Cole Hamels, the newest ace of the Texas Rangers? It’s apparently still a possibility, according to Jon Paul Morosi of Fox Sports.
Sources: #Rangers and #Phillies having ongoing dialogue about Cole Hamels, and he is willing to waive no-trade to Texas. @FOXSports
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) June 23, 2015
In January, the Rangers were one of four teams (along with the Red Sox, Cardinals, and Padres) that was hunting Hamels. No deal got done in the offseason, and in March, our Ian Casselberry surmised that Texas wouldn’t be trading for Hamels just before Yu Darvish underwent Tommy John surgery to end his 2015 season before it even started.
But the Rangers are shockingly playing very well this season. They’re 37-33, three games back of the Astros for the AL West lead, and are just a game behind the Yankees and Twins for one of the AL’s two Wild Card spots. But oddly enough, it hasn’t been the Rangers rotation that’s been a problem.
The Texas rotation has pitched to a 3.57 ERA this year, the sixth-best mark in baseball, and has amassed 4.8 fWAR, the 13th-highest total in the league. And those numbers look a lot worse when you consider they feature nine starts from Phil Klein and Ross Detwiler, who were quite bad and have since been replaced by dazzling Chi Chi Gonzalez.
The Rangers’ bullpen? Yeah, there are issues there. The unit has been below replacement level this year, and only the A’s, Rockies, and Braves bullpens have a worse ERA than Texas’s 4.41 mark. And while Shawn Tolleson and Keone Kela have both been quite good this season, they’re the only two Rangers relievers above replacement level – the other 14 pitchers used in relief this year have been replacement level or worse.
But strangely enough, it’s been the Rangers *offense* that’s been a cause for concern. The team is hitting .247/.317/.393 as a whole, ranking them 18th in baseball in both wOBA and wRC+. The team has gotten nothing from shortstop Elvis Andrus this year, nothing from center fielder Leonys Martin, just about nothing from the duo of Robinson Chirinos and Carlos Corporan behind the plate, and barely more than nothing from second basemen Adam Rosales and Rougned Odor. Their offense has been carried this year by a resurgent Prince Fielder and a shockingly competent Mitch Moreland.
So while Cole Hamels is the biggest, sexiest name on the trade market, he’s probably not the best fit for Texas. But considering the dearth of elite bats out there, maybe acquiring Hamels, crafting an upper tier rotation, and improving a wretched bullpen can be enough for Texas to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2012 and make a run into late-October.
