Cole Hamels and the Boston Red Sox shared a ballpark Monday, yet the left-hander still donned a Philadelphia Phillies uniform.
Hamels has been the subject of trade rumors for a while, with the Red Sox being connected as much as any team. Boston assistant general manager Mike Hazen threw more cold water on the speculation Monday a short time before Hamels faced the Red Sox on Opening Day at Citizens Bank Park.
“It’s just that, speculation,” Hazen said on WEEI’s “Middays with MFB” regarding such rumors. “There hasn’t been anything that’s been overly hot and heavy here recently.
“For the first couple of weeks or first month, everybody’s kind of figuring out what they have. And then that talk will start to pick back up as we all go through the season.”
The belief has long been that the Phillies covet catcher Blake Swihart and outfielder Mookie Betts. But the Red Sox have been unwilling to trade either player despite clearly lacking an ace in their rotation to open the season.
Betts started in center field and batted leadoff Monday, and the Red Sox’s hope is that he’ll be a dynamic force atop the order right out of the gate. Swihart, meanwhile, will start the season at Triple-A Pawtucket, but it might not be long before he arrives in Boston now that Christian Vazquez is out for the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
“When you’re talking about, from a catching standpoint, there are multiple job responsibilities. That’s why it’s the toughest position to develop,” Hazen said Monday of Swihart’s potential call-up. “Every guy is concerned about their offense, but you have to run the pitching staff, you’ve got to run a game. There’s a lot of things that we ask our catchers to do.
“There’s no time frame on when (Swihart’s call-up) is going to happen.”
Swihart was considered by many to be untouchable even before Vazquez went down with his injury. Now, he looks even more untouchable — if that makes sense — despite Hamels still being available.
Thumbnail photo via Kim Klement/USA TODAY Sports Images
