Johnny Cueto and Cole Hamels Make Baseball Headlines

It was a busy weekend for Major League Baseball as the July 31st non waiver trade deadline approaches and the races heat up going into the final third of the regular season.

The Kansas City Royals had a 7 ½ game lead over the Minnesota Twins after games of July 26th, but decided not to stand pat. The Royals traded three good minor league pitchers to the Cincinnati Reds for hard throwing veteran starter Johnny Cueto. Cincinnati is going nowhere this season, and the chance to pick up three prospects, all of whom are lefthanders, was too good to pass up. Cueto is also a free agent at the end of this season, and most observers didn’t think the Reds could have resigned him. The Royals might be in that same boat, but the future is now for them and they’re committed to finishing what they started last year and win not just the American League pennant, but also the World Series.

At 37-63, the Philadelphia Phillies have the worst record in the majors. They’ve also been willing to make trades, and one player they’ve been shopping around for a while is starting pitcher Cole Hamels. Hamels name came up over the winter in trade talks, but nothing came of it. He’s wisely assumed to be dealt before the trade deadline. Hamel’s best year was 2012, when he was 17-6 with a 3.05 ERA and 216 strikeouts in 33 starts. Last year, he was only 9-9, but that was due as much to lack of run support as anything else. He had 198 strikeouts and a career best 2.46 ERA in 31 starts.

As far as trade value goes, the Phillies hit the jackpot this weekend when Hamels threw a no hitter at the Chicago Cubs in Wrigley Field. It was the first no hitter against the Cubs in 50 years, when Dodgers Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax pitched a perfect game against the Cubs in 1965. Check out this circus catch by Odubel Herrera that sealed the deal:

With the Detroit Tigers wavering on dealing David Price, and Cueto already traded, Hamels is probably the best available starting pitcher on the market, but now he won’t come cheaply.