Today's mail brought a reminder: 4 weeks till opening day.
This time it's Cole Hamels, who is not happy with the $500,000 salary given him by the club, calling it a "low blow". That comment cracks me up. And I can easily hear Hamels making it in his stream-of-consciousness way. But c'mon now, the guy's making $500,000, not to mention his signing bonus, after less than 2 years at work. To his credit, Hamels said he understood that it was a business, that the Phillies are business-savvy, and that they want to keep him and Howard and Rollins and Utley together for years.
But he also said he would remember it down the line when he was up for arbitration or contract renewal. This also made me laugh. I mean, how likely is it that getting what he wanted this year would make him warm and fuzzy about future demands? To put things in perspective, the Yankees paid Chien-Ming Wang $489,500 last year after he went 19-6 in 2006. The Devil Rays paid Scott Kazmir, who went 10-8 in 2006, $424,300 in his last year before arbitration. Last year, his first full year in the bigs, Hamels went 15-5 and made the All-Star team. Now entering his second full season, he'll likely be eligible for arbitration next year.
Gotta love, though, the supreme confidence that Hamels shows. When asked about his goals for the season, he didn't hesitate: no-hitter, 20+ wins for the season, Cy Young (though he knows that will be difficult with Santana and Haren now in the NL), and World Series. The sky's the limit for the young stud, if he stays healthy. Go out and pitch and the money will be yours.
