Cole Hamels / Scott Kazmir Rumors

Rumors about Cole Hamels and / or Scott Kazmir coming to the Dodgers' starting pitching rescue keep abounding; and David Schoenfield of ESPN.com says the asking price is quite high (link insider only):

Cole Hamels, LHP
Philadelphia Phillies
Trade likeliness rating: 4 (on a scale of 1-to-5, with 5 being "gone")
Best fit: Dodgers

Interested teams: Astros, Blue Jays, Cardinals, Cubs, Dodgers, Red Sox, Yankees

Hamels, signed through 2018 with a club option for 2019, is the most valuable pitcher on the trade market because the acquiring club will control him through 2019 at market value. However, the Phillies don't have to trade him, and they won't if they don't get the package they're looking for. But I believe some team will pony up, especially given Hamels' postseason success.

Scott Kazmir, LHP
Oakland Athletics
Trade likeliness rating: 5
Best fit: Cardinals or Dodgers

Interested teams: Astros, Blue Jays, Cardinals, Cubs, Dodgers, Red Sox, Yankees

Kazmir, a free agent-to-be, has an impressive 8.9 K/9 rate this season, and opponents are hitting just .214 against him. The A's are not going to be able to sign him long-term, so he'll be dealt, and the A's should be able to get plenty for him. The Dodgers and Cardinals are the favorites, given their strong farm systems.

According to the same article, the Dodgers are also in the mix for Johnny Cueto, Mike Leake, Jeff Samardzija, Yovani Gallardo, Kyle Lohse, and Tyler Clippard.

ESPN's Bowden Suggests A Trade So Crazy, Even Colletti Would Laugh

Three prime Dodgers prospects for Cole Hamels (link insider only)? Not likely...

Philadelphia Phillies-Los Angeles Dodgers

Phillies receive: CF Joc Pederson, LHP Julio Urias and INF Alex Guerrero

Dodgers receive: LHP Cole Hamels

Hamels has a limited no-trade clause that includes 21 teams he cannot be dealt to. However, he has pre-approved eight teams, and the Dodgers are believed to be on that short list. Imagine a Dodgers rotation of Kershaw, Greinke, Hamels, Hyun-Jin Ryu and Josh Beckett (when he returns). Hamels, 30, has proven to be a good postseason pitcher and boasts a 7-4 record with a 3.09 ERA and 1.05 WHIP in 13 playoff starts. He would immediately make the Dodgers the World Series favorites.

The Phillies, meanwhile, are in desperate need of a rebuild, and Pederson would be a major step in the right direction. He'd immediately become their best prospect, and many believe he's major league-ready. He could take over any of the three outfield positions. Pederson currently sports a .319/.437/.568 line at Triple-A, with 11 doubles, 3 triples, 17 home runs, 42 RBIs and 20 stolen bases.

Urias, 17, would become the Phillies' best pitching prospect. He would need a good three or four years of development before he can help the team, but he has plenty of upside. Alex Guerrero missed time earlier this season after teammate Miguel Olivo bit off part of his ear, but he's back now and is sporting a .376/.417/.735 line at Triple-A. He could play second base or shortstop if Chase Utley or Jimmy Rollins were traded. He could also be used as a trade piece, as teams such as the Orioles, Blue Jays, A's and Giants could all use an upgrade.

This would certainly be an unpopular deal for the Phillies to make, but the rebuilding process needs to begin sooner rather than later.

Well the other thing is, this would certainly be an unpopular deal for the Dodgers to make! After all, two of the three of these prospects were on the aforementioned Top 50 Prospects list. Let's hope Ned Colletti doesn't do anything foolish.

Okay, maybe let's just hope Colletti doesn't do anything THIS foolish.

Post-Game 22 Thread: Zack Out-Dreamies Cole

"I approve."

DODGERS 5, PHILLIES 2

Move over, Cole McDreamy. Zack (Heart) Attack is our man of the moment, having guided the Dodgers to victory with seven innings of two-run ball, with 11 strikeouts.

Uribe had an RBI and Puig had two (including one on a bat-flip triple), and Hanley snapped out of his slump with an insurance home run in the eighth. Turner added a RBI single for some Geico.

It's hard to believe, but the Dodgers actually have a chance at a split in this series. Given how it started, that would be a moral victory.

Game 123 Thread: Aug. 18 @ Phillies, 10:30a

Ricky Nolasco (4-1, 2.97 ERA as a Dodger) vs. Cole Hamels (5-13, 3.65 ERA)

Goooooood morning everybody!

What's left to say? Dodgers go for the Sandberg sweep before jetting off to Miami for four games. This is an early one for those of us on the West Coast, so we'll be getting our Bloody Marys on while cheering for the lads in Blue.

Forty games left. If we go 20-20, we finish 92-70. Not that we should set the bar low; aiming for 30-10 is not out of the question.

