ESPN Baseball Insider Jayson Stark joined Harry Mayes and Rob Ellis earlier today on 97.5 the Fanatic and had some interesting things to say on Cole Hamels. “I’ve talked to all the executives from other clubs that are here. I think Hamels getting traded, in the next three weeks, is now less than 50/50. ” Stark also later states that because of the strong free-agent market this offseason the Phillies could find themselves in the exact same situation next year. You can hear the full interview here

That is not exactly what any Phillies fan wanted to hear. The Phillies were in this exact situation one year ago and Hamels, like this year, was the Phillies best trade chip. But the deadline came and went, and Hamels remained in Phillies pinstripes. GM Ruben Amaro stated other teams were not willing to make a deal which was laughable because it was one of the busiest deadlines in years. The Phillies had a chance in August to trade Hamels to the Cubs who claimed him on waivers, but they eventually pulled the left hander back and it was thought that Hamels would be traded during the offseason.

As you know, Hamels was not traded in the offseason and now we are hearing he might not even be traded at the deadline?! The Phillies watched Cliff Lee’s trade value evaporate quicker than a drop of water in the Sahara thanks to an albow injury that will likely end his career. They waited too long, Lee got hurt, and instead of a top level prospect the Phillies get to send Lee a hefty paycheck every two weeks. So it is absolutely unbelievable to me that this organization saw themselves get burned waiting too long to trade Lee and they might end up doing the exact same thing with Hamels if he were to go down with an injury.

Some have said other teams have no idea who to deal with. It has been stated that Amaro is no longer making moves, but he is still the GM. When teams call up they do not know if they should deal with Amaro, or Gillick, or MacPhail. Other reports have stated that the Phillies asking price is still astronomically high on players which makes a deal even tougher to get done. The team that is the laughing stock of Major League Baseball just keeps creating a new punch line.

It is looking more and more like the Phillies 2015 MLB Trade Deadline will be highlighted by a trade of Jeff Francouer for a bag of balls. Someone give me a stiff drink.