Texas Rangers: Should Texas Wait to Move Cole Hamels?

Even though he seems the most likely player traded by the Texas Rangers, patience is key when seeking out a deal for Cole Hamels.

The Texas Rangers are still trading Cole Hamels at some point this month. That’s not really a question. But what is a question is whether it’s in their best interest to wait until the end of the month before making a deal to send Cole away.

The main factor in holding off on a trade for Hamels is due to his string of poor outings. Over his last 4 starts, Cole has given up at least 3 earned runs and only thrown 17 innings. In the month of July alone he has made 3 starts and given up 18 runs. To make matters worse, his July 7th start at Detroit he went just 0.2 of an inning after giving up 5 hits and 7 runs, 3 of which were earned. This string of bad outings has really inflated his season numbers putting him at 5-8 with a 4.36 ERA. Now it’s fair to say that Hamels is probably better than his stats show but in trade discussions, his value is based off recent performance.

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So what could holding off on a trade do for Texas. Well, if the Rangers decide to keep Hamels until the end of the month, it allows him to try and right the ship. He’s expected to make two more starts this month meaning he has two chances to make good impressions. Both starts are against playoff caliber teams too in the Indians and the Astros. A couple of solid starts will show potential suitors that he is a viable option for their playoff run.

Righting the ship will help Texas maximize the return they’re able to get for Hamels. His talent is known and his proficiency in the playoffs is proven. However, his down season seems to be trending worse and teams will use that as leverage to drive down the price and get Texas to take on more of his salary. Hopefully, Hamels can put together two quality starts before the month is up and help Texas can maximize the prospects they’ll get back from moving him.

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Let us know what you think the best course of action is for trading Cole Hamels in the comments below.