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*The Astros are "in the ballpark" on Hamels.
*The Royals just traded for former Astros great Ben Zobrist and now they must be stopped.
*Assessing the market for Hamels, Rosenthal tweets the Rangers are "strong," Dodgers and Astros are "involved," Giants "pushing, but may fall short."
*Now that Tulowitzki is gone, the Rockies are shopping Carlos Gonzalez.
*No, the Tigers are not going to trade David Price.
*The Tigers are "actively shopping," according to "a team with pitching to trade."
*For those of you wanting Jeff Samardzija, the White Sox aren't sure if they're ready to punt on this year yet.
*Jayson Stark is reporting that the Phillies want teams interested in Hamels to submit their best offers by tomorrow (Wednesday):
Sources have confirmed that the Astros have made a late push to acquire Hamels since the Phillies ace pitched a no-hitter last Saturday. However, Hamels can block a trade to Houston and the Astros have been given no assurance in recent days that that stance has changed.
Hamels' next scheduled start is Thursday.
*Evan Drellich writes that finding another starting pitcher remains the Astros' top priority, while the Padres and Phillies had scouts watching the Astros' and the Rangers' Double-A teams over the weekend.
*Jon Heyman wrote this morning that the Astros...
a) Seem to be more interested in San Diego's Andrew Cashner or Tyson Ross "plus Craig Kimbrel" because of their relative youth...
b) But maybe Jim Crane is the one driving interest in Cole Hamels...
c) But Hamels doesn't seem to be "anxious" about going to Houston.
The one possibility that could put these two sides together even though neither seems anxious to get together would be if Philly finds the best deal in Houston and tells Hamels he must decide whether to accept the Astros or stay in Philadelphia.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
