Phillies to Make Cole Hamels Available; Rangers Interested

With contract talks "dormant" for the better part of a month, the Philadelphia Phillies are calling several teams to gauge interest in left-hander Cole Hamels, reports Jon Heyman of CBS Sports:

possible #phillies are only gauging early interest in hamels, just in case. but w/ their calls, trade chance seems real now

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) July 1, 2012

If Hamels' place on the trading block is real, he will likely be the hottest commodity available at the trade deadline.

The Rangers have already made their interest in Hamels known, reportedly scouting the impending free agent earlier this week. Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports speculates the Phillies would likely ask for Rangers star prospect Mike Olt in return for Hamels. The 23-year-old third baseman is hitting .303/.410/.599 with 21 home runs at Double-A this season.

ESPN's Buster Olney tweets that any package to acquire the two-time All-Star would have to include at least four or five prospects.

Not surprisingly, the Phillies' asking price for Hamels is said by sources to be very, very steep: package of 4 to 5 prospects, some A-plus.

— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) July 1, 2012

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What's a fair package for Hamels?

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The squad has already demonstrated they are sellers in this year's market by trading Jim Thome to the Orioles on Saturday and sending Chad Qualls to the Yankees yesterday, but there's no knowing just how much GM Ruben Amaro is willing to give up at this point.

A notable snub from Sunday's All-Star roster announcements, the 28-year-old Hamels is 10-4 with a 3.08 ERA in 16 starts this year, striking out exactly nine batters per nine through 111 innings.