Red Sox Still Need Cole Hamels Trade to Complete True Contending Rotation

The Boston Red Sox left the 2014 winter meetings with a bushel of starting pitchers. Yet, after striking out on Jon Lester, they failed to land a legitimate difference-maker, the kind of arm that will hurl their rotation over the hump and establish Boston as a true contender.

Paging Cole Hamels. Or, actually, paging Ruben Amaro Jr.

If you believe the rumblings, the Philadelphia Phillies general manager is at least dangling Hamels—for a hefty price. 

It's a price the Red Sox must pay if they're serious about returning to glory.

Less than 12 months after hoisting the Commissioner's Trophy, Boston finished a dismal 71-91 last season, bad enough for last place in the American League East. And the starting corps didn't help the cause.

Collectively, Boston starters posted a pedestrian 4.36 ERA in 2014 despite ace-level work from Lester, who was traded to the Oakland A's at the deadline.

Now, with Lester choosing the Chicago Cubs in free agency, the Red Sox are scrambling to address their most glaring weakness.

They made noise in San Diego, no question, acquiring Rick Porcello from the Detroit Tigers and Wade Miley from the Arizona Diamondbacks and inking free agent Justin Masterson.

Paul Sancya/Associated Press

Porcello, easily the best of the bunch, is a sinkerballer with pinpoint control who averaged a scant 1.8 walks per nine innings in 204.2 innings last year. He cost the Red Sox Cuban slugger Yoenis Cespedes, the spoils of the Lester trade.

Here's how Boston general manager Ben Cherington broke it down, per ESPNBoston.com's Gordon Edes: "If we had known in July we weren't going to sign Jon Lester, I think we would have been happy to trade for Rick Porcello.''

Miley, meanwhile, is a left-hander whose walks per nine innings rose from 1.7 in 2012, when he made the All-Star team as a rookie, to 3.4 last year. 

The 28-year-old did set a career high in strikeouts with 183 and eclipsed the 200-inning mark for the second consecutive season. 

Last and likely least of the new arrivals, Masterson was an All-Star with the Cleveland Indians in 2013 but posted a 5.88 ERA in 128.2 innings with the Indians and St. Louis Cardinals in a crash-and-burn 2014. 

The newbie trio joins Joe Kelly (4.20 ERA, 96.1 IP, 66 SO, 1.349 WHIP) and Clay Buchholz (5.34 ERA, 170.1 IP, 132 SO, 1.386 WHIP) to form a serviceable but unremarkable starting five.

Now imagine Hamels injected into the mix. The stud left-hander turns 31 on Dec. 27 and put up a typically stellar stat line for an abysmal Phillies club: 2.46 ERA, 204.2 IP, 198 SO, 1.148 WHIP. 

Scott Cunningham/Getty Images

Even in a still-crowded pitching market that boasts unsigned free agents like Max Scherzer and James Shields, Hamels shines.

So it's no surprise that an array of clubs are sniffing around, including the Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, Texas Rangers, Houston Astros and San Francisco Giants, per Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe.

Hamles signed a six-year, $144 million extension with Philadelphia in 2012 that includes a no-trade clause. But, Cafardo postulates, he may be willing to wave it if the Red Sox pick up his $20 million 2019 option.

So that's the money part. What would Hamels cost Boston in trade chips? A lot, per CSN Philly's Jim Salisbury:

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The Red Sox, desperate for starting pitching, have long been viewed as the Phillies’ best potential trade partner for Hamels and their failure to sign Lester turns up the pressure. The Red Sox have the players to get Hamels, but sources say they are reluctant to trade catcher Blake Swihart, pitcher Henry Owens, outfielder/second baseman Mookie Betts and infielder Xander Bogaerts. According to sources, the Phillies would have to have one of these players to part with Hamels. 

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Boston could also throw in Kelly, still an alluring talent at age 26, to sweeten the pot and clear a potential rotation logjam, as Jon Morosi of Fox Sports notes.

No club wants to part with its legitimate blue chips, and Boston could fill its holes via free agency. But Hamels is that rare gem—durable, elite and relatively affordable—who's worth the sacrifice.

The Red Sox left the winter meetings with a bushel of arms. If they're serious about winning, now they'll aim for quality over quantity. 

All statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference.