It’s now just eight days until the non-waiver trade deadline, July 31, and soon the Phillies will have to either get Cole Hamels signed to the six-year, (approximately) $127.5 million dollar deal they’ve offered him, or get him traded before he leaves at the end of the season via free agency.

It could go either way, says Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com:

Hamels has publicly expressed his fondness for playing in Philadelphia and his willingness to sign a long-term deal with the Phillies. He has even said he’s open to returning to the Phillies as a free agent this offseason if the team trades him before the deadline.

But people close to Hamels said he was resigned to testing free agency until the Phillies put on a strong rush to re-sign him earlier this month, and part of him is intrigued by the thought of going on the open market and seeing what opportunities might await. Hamels conceded that was the case during a recent interview with Comcast SportsNet in Philadelphia.

Crasnick quoted a source as saying the negotiations between Hamels and the team are entering a “sensitive” stage. That could mean one of a number of things, and so the bottom line is: we wait.

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