Chicago Cubs Rumors: Team “will surely” pick up Cole Hamels option

According to Jon Heyman of Fancred Sports, the Chicago Cubs “will surely” pick up Cole Hamels $20 million option, rather than utilize his buyout.

Aligned with the thinking of most who follow the Chicago Cubs, Fancred Sports’ Jon Heyman offered his two cents on the team’s forthcoming decision regarding veteran left-hander Cole Hamels.

“The Cubs will surely pick up the $20-million option on Cole Hamels rather than buy him out for $6 million.”

If Chicago, for whatever reason, decided to buy out Hamels, they themselves would not be on the hook for the $6 million. The Texas Rangers, the team that traded the lefty to Chicago this summer, would pick up the tab, instead.

With a tremendous need in the starting rotation given the uncertainty not only in the fifth spot in the staff and the questions surrounding Yu Darvish‘s health, keeping Hamels in the fold makes a lot of sense. 

Chicago Cubs: Silencing his critics, proving doubters wrong

More than a few fans thought bringing in Cole Hamels was a Jim Hendry-like move, one where the team relied on an aging veteran past his prime to deliver them from evil. The left-hander did his best to silence those folks in his first start in a Cubs uniform.

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In five scoreless innings on the road at PNC Park, Hamels struck out nine and scattered three hits. The Cubs picked up a 9-2 win over the Pirates – and the club continued to win every time the veteran took the ball. Chicago earned victories in Hamels’ first six starts as a Cub, spanning a tremendous month of August.

During that month, Hamels went 4-0 with a 0.69 ERA (three earned runs allowed in 39 innings) with a 1.000 WHIP.

He did not allow more than one earned run in a start in those half-dozen outings. That performance was good enough to net him National League Pitcher of the Month honors.

With one month left, it was crunch time – and the Cubs were sitting pretty. They maintained a 3 1/2 game lead over St. Louis and four full games over the Brewers. Then, the wheels came off.

Chicago Cubs: Fading down the stretch in September

After going undefeated and leading his team to six wins in his first month, Hamels’ fortunes shifted drastically in September, through no fault of his own.

If you take a quick look at his earned run average by month, you might think Cole Hamels completely fell to pieces in the final month. You’d be wrong, though. He took the ball six times and allowed more than three earned runs just one time – on Sept. 19 against Arizona.

In that start, he allowed seven earned runs on nine hits in a 9-0 Cubs loss. His season ERA jumped from 3.67 to 3.90 after this outing. On the whole, Chicago won just one Cole Hamels start in September. It’s hardly fair to place the blame at the feet of the left-hander. The offense, as a whole, performed poorly in the second half and it cost the team dearly.

But when you look at what Hamels brought to the table in his 12 starts with the Chicago Cubs, you can’t help but be happy. He allowed more than three earned runs once and more than two earned just twice. Any time a guy takes the ball 10 times and holds opponents to two or fewer tallies, you have a chance to win a ballgame.

So, if Heyman’s report rings true – the Cubs will get a veteran presence that not only stabilizes the starting rotation but allows guys like Mike Montgomery to slot back into the pen and give the relief corps greater length – one of the team’s bigger weaknesses in 2018.