Trade discussions with the intent of trading Phillies veteran starter Cole Hamels to the Rangers are ongoing, according to Fox Sports, which is further reporting that Texas is not one of the teams for which he has a no-trade clause.
There are 20 teams in that group, per CBSSports.com Baseball Insider Jon Heyman, who has stated that Toronto is one of them and that Hamels would not allow a trade to that team.
Texas will eventually have Martin Perez, Derek Holland and Matt Harrison off the disabled list and in the rotation, but the surprising contender would like to land a potential ace such as Hamels.
The 31-year-old Hamels has been as effective as ever this season with 2.96 ERA and 74 hits allowed in 94 1/3 innings. He has fanned 103, putting him at the best strikeout-to-innings pitched pace since his rookie season.