The trade was seemingly years in the making, but it’s finally happening – the Philadelphia Phillies are trading Cole Hamels to the Texas Rangers.
sources: hamels is going to the rangers. @sullivan_rangers was first in
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) July 30, 2015
FInal deal and its a doozy: Matt Harrison, Alec Asher, Jerad Eickhoff, Nick Williams, Jorge Alfaro & Jake Thompson for Hamels+Diekman+Cash.
— Evan Grant (@Evan_P_Grant) July 30, 2015
All in all, I think this was a solid deal for the Phillies, and probably the best they could have expected after all of the chaos surrounding Hamels in recent years. Yes, they didn’t get Joey Gallo or Nomar Mazara, but they did pick up a trio of great Rangers prospects in Jorge Alfaro, Nick Williams, and Jake Thompson.
Alfaro is having a “down year” in that he’s a 22-year old catcher at AA hitting .253/.314/.432 with five homers and a strikeout rate just shy of 30% at AA. He’s a solid defender with a cannon arm and ridiculous power, and is now the heir apparent to Carlos Ruiz in Philadelphia.
Williams won’t turn 22 until September, and is having a solid year in AA for the Rangers. In 96 games, he’s hitting .300/.357/.480 with 13 homers and ten steals.
Thompson is a pitcher who is just 21, and he came to the Rangers last year in the Joakim Soria deal. He’s also spent the year at AA, and in 87 2/3 innings, he’s struck out 78, walked 30, and pitched to a 4.72 ERA.
Asher is 23, and has split the year between AA and AAA. In 107 2/3 innings, he’s struck out 97, walked 37, and has pitched to a 4.43 ERA.
Eickhoff is the least-regarded of the five prospects going to Philadelphia in the trade. He’s a 25-year old that has spent the year at AAA (minus a pair of starts at AA), and has a 4.47 ERA at the level with 90 strikeouts and 33 walks in 96 2/3 innings.
Finally, Matt Harrison was included in the trade for the Phillies. He made just four starts last year and has made three this year while recovering from spinal fusion surgery, so his future value is quite limited. He’s tossed just 33 2/3 innings over the last two seasons, striking out 15, walking 18, and pitching to a 5.35 ERA. He’s also owed $28.2 million over the next two years (including a buyout on a 2018 club option), and is also owed the remnants of his $13.2 million salary this season. His inclusion was simply to balance out some of the money owed to Hamels.
Overall, Philadelphia did what they needed to do – they traded Cole Hamels, and it doesn’t look like they received less than 80 cents on the dollar.
