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Any chance the Philadelphia Phillies have for a quick trade of Cole Hamels rests with a pair of guys named Manuel — Charlie Manuel of the Phillies and Manuel Margot of the Boston Red Sox. The Phillies put the former manager up in a hotel near Salem (Va.) to scout a number of Red Sox, chief among them Margot.
Margot is the best the Phillies can get for Hamels now, and they should go get him. If Charlie did not come back with a glowing report, he probably needs to get his eyes checked. Margot, a 20-year-old center fielder, hit .293 with 12 home runs and 42 steals at lower levels of the Red Sox organization a season ago. Through 20 games this season, Baseball America’s No. 72 prospect is 24-for-87 (.312) with nine extra-base hits, 10 steals, eight walks and no strikeouts.
The Phillies have had their hearts set on Blake Swihart and they haven’t moved off him until perhaps this week because Swihart made his debut with the big club and Hamels has been struggling so far. Swihart was hitting .338 with Triple-A Pawtucket before being called up to the Red Sox and going 1-for-3 in a 4-2 loss to the New York Yankees on Saturday. That might have been the Red Sox’s not-so-subtle way of telling the Phillies they have no shot in getting Swihart.
If the Phillies have indeed come of the Swihart demand, the Red Sox have compromised by offering Margot. A package built around Margot and one of the Red Sox’s three highly touted pitching prospects, Henry Owens, Eduardo Rodriguez and Brian Johnson might be enough to pry Hamels from the Phillies and make the Red Sox rotation more solid.
From the Phillies’ standpoint, it would deliver the motherlode of young talent the organization needs to fuel a rebuild.
Mike Gibson is a Phillies writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @papreps , “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
