saying did better, etc etc etc etceteraaaaaa.....Tigers? 'Stros? My penis? Where are they on there? Lemme put on my readin' glasses, and check that list again...
I WISH Norris was in the Phillies' farm. Easily would be the first Phils jersey I would buy in 5 years, even if he wasn't on the team yet.
But.....soooo.....if my aunt had balls she'd be my uncle. That's the moral of this story I'd say.
ha, I didn't realize he could block the Jays
What's his problem with Toronto, Cliff? Toronto's cool. I mean, I'd go.
Toronto is a bunch of nerds. Think they live in New York City, play in a stupid dome, and are incredibly underrated as a terrible group of fans. Go play hockey, Canadians.
It is a nice city. Rather world-class, I'd say. New York of the North. How 'bout that?
"And frankly, the city they claim to represent is no longer the Greatest City In The World. Have you been to New York lately? It’s a fucking trash pile. New York was already a town of starry-eyed yokels, conformists doing a stint in the big city before settling down on the set of a John Hughes movie, legit war criminals, and what not. But now it comes with a permanent toilet aroma."
Not my words, Cliff. Not. My. Words.
Stop it. It is a fine Canadian city. Have been an number of times, always had a good time, but that's where I leave it. And at the end of the day, you're in Canada.
I don't know if you noticed, but Philly doesn't exactly smell like roses.
Especially on trash day(s). Nothing like a fine bike commute in the morning when it's 80 degrees at 7AM and warm wafts of hot garbage hit you in the face. Philly's the best.
Welcome to an eternity of Hell, Cliff - living in the very heart of Eagles country for the rest of your life. Might wanna watch your games at Big Charlie's with the Chiefs fans.
The one thing I will say is that I would take the Tigers haul over the Phillies 10 times out of 10 and they had a much less valuable piece
Phillies seems fine. Some half way decent potential but nothing like Norris
Blah blah blah blaaahhhhhhhhh.
As of the last updated list I could find of Hamels here were the list of teams he was allowing trades to: Dodgers, Angels, Padres, Cardinals, Nationals, Braves, Yankees, Red Sox, and Rangers.
Every team that was brought up to which people are saying did better, etc etc etc etceteraaaaaa.....Tigers? 'Stros? My penis? Where are they on there? Lemme put on my readin' glasses, and check that list again...
I WISH Norris was in the Phillies' farm. Easily would be the first Phils jersey I would buy in 5 years, even if he wasn't on the team yet.
But.....soooo.....if my aunt had balls she'd be my uncle. That's the moral of this story I'd say.
ha, I didn't realize he could block the Jays
What's his problem with Toronto, Cliff? Toronto's cool. I mean, I'd go.
Toronto is a bunch of nerds. Think they live in New York City, play in a stupid dome, and are incredibly underrated as a terrible group of fans. Go play hockey, Canadians.
It is a nice city. Rather world-class, I'd say. New York of the North. How 'bout that?
"And frankly, the city they claim to represent is no longer the Greatest City In The World. Have you been to New York lately? It’s a fucking trash pile. New York was already a town of starry-eyed yokels, conformists doing a stint in the big city before settling down on the set of a John Hughes movie, legit war criminals, and what not. But now it comes with a permanent toilet aroma."
Not my words, Cliff. Not. My. Words.
Stop it. It is a fine Canadian city. Have been an number of times, always had a good time, but that's where I leave it. And at the end of the day, you're in Canada.
I don't know if you noticed, but Philly doesn't exactly smell like roses.
Especially on trash day(s). Nothing like a fine bike commute in the morning when it's 80 degrees at 7AM and warm wafts of hot garbage hit you in the face. Philly's the best.
Welcome to an eternity of Hell, Cliff - living in the very heart of Eagles country for the rest of your life. Might wanna watch your games at Big Charlie's with the Chiefs fans.
Nothing ever written has made this city sound more attractive to me...
Comments
The trade is a colossal disappointment for me. Now the farm system has one potential superstar (crawford), a bunch of number 3 starters (at best), and what projects to be league average players -- most of whom have terrible approaches at the plate (just like their current roster).
People can try to talk themselves into this trade based off of meaningless prospect rankings, but they didn't get enough back for a top 10 league pitcher in his prime who's on a team friendly contract. Hell, the phils even sent money to texas in the deal and took on a terrible contract. At minimum they should have gotten a top tier prospect in return.
It's an epic fail...typical for this franchise. middleton needs to fire everyone and start over.
Tom O.
"I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?"
-The Writer
http://www.lonestarball.com/2015/7/30/9072091/thoughts-on-the-trade
The details of the Hamels' trade underscores: PHI had far less leverage than expected, and were greatly boxed in by his no-trade provision.
Tom O.
"I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?"
-The Writer
phillies are losers
quality over quantity every time
Tom O.
"I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?"
-The Writer
Vegas 93, Vegas 98, Vegas 00 (10 year show), Vegas 03, Vegas 06
VIC 07
EV LA1 08
Seattle1 09, Seattle2 09, Salt Lake 09, LA4 09
Columbus 10
EV LA 11
Vancouver 11
Missoula 12
Portland 13, Spokane 13
St. Paul 14, Denver 14
Tom O.
"I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?"
-The Writer
The fact that Marcus Hayes doesn't like it makes me feel better about it.
goodbye Cole. thanks for 2008 and a hell of a sendoff last saturday night.
Phillies seems fine. Some half way decent potential but nothing like Norris
Odds are the Phils got good deal in return for Cole Hamels
David Murphy
IF THE Phillies had fallen in love with Mike Olt as hard as fans wanted back in 2012, they would have traded Cole Hamels for a guy who has a .158 batting average, .579 OPS and 119 strikeouts in 314 major league plate appearances.
