Trade Rumors: Cole Hamels linked to St. Louis Cardinals

Fox Sports’ Jon Morosi reports that Philadelphia Phillies left-handed pitcher Cole Hamels “remains very much in play” for the St. Louis Cardinals. This would not be the first time that he’s been linked to the Cardinals.

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At Winter Warm-Up this weekend, Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak said that the club was “not actively shopping” for a starting pitcher. Is there more there than meets the eye? Maybe.

Morosi spoke on Monday with The Ryan Kelley Morning After about his thoughts on the Cardinals and the club being linked to other teams as a trade candidate. Max Scherzer, now off the market, and Detroit Tigers pitcher David Price were seen as possible targets for the Cardinals in addition to Hamels. Price and the Tigers have yet to agree to a contract extension.

“Hamels, on the other hand, his wife’s from Missouri, he has some family ties there,” Morosi said on the show. “And obviously the Phillies want to trade him and the Phillies now aren’t going to be able to trade him to Texas, who just got Yovani Gallardo. So when you talk about those things…one possibility is off the board for the Cardinals with Scherzer and one possible Hamels suitor is off the board. When you add up those two things, it might push the Hamels possibility a little closer together.”

With their trade of shortstop Jimmy Rollins, the Phillies are in a rebuilding mode.

“I do think this: the Phillies realize they have to make some trades here and restart the overall building of the team,” Morosi said. “So I think they realize they have to trade him, so ultimately the price is going to come down. I do think as high as the asking price was initially, the Cardinals have a good enough farm system where I think if it comes down a little bit, the Cardinals certainly have the talent to match that package.”

The Phillies would certainly be interested in getting a pitcher back in return like Carlos Martinez or Marco Gonzales. Gonzales is under team control through the end of the 2020 season, making him an attractive prospect for the Phillies, while Martinez is under team control through the end of 2019.

Outfielders could certainly include Peter Bourjos, Randal Grichuk, or Stephen Piscotty.

Hamels is signed through the 2018 season for $96 million with a team option for 2019 that would value the contract at $110 million.