No Brian Wilson sighting yet, but keep your heads on a swivel! And don't let him try to hone in on your Bloody Marys.

There Goes Plan A

From "Sources: Hamels to stay with Phillies" by Ken Rosenthal at FOXSports.com:

Cole Hamels will remain with the Philadelphia Phillies.

The left-hander is close to completing a six-year contract extension for more than $137.5 million, according to major-league sources.

The deal will be the second largest ever awarded to a starting pitcher, trailing only the seven-year, $161 free-agent contract that left-hander CC Sabathia signed with the New York Yankees on Dec. 11, 2008.

By signing the contract, Hamels will ensure that he will not be traded before non-waiver deadline Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET, remaining with the team that made him the 17th overall pick in the 2002 draft.

Milwaukee Brewers right-hander Zack Greinke, who pitched well Tuesday night in Philadelphia after an 11-day layoff, will now become the biggest prize on the trade market.

This is bleak news considering the Cubs want to gut our farm system for a two-month rental of Ryan Dempster. The Dodgers have finally run into money when everyone else wants prospects.

UPDATE: Official numbers are six years, $144 million.

Use Lee (And Sands) To Get Hamels From Phillies?

At least, that's what Dan Szymborski of Baseball Think Factory / ESPN thinks (link insider only), in his "Five NL Trades That Must Happen" column:

Trade No. 2: Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels to Los Angeles Dodgers for pitcher Zach Lee, pitcher Chris Withrow and first baseman/outfielder Jerry Sands

As long as the Dodgers want to continue accumulating players who were good in 2007, why not actually add one who is good in 2012? With the exception of Felix Hernandez, whose availability may still be of the pie-in-the-sky variety, Hamels is the best pitcher available who's not getting scratched from starts to "recharge his batteries."

The Dodgers have the ability to extend Hamels long-term, should they choose, and the top of their rotation looks a lot scarier in October with the addition of Hamels, especially if Bud Selig doesn't make Chris Capuano take off his Cy Young Winner Halloween costume.

Lee is the likely prize for the Phillies, and if they aren't willing to wait for Withrow, you could easily substitute another next-tier prospect such as Garrett Gould. Sands doesn't have much prospect status left, but he can provide Philadelphia some 1B/OF depth as a useful throw-in.

Game 58 Thread: June 7 @ Phillies, 10a

"Tongs? I don't need no freakin' tongs."

Aaron Harang (4-3, 3.90) vs. Cole Hamels (8-2, 2.81).

Breakfast baseball! According to @truebluela, "The Dodgers have never swept a 4-game series in Philadelphia. Ever." If the Dodgers are to make history today, they're going to have to earn it. Aaron Harang may have ended the Dodgers' five-game losing streak in his last start, but he'll have to put the Phillies on lockdown today because Cole Hamels doesn't figure to allow the Dodgers too many runs. Let the sweep begin!

Overexposed and Underconditioned

Chad Billingsley and Russell Martin aren't the only ones yearning for the glory days of 2008. Big League Stew brings us this surprisingly un-gritty comment from the Phillies' Cole Hamels after his Halloween-night shellacking:

"I can't wait for it to end," Hamels said, referring to his wildly inconsistent 2009 season. "It's been mentally draining ... It's one of those things, a year in, you just can't wait for a fresh start."

Is Cole Hamels the anti-MSB? Already sportswriters like Jon Paul Morosi of FOXSports.com are jumping on Hamels, and I can't imagine this white flag-waving quote will go over well in boo-collar Philly. It's time to find out what the shelf life is on the goodwill from Hamels' 2008 World Series MVP award.

last photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images

Post-Game 56 Thread: Hamstrung

PHILLIES 3, DODGERS 0

"King Cole out there on the mound."

—Vin Scully

Cole Hamels: 9.0 IP, 5H, 0R, 5 K's

Cole Hamels Thinks You Don't Care

From "LA must neutralize Philly's home edge" at Dodgers.com:

Cole Hamels, the Phillies' starter for Game 1 on Thursday night, is a southern California native. He's looked at both sides now. There were, he said on Wednesday before the Phillies' workout, more diverse activities to occupy one's time on the West Coast. But, he said, fan intensity at baseball games wasn't close.

"On the West Coast, I think when I went to the games we arrived at the third inning and left by the eighth," Hamels said. "You had to wake up the next morning to see if the team won, versus the East Coast, they're here. They'll be after the game cheering you on. I think that's been great for what I've experienced and great for a player. And that's something you want to play in front of.

"So it's just something where I love the West Coast, don't get me wrong," Hamels added with a smile. "I hope they don't kill me now. They're never going to invite me back. It's just something that the East Coast, they're more passionate and more involved, and I think that just brings the love of the game a little bit more."