So before anybody lambastes the front office for failing to land any of this year's supposed blue-chippers in their long-awaited trade of Hamels, consider the possibility that it wasn't a failure at all, but, rather, a prudent decision to limit their exposure to risk by agreeing to a diversified package of talent that contained a solid mix of predictability and projectability.
Falling in love with a prospect is a dangerous thing to do, because it can make you forget that all prospects are a guessing game to some degree. Your job is to know as much about them as you can, to formulate as accurate a projection about their future as you can, but also to remember that there is a significant amount that nobody can ever know or project, and to build the variability of that unknown into whatever formula you use to place a value on them. The value of each prospect in a package diminishes the value a team can expect out of the subsequent pieces.
Say you estimate that Player A has a 50 percent chance of developing into an elite player and a 70 percent chance of developing into an above-average big-league regular, while Player B and Player C both have a 10 percent chance of becoming elite and a 50 percent chance at becoming above league-average. While Player A gives you a much better chance at landing an elite player, he also gives leaves you more exposed to the risk that you won't land an above-average big-leaguer, because the combined probability that either Player B or Player C develops into an above-average big-leaguer is 75 percent.
The actual calculus is a bit more complicated because, well, it is actual calculus. We're talking about the same kind of processes that actuaries use to determine insurance rates and risk pools.
But the principle is pretty basic: A player like Hamels is worth a certain amount of eggs on the trade market. Put all of them in one strong basket instead of two weaker ones, you've got a better chance of getting all of your eggs home safe. You might also have a better chance at losing them all, depending on how you calculate the chance that the strong basket fails.
In Jorge Alfaro and Jake Thompson the Phillies appear to have done a deft job of diffusing their risk. Alfaro has the higher upside, with raw power that scouts consider elite. His ceiling goes all the way up to someone like Pudge Rodriguez. At the same time, he carries some significant risk, with strikeout and walk rates that could prevent him from ever being able to hit big-league pitching. (He has 61 strikeouts and nine walks in 207 PAs at Double A this season.) But that risk is at least partially offset by Thompson, given the variety of ways in which a pitcher of his profile can help an organization even if he falls short of his potential.
One of the problems with the Phillies' trade of Cliff Lee in 2009 was that all three players they landed were boom-or-bust. Phillippe Aumont might have had a higher ceiling than Thompson, but he also had a much lower floor, given that he was still walking batters at an alarming rate two full years into his minor league career.
This isn't an argument that the Phillies would have been unwise to trade Hamels for Corey Seager or Julio Urias or Aaron Judge, just that they seem to have made the best of what is an unenviable situation for any general manager attempting to acquire young, cost-controlled talent in the current market. Even if only one of these players develops into a meaningful contributor on a playoff-caliber team, the deal will be more successful than most that get consummated this time of year.
Another thing to keep in mind is that it takes a lot more than 25 players to field a playoff team, and the bulk of those extra players are pitchers. The Phillies would be a bad team regardless of their rotation, but it is their pitching that makes them look like a historically awful team. The lack of depth at the position in the minors is something that they have addressed over the last year, adding arms like Zach Eflin, Nick Pivetta, Ben Lively and now Alec Asher and Jerad Eickhoff in addition to higher upside pieces in Thompson and Aaron Nola. Nola and Thompson are the two that are most likely to develop into starters in a playoff-caliber rotation, but starters like that often get hurt, and a team needs a capable replacement to stay in the playoff hunt. Sometimes, those replacements can surprise you, like the Phillies saw with Kyle Kendrick, J.A. Happ and Vance Worley.
The package for Hamels appears to be a solid mix of ceilings and floors, probability and potential. The Phillies' next playoff contender will not be built overnight. It will be a process of attrition. This was the obvious next step, and it was a good one.
As of the last updated list I could find of Hamels here were the list of teams he was allowing trades to: Dodgers, Angels, Padres, Cardinals, Nationals, Braves, Yankees, Red Sox, and Rangers.
Every team that was brought up to which people are saying did better, etc etc etc etceteraaaaaa.....Tigers? 'Stros? My penis? Where are they on there? Lemme put on my readin' glasses, and check that list again...
I WISH Norris was in the Phillies' farm. Easily would be the first Phils jersey I would buy in 5 years, even if he wasn't on the team yet.
But.....soooo.....if my aunt had balls she'd be my uncle. That's the moral of this story I'd say.
There is hope in the middle east!
I see my beloved Reds trading their shit all away and just need to remind ourselves that nobody knows how these things will work out for a few years. Cole could tear his elbow up tomorrow playing catch with his kids. (Hope not) Have to see what you can get and take the best offer out there. (I guess the best offer not from a division rival.)
I would have thought they would take less on the prospect side and insist that some moneybags team (Dodgers/Yankees) take big Howard as part of the deal. Maybe they tried, who knows.
"And frankly, the city they claim to represent is no longer the Greatest City In The World. Have you been to New York lately? It’s a fucking trash pile. New York was already a town of starry-eyed yokels, conformists doing a stint in the big city before settling down on the set of a John Hughes movie, legit war criminals, and what not. But now it comes with a permanent toilet aroma."
Not my words, Cliff. Not. My. Words.
I don't know if you noticed, but Philly doesn't exactly smell like roses.
Welcome to an eternity of Hell, Cliff - living in the very heart of Eagles country for the rest of your life. Might wanna watch your games at Big Charlie's with the Chiefs fans.