BOOSTER SHOTS

Since the Cubs acquired second baseman Daniel Murphy, the team is 6-0.
Murphy is hitting .407, 2 HR, 5 RBI, .448 OBP and 0.4 WAR since leading off for the Cubs. He solved two problems: the lead off hitter slot and the weak offensive production. He was the spark plug that ignited the Cubs current six game winning streak.

Cole Hamels has been a godsend to the Cubs rotation. Not only has he taken the place of Yu Darvish, he has pushed the other starters to perform better. In his five starts (all Cub victories), he is 4-0, 0.79 ERA, 0.941 WHIP. As a veteran presence, he took some pressure off Jon Lester to lead a shaky staff into the final two month grind of the season.

On the South Side, the White Sox starting pitchers have a streak of quality starts. Michael Kopech's debut in the rain was impressive, as was his second start. He is 1-0 with a 1.13 ERA. But even more impressive has been Carlos Rodon. He has solidified his role as a #1 starter (and was one of the reasons the Sox traded Chris Sale). Rodon is 6-3, 2.70 ERA, 1.007 WHIP. Young starters Reynolaldo Lopez and Lucas Giolito have been coming on strong after a rocky first half of the season.

The 2019 rotation is starting to take shape very quickly. A White Sox staff of Rodon, Kopech, Lopez, Giolito and a fifth starter from Carson Fullmer, Dylan Covery, Jordan Stepehns, Tyler Danish or Donn Roach will be solid. After completing the starting pitching part of the rebuild, it should be easier to consolidate the offense when Elroy Jimenez joins the team in late April, 2019.

It is interesting to note that the addition of a player or two can really turn around a ball club with both excitement and enhanced performance.

MORE COLE IN YOUR STOCKING

The Cubs were forced to make a move. Tyler Chatwood had another aggravating outing of walking 6 batters and putting the team into an early, big deficit.  Yu Darvish has been slow in his recovery to the point the team is now counting on a TJ-rehabber in Drew Smyly to make an impact in September.

So the Cubs made a trade for a second or third tier veteran starter in Cole Hamels. He has a no-hitter and a WS ring on his resume, but he has struggled for the Rangers this season. As MLBTR reports, the 34-year-old Hamels isn’t the ace that he once was, and he’s had his share of struggles in 2018 — albeit nearly all of them coming at his homer-happy home stadium in Arlington. Hamels is surrendering home runs at a career-worst rate, but it’s somewhat telling that 16 of the 23 round-trippers he’s yielded have come at Globe Life Park. Hamels has a 6.41 ERA, a 6.16 FIP and a 4.49 xFIP when pitching at home this season but a 2.93 ERA, 4.17 FIP and 3.83 xFIP on the road.

This is the same logic Theo used to justify signing Chatwood to a three year deal. Get him out of the hitter friendly Coors Field climate, and he will do great. It is apparent that throwing strikes or allowing home runs is not solely dependent on the climate.

The Cubs rotation, except for Lester, cannot get through five innings in any consistent manner. Hamels has to fit into the fourth or fifth starter role with the mentality of six plus innings in order to save the bullpen. Hendricks had another iffy outing, Quintana has had one quality start and two good ones in his last three, and Montgomery is hitting the wall by the fifth inning.

I suspect that Montgomery will move back into the bullpen as the long relief, emergency closer role from 2016.  Hamels will be in the rotation until Darvish returns. Then the real decision has to be made: keep sending Chatwood out to the mound to wet the bed, or go to a six man rotation (which Lester opposes.) You cannot trust the lack of command in Chatwood to be a leveraged relief pitcher. You can't waste Hamels potential for eating early innings in the bullpen.

In 20 starts this year, Hamels is 5-9, 4.72 ERA, 1.373 WHIP, 0.8 WAR. He is averaging 5 2/3 IP per start. If he fits into the rotation, the Cubs could probably count on 10-12 more starts from him (which would be slightly better than Chatwood's numbers). 

The Cubs gave up two minor league pitchers and a possible player-to-be-named later for Hamels. The Rangers will still eat most of the money owed to Hamels. Whether Hamels has anything left in the tank is the value of this trade.

TRADE BLOCKS

Why some teams handcuff themselves by giving players "trade blocks" in their contracts is one of those annoying realities of baseball. It is a player perk that agents have been pushing for, even in the richest of contract deals. In normal business, an employee has some say in where he or she works if there is a company consolidation, merger or relocation. Employees can leave their companies and find new jobs to their liking in any city they choose. So in that sense, star baseball players with no trade clauses are similar to other parts of the American employment landscape.

