Rangers win the Cole Hamels sweepstakes

[Auggie]

The Rangers agreed to a trade with the Philadelphia Phillies for ace Cole Hamels, among the game’s best left-handed pitchers, on Wednesday night, according to sources.

It took six players, including pitcher Matt Harrison, prized catching prospect Jorge Alfaro and outfielder Nick Williams, to acquire Hamels and reliever Jake Diekman.

But the Rangers didn’t have to give up slugging prospects Nomar Mazara or Joey Gallo.

http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas/texas-rangers/post/_/id/4916395/rangers-gm-jon-daniels-a-winner-in-trade-for-lefty-ace-cole-hamels

Whew ... it wasn't the Dodgers

[hughee99]

1. Dodgers are going to end up with Price, I suspect. n/t

[Auggie]

2. Could be Latos, as of this morning:

From MLB Trade Rumors:

JULY 30, 9:44am: The deal ought to be completed once the Braves finish reviewing Olivera’s medicals, Frisaro tweets.

7:15am: The Dodgers will indeed pay the final two installments of Olivera’s signing bonus, tweets David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. That means the Braves are essentially taking on Olivera on a six-year, $32.5MM contract that began this season. He’s earning $2MM in 2015, of which about $754K remains, so their total financial commitment to him will be about $31.25MM over the course of five and a half years.

JULY 29: The Dodgers, Marlins and Braves have reportedly swung what appears to be one of the most complex three-team trades in recent history, though nothing will become official tonight. The “basic” structure of the deal (though there’s nothing basic about this move) is as follows: the Dodgers will receive right-hander Mat Latos and first baseman Michael Morse from the Marlins. They’ll also add top prospect Jose Peraza and pitchers Alex Wood, Jim Johnson and Luis Avilan from the Braves. Atlanta, in turn, will receive Cuban infielder Hector Olivera, lefty Paco Rodriguez and minor leaguer Zachary Bird from the Dodgers. The Braves are also picking up Miami’s Competitive Balance Round A pick in next year’s draft (No. 35 overall). The Marlins will come out of this deal with three minor league pitchers — Kevin Guzman, Jeff Brigham and Victor Araujo — plus the financial relief of shedding the remaining $14.3MM that is owed to Latos and Morse.

In making this trade, the Dodgers bolster their rotation not only for the remainder of the 2015 season but also potentially through the 2019 campaign. Latos, who is earning $9.4MM in 2015 and has $3.6MM of that sum remaining on his contract, is a free agent at season’s end, but Wood can be controlled for four years beyond the current campaign.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2015/07/dodgers-nearing-deal-to-acquire-mat-latos-michael-morse.html

[hughee99]

3. You were right. Looks like Toronto got Price.

I suspected the Dodgers were going to try to wheel Latos to the Tigers.