Williams DFAed, closing the book on fruitless Hamels trade
PHILADELPHIA » It took just five years for the book to close on the Cole Hamels trade. And the final nail in the coffin, hammered in Tuesday, showed just how paltry the return for the one-time Phillies ace was.
Outfielder Nick Williams was designated for assignment Tuesday, a move that could pave his exit from Philadelphia, the last of the six poor players acquired for Hamels that strutted and fretted their hour upon the Phillies stage and then were heard from no more.
On July 31, 2015, Hamels and reliever Jake Diekman made their way to the Texas Rangers, in exchange for six prospects and a boatload of hope in the dying days of Ruben Amaro Jr.’s regime as general manager: Jorge Alfaro, Alec Asher, Jerad Eickhoff, Matt Harrison, Jake Thompson and Williams. The closest any of that sextet is to the major leagues is on the injured list with the Miami Marlins.
Besides Alfaro, who did help yield the services of J.T. Realmuto via trade, that group is now, respectively, in the Twins system, in the Padres system, retired, in the Angels system and at best, in the Phillies minor league system. (Eickhoff is at least on the Padres’ 40man roster.)
If you’d prefer the more quantitative verdict, Hamels has accumulated 16.5 wins above replacement (WAR) since leaving the Phillies and made the playoffs three times. Diekman has a 2.9 WAR.
The six Phillies: A grand total of 6.5 WAR, almost all of it from Eickhoff (6.0) from 2015-17 before injuries derailed his career. So low was the return that Harrison, who retired without playing a game for the Phillies — hence 0.0 WAR — nearly cracks the top half of return.
And, quite obviously in contrast to Hamels, the Phillies have zero playoff appearances since the trade of a Cy Young contender was supposed to restock a barren cupboard of prospects.
That’s not all Williams’ fault, and a hefty dose of the blame belongs to the man who replaced the lame-duck Amaro, Matt Klentak. Tuesday, Phillies manager Joe Girardi deferred an answer on
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Tuesday’s games
7
W
12 7 6 7 6 10
L
5 9 9 11 11
Miami at Toronto Kansas City at Cincinnati Atlanta at N.Y. Yankees Baltimore at Philadelphia Chicago Cubs at Cleveland Chicago White Sox at Detroit Tampa Bay at Boston Minnesota at Milwaukee Seattle at Texas Giants at Houston
A’s at L.A. Angels .412
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_ 4 1⁄2 5 5 1⁄2 6 why Williams was the roster casualty to Klentak, for the mystery date of his next media address. But Girardi spoke highly of Williams, hoping he might stay in the organization after clearing waivers and being removed from the 40-man roster.
“I hope we’re able to keep him,” Girardi said. “I loved my time with Nick. He was a guy who was always ready to play but time will tell.”
Williams simply didn’t outcompete the other options in the Phillies system, though Klentak didn’t exactly speed his way to the top. Whether or not Williams was a can’t-miss prospect, Klentak used his first two first-round picks on left-handed-hitting outfielders in No. 1 overall pick Mickey Moniak in 2016 and Adam Haseley, who started Tuesday night’s game against the Braves in center,
Wednesday’s games
Chicago White Sox (Cease 2-1) at Detroit (Boyd 0-1), 1:10 p.m.
A’s (Bassitt 1-0) at L.A. Angels (Canning 0-2), 4:10 p.m.
Chicago Cubs (Hendricks 2-1) at Cleveland (Carrasco 2-1), 6:10 p.m. Miami (Yamamoto 0-0) at Toronto (Pearson 0-0), 6:37 p.m.
Kansas City (Keller 1-0) at Cincinnati (Miley 0-1), 6:40 p.m.
Atlanta (Wright 0-2) at N.Y. Yankees (Tanaka 0-0), 7:05 p.m. Baltimore (LeBlanc 1-0) at Philadelphia (Eflin 0-0), 7:05 p.m. Minnesota (Maeda 2-0) at Milwaukee (Lauer 0-1), 7:10 p.m.
Giants (TBD) at Houston (Greinke 0-0), 7:10 p.m.
Tampa Bay (Snell 0-0) at Boston (TBD), 7:30 p.m.
Seattle (Walker 1-2) at Texas (Lyles 1-1), 9:05 p.m. in 2017. They also spent a few dollars to get that Bryce Harper guy.
Add in the money spent on Andrew McCutchen and there wasn’t room for Williams. He had opportunities to shine before Harper and McCutchen came along: He hit .288 in 83 games in 2017, then hit 17 homers and batted .256 in 140 games in 2018. But Williams never adapted to a part-time role, batting .151 as a part-timer last year with just two home runs in 112 plate-appearances, spending much of the season at Triple-A.
He seems a candidate for a beneficial change of scenery, an idea that Girardi endorsed for players whose paths are blocked. But that won’t come in Philadelphia, the latest swing-and-miss in the Phillies’ track record of acquiring and developing big-league talent.
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