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There have been Cole Hamels trade rumors for almost the entire offseason, and they started much earlier than that. There have been specific teams involved, specific prospects targeted, and Phillies' general manager Ruben Amaro has even commented on the potential for a trade on numerous occasions. And yet, we're now less than a month out from pitchers and catchers reporting, and Cole Hamels is still on the Phillies. He might even stay there, as Amaro is standing firm in his belief that the trade return should include some of baseball's very best prospects.

Now, Amaro is not wrong: the Phillies should get some serious prospects back for Hamels, who is not only great but has a very reasonable four years and $96 million still owed him (five and $110 million should his option be picked up). Maybe it's time they give a little on their end to make that happen, though. The Phillies are richer than most teams thanks to their market, success that only feels like it happened forever ago, and a major television deal that involves the word "billions". If they want an incredible prospect return that will help reshape the franchise and turn it around, they might need to write a big check to whoever is giving them those prospects.

This isn't just a case of national writers telling the Phillies what they need to do, either. Teams have either found other means of acquiring pitching or would rather just stick it out sans Hamels instead of giving in to the current demands of the Phillies. Th result will be Philly retaining Hamels, who probably won't be Cole Hamels as we know him today by the time the Phillies are any good again. Lest you've forgotten how bad things are for the Phillies right now, they have their own quadrant in the win-now and win-later plot.

They need the prospects that Hamels will bring, and with the situation the team is in they likely need them more than they need Hamels. Amaro probably isn't being as unrealistic as he's been portrayed as, but at some point, the market is the market, and you need to adjust to that to get what you want, or take Hamels off the table. The latter seems to be the case for now, but as y'all know, that sort of thing can change with a single phone call.