Texas Rangers: Smart Move Holding Onto Cole Hamels?

This season, the Texas Rangers shipped ace pitcher Yu Darvish off to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Much to the dismay of many Rangers fans, the decision is not personal, but just business. Does it look as though the Rangers decided they’re better off Cole Hamels instead of Darvish? Or the Rangers just made a tough business decision, a decision that has nothing to do with Hamels?

At first, Hamels was rumored to be one of the names the Texas Rangers were looking to trade. Soon after, it was seen that the Rangers weren’t taking a Hamels trade seriously. This shows that the Rangers organization were willing to talk to a team about a trade regarding, but we’re getting their hopes up about it. In other words, the Rangers ballclub would be open to discussing a deal, but it was not on the top of their to-do list.

Hamels is 6-1 this season. His ERA is 3.59. He did spend some time on the disabled list due to an oblique strain, causing him to miss eight weeks. Overall, he’s having a good season. Just a few days ago, he pitched a complete game in a 4-1 win against the Minnesota Twins, his first complete game since October 4th, 2015.

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Since arriving in Arlington on July 31st, 2015, Hamels is 28-7 in 57 starts. Hamels’ tenure in Arlington so far has been great. His arrival in Arlington helped the Rangers spark their run to the American League West title, which was a success. However, there is one bit of a hiccup; He’s yet to win a playoff game in a Rangers uniform. He’s 0-2 in three starts with a 5.40 ERA.

So did the Rangers do the right thing by keeping Hamels? Yes, they did. While Hamels is perhaps past his prime, or he’s on the verge of being past it, he’s playing good and he’s effective, especially with his fastballs, which he’s known well for. It’s a shame that he’s yet to win a playoff game for the Rangers, but in the last two seasons, Hamels’ dominance played a big part of winning two straight American League West titles.

Hamels is obviously not the same pitcher he was in 2008 when he won the World Series, being named the World Series’ Most Valuable Player. He’ll never be the player he was. But he’s still valuable. As said earlier, he’s pitching well.  The bottom line is that he shows he’s still got plenty of gas left in the tank. The Rangers trust him and believe in him.