Gotta give to receive but I'd say that's a little steep. I'd hope something more like Folty, McCullers, Peacock, Santana and Hader would get the job done but I could be way off.
hamels' contract is quite reasonable for the caliber pitcher that he is. crane said he will go over budget for the right guy. as for the trade specifics, the astros will have to part with top tier talent to acquire an ace on a good contract. fortunately they have two of the top 5 picks in next year's draft to lessen the blow. it's a great opportunity.
No way in hell it costs that much to get Hamels. He turns 31 in two weeks, you only give up that level of talent for a young team controlled superstar, and even then that would be a steep price. Particularly if he demands that his option be picked up to OK the trade. I don't love the idea of trading Appel for Hamels, but I don't hate it either. If he is one of the guys that can pitch through his mid 30's he's worth the money. Some guys start falling off at 34, while some guys can be effective into their late 30's. You can project all you want, but that really is a completely unknowable variable.
So you'd rather trade all of that talent AND pay Hamels 22M/yr rather than KEEP all of that talent at a low cost and sign Shields for say 15M/yr?
I think Shields will cost more than that, but I definitely prefer signing free agents than trading prospects to pay a comparable talent a comparable pay check. Now if the Phillies are willing to kick in a ton of cash to pay for whatever prospects the Astros give them, I would be fine with trading for Hamels.
Exactly. Every offseason it seems there's a star pitcher that's a FA. Why not keep your prospects and give the guy the contract? I do agree that if there's cash included in a deal, it makes trading prospects easier.
There is also a Mark Appel in just about every draft as well. In fact, with 2 high picks, we could draft an Appel replacement (or 2) in this draft alone. I like Appel, don't get me wrong, but I'm not so sure I wouldn't do an Appel for Hamels deal straight up.
I'd do Appel for Hammels straight up... with a few below top 20 prospects to throw in. But ONLY because we have 2 top 5 picks coming up...if the Astros select right, those could be huge and theoretically could easily replace Appel in the process.. I'd be down, otherwise I'd love it if we just signed Scherzer or Shields outright (its time for Crane to start paying for a product on the field)
Even better idea. I don't see that as an unreasonable request in the trade. We have all the leverage in the trade talks. If the Phillies want to go full rebuild, which sounds like they do, I am sure saving a ton of money (even if they throw some in the deal) PLUS Appel has to be pretty enticing to them. I also have more faith in Luhnow than Ruben Amaro Jr. too. There is no way Luhnow overpays for Hamels' services (at least in terms of acquisition cost).
you guys need to understand that hamels' contract is already a bargain. that's part of what makes trading for him so attractive. he's a legit ace in the prime of his career on a very reasonable contract. players like that do not get traded very often, but when they do it requires a legit haul. astros have no "leverage" in the hamels talk because philly has no need to trade him until they receive proper value. their owner is not cheap and is trying to dump salary.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>News: <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Astros?src=hash">#Astros</a> and iHeartMedia Houston announce deal to keep <a href="https://twitter.com/SportsTalk790">@SportsTalk790</a> KMBE as the radio home of the Astros through 2018.</p>— Houston Astros (@astros) <a href="https://twitter.com/astros/status/545383866102337537">December 18, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
I for one love knowing that if I see his name having made the most recent post in the thread, I can click on it knowing that it's in all likelihood going to have actual information.
I know what your saying but sometimes i see it and i think, "maybe he has an opinion about something" and every time it is just him posting a tweet haha he is a valuable asset to clutchfans!
JR is the one poster other than Clutch that I always click on because he always has valid information and breaking news.
