By Peter Gleason
Cole Hamels has Boston on his 20-team no-trade list. Not a big deal.
After discussing the issue with Hamels’s agent, John Boggs (fourth cousin of Wade Boggs), the Boston Globe reports that it appears the Red Sox and Phillies could still make a deal for the lefthander.
When FoxSports.com’s Ken Rosenthal first reported the Red Sox being on Hamels’s no-trade list, which he can revise every year of his contract, there was some speculation that Hamels didn’t want to play in Boston. It turns out Hamels has no issue with the Red Sox.
It’s basically leverage for Hamels, who could force an interested team to pick up his 2019 option for $20 million, making the remainder of his contract worth $110 million over five years.
The Phillies have scouted the Red Sox extensively and like their prospects, so this situation is worth keeping an eye on through the next month or so. The Cubs tried to deal for Hamels earlier this year, and they have the pieces to get him.
