While reports surfaced early in the day about the Dodgers signing lefty pitcher Cole Hamels to a contract though the remainder of the 2021 season, the team made the move official with an announcement late Wednesday afternoon.
To clear space on the 40-man roster, the club designated righty pitcher Yefry Ramirez for assignment.
The announcement didn’t reveal dollar figures, but the deal will guarantee Hamels a prorated $1 million for the rest of this season and will tack on $200,000 in starting pitching incentives, according to ESPN’s Buster Olney.
Three weeks ago, the Dodgers were among several teams in attendance when the 37-year-old Hamels held a pitching showcase in Texas.
In 2020, Hamels singed with the Braves for a one-year, $18 million deal, but injuries kept him off the field for all but one game. Dealing with shoulder issues during spring training, Hamels eventually began his year on the injured list with a triceps issue. He attempted to return later in the season, but another shoulder problem in mid-September ended up shutting him down for the year.
As explained by Anthony Franco at MLBTR, “Hamels was a paragon of durability before 2020, tossing at least 130 innings in every season between 2006 and 2019. He was also a model of consistency, never posting an ERA higher than 4.32 and allowing fewer than four earned runs per nine innings in eleven of those fourteen campaigns. He was still effective as recently as 2019, when he tossed 141-2/3 innings of 3.81 ERA ball with solid strikeout and walk rates with the Cubs.”
Over the course of his 15-year big-league career, Hamels owns a 163-122 record with a 3.43 ERA, a 3.68 FIP, and a 1.178 WHIP with 2560 strikeouts and 767 walks over an even 2698 innings of work. 422 of his 423 lifetime regular-season appearances have been starts.
Hamels spent his first 10 seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies, the team that drafted him in the first round out of Rancho Bernardo High School in San Diego in 2002.
Primarily, Hamels uses a four-seam, a cutter, a curve, and a change as part of his repertoire. After his heater sat in the 92-93 mph range in 2020, he topped out at just 89 mph in the 3-1/3 innings he threw for Atlanta last summer.
Despite not having big league experience in relief, it seems as if the Dodgers might plan using Hamels out of the bullpen. At this point it’s unclear how long it will take the veteran lefty to prepare, but if he’ll be throwing as a reliever, the time certainly could be minimized.
Think Blue Planning Committee 
Signing him for 1 mil compared to 18 mil last year for the Braves seems like a good deal, even if we’ll only have his services for a few weeks.
$200,000 per start, eh? Do you think AF would be nasty enough to use an opener every time they put him into a game?
LikeLike
Maybe the 200K caps all the starts he would potentially make. I worded it exactly as it appeared in the ESPN story. 🙂
LikeLike
Nunez recalled. Jimmy Nelson sent to DL with elbow issues.
LikeLike
OK, we are officially cursed.
What a shame. He’s pitched so well when healthy but he can’t stay healthy and I’m guessing we can forget about any major contribution for the rest of the year.
LikeLike
Looks like Knebel might be recalled next week, though. That’s a good sign.
LikeLike
That’s great……………………………….if we ignore his recent injury history.
Pretty soon we’re going to see some new faces up here from the group of Pepiot, Jackson, Gibbens and Knack. I’m thinking that VGon will be the next one to hit the IL (again), and soon AF will have run out of AAA options that he’s tried before.
LikeLike
I think Pepiot might be close.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Pepiot and Jackson? Miller is dominating but he is at a lower level as you know…
LikeLike
I wonder if this actually means Duffy and or Kershaw will not be back soon.
LikeLike
Duffy is supposed to be ready at the end of the month, not before. No word on Kersh and it will be September before Hamels is built up enough.
LikeLike
This signing will be of little consequence. He’s old, broken and just how long for him to get ready to help.
LikeLike
I agree Gary. Right now the farm is so pathetic they are just grasping at straws. Don’t understand how this has happened. Our farm system was great until we needed them, then it wasn’t. No depth and we keep talking about these young guys but they obviously aren’t anywhere near ready or they’d be getting a few innings. Frustrating but I’m pretty sure there are no more dfa’s available on the open market or they’d be here by now. Thank goodness we have lots of room on the 40 man roster.
LikeLike
He’s not going to be a starter this year Jeff. I’m guessing he’ll be gone before year end. And I’m really worried about Kershaw now. And why do we think knebel is the answer to anything?
LikeLike
Dodgers have had a tsunami of injuries and a bad free agency deal in Bauer. They have made a huge trade to attempt to stop the bleeding and win the pennant. Even Mookie is hurt! If you list the injuries they boggle the mind.
Dodgers gave up Ruiz but they have Cartaya and Galiz on the Farm and gave up Gray but have Miller, Pepiot, Jackson, and others that will compete for a spot. Santana & Peters are gone White probably soon will be. Lots of churn but that is a good thing. Duffy may eventually help. Nelson going to the IL again is a big loss.
They have some great talent at A & AA with Vargas, Miller, etc. There are only so many guys that can come up a year.
They need defense, Rotation help, and bullpen help. They got some of it from the Nats. We have to be patient and see if it works. A lot of games left.
I worry about Kershaw and Mookies hip. If they cannot play the Dodgers are done for the year.
LikeLike
Not sure our injuries were any better or worse than many other teams in the league. We’ve lost some bottom of the rotation starters ( may, gonsolin, and now kershaw). Seager and mookie are big hits. Couple of bottom of the roster relievers. Nothing else really. Problem has been We’ve been unable to replace any of them from our bankrupt farm. That’s been the real problem. Except for seager and mookie, the rest should be replaceable for short terms. We have a pretty solid team except for 2nd base and centerfield. It’s inexcusable that a supposed stacked farm system hasn’t been able to fill the voids. And I don’t buy the injury excuses. In this league if you’re got a broken fingernail you sit. Unless our training staff is totally incompetent. Nobody plays when injured anymore. Recovery doesn’t mean playing injured it means recovering your mechanics. Nobody could actually believe bellingers shoulder is actually bothering him. That would be the least of his current problems.
LikeLike
Somebody told me Adam Liberatore is holding a showcase in Upstate New York this weekend. Two scouts from the Dodgers will be attending.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think there need to be 3 in case the first 2 can’t agree on whether to sign him. The third guy is there to break the tie.
LikeLiked by 1 person