If it is not the money, then it should be about winning. But some players have home life quality of life issues to think about, too. That may be the hidden driving force on why more and more players are demanding trade blocks.

Phillies ace pitcher Cole Hamels is adamant about one thing: he will not be suiting up for the Houston Astros. According to KHOU, the left-hander's contract accords him up to 20 teams that he can refuse to be traded to, and the Astros are at the top of the list despite leading their division and boasting an outstanding pitching staff.

Hamels has turned out a decent season for the Phillies so far, sitting on a 5-5 record with a 3.55 FIP and 103 strikeouts through 94 1/3 innings. His 2.96 ERA is the 11th best among National League starters, and though his efforts have yielded a team-best 1.7 fWAR, the Phillies can better utilize him as a trade chip during the weeks leading up to the trade deadline.

Hamels may not have an adversity to the State of Texas, because it is reported that talks with the Rangers have been made about a trade. The Rangers and the Yankees are in the mix because both of whom could use an upgrade to their pitching staffs as they approach the All-Star break. Hamels is set to earn $70.5 million between 2016 and 2018, and while his price tag isn't holding big money teams like the Rangers or Yankees from swinging a deal, the cost in return players and prospects may be the key.

But it hurts a GM that he can leverage a star player on the market if the player's contract effectively eliminates two-thirds of the potential trade partners. The Yanks and Rangers know this, too. If the Phillies are looking for a big haul (like a team's #1 and #2 prospects, a major league ready pitcher and some additional bullpen help) the Astros have a deeper farm system than the Yankees.

There will be soon daily speculation stories about Hamels. In the end, he may not even be moved by the Phils.

TRADING PLACES

In 2014, the Cubs put a waiver claim on Cole Hamels. It is customary that a team place all its players on revocable waivers after the trade deadline in order to judge potential trade partners. The Cubs surprised many as being a "buyer" on Hamels. The Phils pulled back the ace pitcher and no trade happened.

But this week, Bruce Levine was on the radio talking about the Cubs and Hamels. He believes the Cubs, who lost out on James Shields, are still interested in Hamels. However, the Phillies are looking for a bunch of young prospects from the Cubs in order to move Hamels.

“Eight teams have kicked the tires,” general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. told CSNPhilly.com.
How many teams have made offers?
“Real offers?” Amaro said.
“Four.”

The Cubs are apparently one of the tire kickers.

Hamels is owed $98 million. Levine believes the Cubs have the money to do anything at this point. (Which is an cloudy statement considering the Cubs have huge outlays on Wrigley reconstruction, new litigation fees and the unlikely hope that all the big prospects will turn to gold in 2015). The Cubs were second in the Shields free agency bidding, offering three years, $60 million. The Padres won with four years, $75 million. If the Cubs had no barriers on money, then another $5 million per year would have gotten Shields.

In order to acquire Hamels, the Phillies would probably want a catcher, Welington Castillo, an impact middle infielder, Addison Russell, a young ready starter, Kyle Hendricks and another prospect like Albert Almora or Arismendy Alcantara. The radio hosts immediately turned down that package on behalf of the Cubs organization.

Clearly, the speculation is that Castillo and LHP Travis Wood is not enough to pry Hamels away from Philadelphia, which is going to go through a major rebuild. Castillo has an average annual WAR of 1.54 (1.8 last year), Wood an average annual WAR of 1.0, and Alcantara 0.6 for a benchmark group WAR of 3.1 WAR. Hamels average WAR is 4.4. Hendricks had a 2.9 WAR last year. Hendricks, Castillo and Alcantara is probably a good enough package to acquire Hamels from a neutral observation point-of-view. But the Phils will demand more and the Cubs really covet their own prospects so any deal is a long shot.

Hamels, 31, has played 9 seasons. In 274 career starts, he is 108-83, 3.27 ERA, 1.142 WHIP, 3.77 K/BB ratio and 40.4 WAR.

He has been compared to Shields, 33, 11 years career 26.7 WAR and Zack Greinke, 31, 9 years career 39.4 WAR.

Would Hamels help the Cubs rotation? Of course. And with the current front office's fascination with lefties, a rotation of Lester, Hamels, Arrieta, T. Wood and Hammel would be an upgrade over 2014.

Perhaps the $98 million budget would be better held in reserve for David Price's free agency in 2015.