CLEARWATER, Fla. - One of the many factors an athlete must weigh when pondering a contract offer is the ever-present possibility of a career-altering injury. Yesterday, somebody asked Cole Hamels whether he thought entering the 2012 season without a multiyear contract extension was a big risk. The 28-year-old lefty thought for a moment.
"No," Hamels said, before explaining that he has never had a major health scare, and that he has bounced quickly from the few minor ones he has encountered.
Were they the words of a pitcher who knows no fear or the words of a businessman unwilling to sacrifice an ounce of leverage? The answer might not matter. During a 30-minute news conference yesterday, Hamels said all the right things, expressing his desire to remain in Philadelphia without offering any concrete clues as to what it might take to keep him there.
"I want to play for a winner," Hamels said, "and the Phillies want to win."
Angels ace Jered Weaver decided last August that he wanted to remain in Anaheim, and the result was a well-below-market, 5-year, $85 million contract extension. We can safely assume that Hamels and agent John Boggs will be looking for a deal starting north of there, mostly because Boggs already has publicly said so. But there is a lot of territory in between Weaver's deal and the 5-year, $120 million the Phillies handed Cliff Lee last offseason. And Hamels wasn't handing out any clues yesterday.
"That's why I have an agent," he said.
Instead of talking dollars and years, Hamels heaped praise upon the Phillies organization while also leaving the ball in their end of the court.
"Ever since I've been here they've been able to do a really good job of keeping the guys that they draft, especially the guys that they like," he said. "I just hope I'm one of those guys that they like."
