Cole Hamels Trade is About who the Rangers DIDN’T Give Up
By Reid Hanson
The Texas Rangers finally pulled the trigger sending a gift basket of top prospects in exchange for ace pitcher, Cole Hamels.
Roughly 30 hours removed from the initial trade announcement, we see many differing opinions on the trade. Some people absolutely love the trade no matter the cost, while others feel the Rangers gave up far too much.
Valid arguments exist for both sides, but the element that can’t be overlooked is who the Rangers DIDN’T trade to Philly.
Cole Hamels and Jake Diekman were sent to Texas for a boatload of tantalizing prospects. In addition to trading Matt Harrison (which was more about trading away money owed), the Rangers sent top prospects Jake Thompson, Nick Williams, Jorge Alfaro (among others). For anyone who follows the Rangers farm system, these subtractions hurt.
Jake Thompson was a top of the rotation pitching prospect the Rangers absolutely love. Acquired from Detroit with the Joakim Soria trade, the Rangers had hopes of Thompson headlining the rotation for years to come. Nick Williams is a promising outfielder with top-flight potential as well.
Jorge Alfaro is a rare power-hitting catcher with a rocket arm. Think Pudge Rodriguez potential. The Rangers have been devoid of catching talent for years and Alfaro was supposed to be their savior. His loss hurts.
But…
This should be about who the Rangers DIDN’t trade away. Somehow, the Texas Rangers were able to get one of the top 5 pitchers in MLB without giving up Joey Gallo, Chi Chi Gonzalez, or Nomar Mazara. While nobody expected the Rangers to ever entertain trading Gallo, Mazara and Chi Chi were very much possibilities.
For the Rangers to keep these top 3 players/prospects in a trade of this magnitude, it has to be considered a win. The Rangers may have taken a huge chunk of talent out of their farm system, but they kept some potentially huge stars, who should be helping the team considerably in their 2016 season.
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The Rangers now find themselves without a long-term plan at catcher once again, but for as promising Alfaro looks, he was a long ways away from contributing for the Rangers. He is still learning the position and may not have worked out at catcher in the end. The Rangers parted ways with an extremely high-ceiling unknown. We’ll have to wait to see if this was regrettable, or brilliant.
Jake Thompson and Nick Williams looked more like sure things and are likely to be key building blocks for Philly next season. The Rangers will need to rebuild their farm team or they will face a black hole in 2-4 years.
But in the near future everything is rosy. The Rangers kept Chi Chi and Gallo – two players who will be big parts of this team next season and beyond. There is plenty of time to fill the void left by the trading of so many top prospects, and while the Rangers are unlikely to ever get back to where they were there, they do keep their near-future intact, and appear to be ready for a big run in 2016.
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