Rangers' Cole Hamels talks Yankees, no-trade clause and more in fascinating Q & A

Posted May 22, 2018 at 06:07 AM | Updated May 22, 2018 at 06:07 AM

Spring training: Texas at San Francisco

Rodger Mallison | Fort Worth Star-Telegram | TNS

Randy Miler | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

ARLINGTON, Texas — The Yankees are on one of their greatest runs ever, 22 wins in 25 games counting Monday night’s 10-5 shellacking of the Texas Rangers.

Their best-in-baseball record now is up to a holy-smokes 31-13.

All they need now is …

It’s actually humorous how great things are going for the Yankees yet there seems to be nonstop talk from outsiders about what they’re potentially missing.

There does seem to be a believe that the Yankees’ tremendous start to 2018 won’t lead to a 28th World Series championship unless GM Brian Cashman works a summer trade to bring in a second ace to pair with Luis Severino.

Come July, no matter how good the Yanks’ record is, it’s a sure thing they’ll be looking for that possible final championship puzzle piece.

One of the options probably will be the left-hander who will be pitching against the Yankees on Tuesday night.

Cole Hamels is intriguing.

He’s a four-time All-Star who was the 2008 World Series MVP pitching for the Phillies.

He’s 34 now and slightly past his prime, but still throwing in the low 90s with a killer changeup.

And while his ERA is a good-but-not-great 3.48, his one-hitter over six shutout innings in a 1-0 Rangers win over the Astros in Houston last week is proof that he can still beat the elite.

What it could come down to for the Yankees is whether they can afford Hamels while still obeying managing partner Hal Steinbrenner’s mandate to keep the payroll under the $197 million luxury tax threshold.

Hamels is making $23 million this year and there’s a $20 million club option or $6 million buyout in his contract for 2019, but a July 31 deal would force just a $13.7 million commitment ... a prorated $7.7 million this year plus the $6 million buyout.

(His club option could be vested with 400 innings from 2017-18, but Hamels won’t get there after getting to just 148 last year).

Anyway, because Hamels figures to be an option, I hung out for an hour in the Rangers’ clubhouse with three other Yankees beat writers on Monday hoping for an interview.

Hamels showed up about 15 minutes before Rangers pitchers had to be on the field for their pre-game stretch, and surprisingly, he granted us a rare interview on a day he doesn’t pitch.

It probably didn’t hurt that I covered Hamels as a Phillies beat writer from his rookie season in 2006 through 2011 and that we hadn’t seen each other since 2011.

Once Hamels started talking, it was 12 minutes of good stuff. As usual, he was entertaining and comical, and best of all, honest.

For instance, Hamels went into detail about the no-trade clause in his contract, which allows him to veto deals to 20 teams … including the Yankees. He did dance around a pointed question about playing in New York, but he's now still with the Rangers, so that wasn't surprising.

We gave you the highlights of Hamels interview in a Monday post.

Hamels was so good we decided to give you the more here in a Q & A format:

Astros vs Rangers

Paul Moseley | Fort Worth Star-Telegram | TNS

Q: Are you aware that a lot of Yankee fans are bringing your name up quite a bit thinking that you're going to the final piece to their next championship?

Hamels: “Shoot, I helped them get a World Series in ‘09, so I’m sure they like me! … No, no. I understand it. It’s kind of the nature of what happens and I think anytime you get traded once, you understand that the possibilities are there. And as you get older if you’re able to play well and keep of what I know I’m capable of doing, then it’s each year you could be on a different team hunting down a postseason. So it’s kind of the nature of where I think I am in my career and in the contract and in the situation. (The Yankees) have a tremendous team. So really looking at them, it’s some of the best baseball is now being able to watch the Yankees and Boston and I think that’s just exciting for baseball fans in general and the game and the scope of it now creates with that drama that they’ve always had in their history. It’s been good to see.”

MLB: Texas Rangers at Tampa Bay Rays

Kim Klement | USA TODAY Sports

Q: You've always been super competitive. How important is it for you to be in a playoff race as opposed to just pitching?

Hamels: "I think you always look at it as you want to win every game that you go out and play. And then there’s a lot of games that I don’t get to play in, and you want to be able to see the sort of winning environment, that sort of atmosphere, the excitement from everybody. I think that’s kind of the energy that now has being created over in the AL East with those guys."

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