Cole Hamels trade rumor update: Chicago Cubs sending three pitchers

Cole Hamels trade rumor update: While the Chicago Cubs and Texas Rangers work on making the Cole Hamels trade official, let’s update what is being reported on this deal.

Jon Heyman says that the Cubs are paying $5 million of “remaining obligation” due to Hamels. There is roughly $14 million due to Hamels, between his remaining 2018 salary and his $6 million buyout of his team option for 2019, so this means the Rangers are sending $9 million to Chicago in this deal. The Cubs could, of course, exercise the $20 million team option on Hamels for 2019, in which case they’d owe him an additional $14 million.

Reportedly, the Rangers are getting Rollie Lacy, as well as another pitcher, and a player to be named later, with the “another pitcher” being “not a prospect.” The sense from folks on Twitter seems to be that this is someone on the major league roster, or someone with major league experience who is in AAA (for example, if the Rangers were trading Delino DeShields or Ryan Rua, they would be described as “not a prospect” in such a telling). For what it is worth, Evan Grant says it is Lacy and “two other minor leaguers,” so it may not be someone on the major league roster currently.

Lacy is a righthanded pitcher who just turned 23, who was an 11th round pick in the 2017 draft, and who has had success in A ball (he’s been newly promoted to Myrtle Beach). It remains to be seen who the other two players in the deal are.

As a point of reference, J.A. Happ was traded to the Yankees yesterday, and the Yankees owe Happ $4.5 million for the remainder of the year, compared to the $5 million the Cubs are paying Hamels. The reports indicated that Happ was preferred to Hamels by those seeking pitching, having pitched better this season (and not having a no-trade clause to contend with), and he returned Brandon Drury and Billy McKinney. In terms of expectations, the Happ return should provide something of a measuring stick for the Hamels return.