After months of speculation whether the lefty would be returning to the Phillies’ clubhouse after next season, Cole Hamels and Philadelphia management agreed to a one-year $15-million contract to avoid an Arbitration Hearing.
Hamels was projected to make $14-million this offseason, but after a career low ERA and no earned runs in the Postseason, the Phillies threw in another million to ice the cake.
The one-year deal will keep Hamels in Philly until the end of the 2013 season, which will hopefully give Amaro Jr. some time to work up a longer deal for Hollywood. Although this may just be delaying the 28-year-old’s departure, Philadelphia has him inked for two more seasons and if they can bring home another championship, I’m sure Hamels wouldn’t mind giving a home town discount.
The short-term fix was not the decision of the 14-game winner, who has made his plans to stay in Philly public on numerous occasions, but that of management who even earlier this month preached a one-year deal being the best option.
When Steve Proefrock appeared on CSNPhilly.com ranting about a one-year deal being the Phillies best move when it came to the two-time all-star, people thought he was out of his mind. But just as Hamels made his claim to stay in Philly publically known, management made it clear a one-year deal was all that was in the horizon for him this offseason.
Already weighed down by long-term deals with Halladay, Howard, Lee and Utley, the Phillies are reluctant to add another multi-year/multi-million dollar contract to their payroll. If Hamels pitches great this year he will get his extension in Philly, but if he magically falls apart the Phils only have him under contract for another season.
It’s a tale of two sides and playing it safe may cause Hollywood to look elsewhere after 2013, but really this arbitration contract is just giving management another year to decide if he will be a lifelong Phillie or if his services will be better used elsewhere.
The contract let the Phillies avoid arbitration with the stud starter and now can place their concentration on arbitration eligible outfielder, Hunter Pence.
Good deal that shows some sanity on both sides …The Howard contract is the one that will be the big problem.
These long deals to Howard,Utley,Blanton,and even Halladay & Lee will come back to bite this Club by 2013 to the point they will be unable to keep their best young players like Hamels,Pence and really tie the Phillies hands to go out and acquire younger talented players who are in their Primes and can play at a high level for 3-4-5 Years.. and if all they end up with is only the 2009 WS Championship to show for all this talent and big salaraies to half the team, then this would be a huge disappointment to this Phillie fan…
Congrats to Hamels though, for he deserves it and was the most consistent Pitcher last Season and I expect him to again be the best all around Pitcher on the Staff as Halladay & Lee get another year older and continue to lose just a little zip each year
The Howard contract, is the single worst contract in sports today! I honestly believe that it was unnecessary & unwarranted. He did not deserve it.
i thought he will become a free agent after this season?
DCar , I agree with you in Baseball Terms…but at least Howard puts up the Power #’s in HR’s and RBI’s which is what he’s paid to do…
But Eagles QB M VIck is not too far behind though when you think about it..
I believe Vick ranked 19th in QB Overall Performance in 2011 out of 32 QB’s while being paid as a Top 5 Elite QB, which he clearly is not
To Supermanvick
This atricle is confusing and incorrect..
Cole Hamels is now under with a a 1 Year Deal for 2012 for $15 Million
He will be eligible to become a Free-Agent after the 2012 Season.. I am not sure why the author mentioned that the Phils have him for 2 more years which is not accurate and confusing???
paulman how can you compare vick to howard, ones a bust, the other has been a beast, think about what you just posted
Howard is not a bust, he’s just overpaid.. at the end of the Season, he will have his 35 HR/110 RBI’s like CLockwork, Actually I think he’s pretty consistent..Howard will bat .250-.260, Strike out 180 Times but still be productive with the Power #’s and RBI’s .. He’s just not worth $22 Million per Season and is probably the 8th-10th Best 1B in the Game
Vick on the other hand is way overpaid too.. He’s 2011 mirrored his Career Stats which is basically a .500 Winning Record, Some big exciting plays, but a lot of turnovers, a 55% Completion % and a tendancy to come up small in big games which is what he has done over his 8-9 Year Career minus the Great 5-6 weeks he had in Oct/Nov of 2010 which was an anomaly due to teams not seeinfg him play in a couple of season, Soon as DC’s around the League got more film and tape of him, they have negated much of his big explosive plays and have done a better job of having VIck stay in the pocket and beat you with good decision making and patience and to be honest, Vick is not very good at this style of play… He is not disciplined enough to simply take what the Defense’s give him..
paulman, howard the beast, vick the bust
Howard’s a Good player, but not a beast (Puljols,Gonzales,Texiera, Fielder are Beasts since the hit for average, are much better fielders and don’t struck out as much as Howard)
I would take a 30 HR- 100 RBi with a .285-.300 Batting Average with a good glove over a 40HR-120 RBi who bats .250 and pays a shaky 1B and strikes out 180 Times + each season.. But that’s just me…
Vick is not a bust, he’s simply an average QB who makes some very exciting plays, but makes some very poor decisions, holds the ball too long, runs into sacks half the time and turns the ball over.. I never particualrly cared for him as a player, I am happy that he’s turned his life around but I don’t think he’s consistent enough with his decision making and ball security to ever be more than a 8-9-10 Win a Season QB and a playoff appearance here and there with maybe a win or 2, but not Championship Caliber.. The likliehood for him to play 3 to 4 Consecutive Playoff Games against the good Teams and Coachaes and Defense’s that he will be paitient enough and make the proper decisions is like me getting the Reuplican Nomination to be the next POTUS… and that’s not going to happen for either of us….
He can definitely win a game by himself here and there, but not a SUper Bowl Run..
Nationals announce a 1 year Deal for Starting RHP Edwin Jackson (who the Phils really struggled against 2 times at the end of last Season when he was a late Season pick-up by the Cardinals and had a nice playoff performance..
Don’t sleep on these Nationals for they have upgraded their Starting Pitching big time and could throw out Strasburg, Gio Gonzales, C Wang, J Lannan, J Zimmerman and now Edwin Jackson which is not a bad Starting Rotation
Both Wang (who has been hurt the last 2 Seasons after a promising start as a Yankee and Jackson can become Free-Agents after the 2012 Season so they will be plenty motivitaed to pitch and perform at their best of the their ability and try to cash in as a Free-Agent
The Nats will bemuch improved and have a pretty deep Bullpen too with Rodruiquez, S Burnett, B Lidge,T Clippard and Closer D Storen on the back-end which is a pretty strong group..