Cole Hamels Money Situation

So Cole Hamels is complaining about making $500,000 going into his second full season in MLB. Do not get me wrong, Hamels is a great, young talent. Key word: young. At the same amount of service time, Scott Kazmir, Chien Ming Wang, and Dontrelle Willis all made less then $500,000, while Kerry Wood made over $100,000 more then Hamels (numbers and names thanks to David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News). If Wood is a point of argument for young Hamels, look at his career. Do you think the Cubs made the right decision paying him as much as they did? Yes, Hamels is the real deal, and he will eventually make his money (hence, expect millions next year like Ryan Howard got this year compared to his $900,000 last year). He will need to at least duplicate his season last year to prove he is the real deal, and prove he can stay healthy. Hamels had a history of injury problems that would seem to be behind him. But the Phillies are playing "smart ball" as they know they have Hamels for at least four more years until he can become a free agent. Like I said, Hamels will make his money, but he needs to continue off of one good season. He needs to realize this is a business and he will make his money, but he needs to look at the history of other players that have been at the same service level and same predicaments before he holds a grudge over the franchise that is going to offer him more in the future. What the future holds for Hamels…. Arbitration in 2009! Also, Join ATS this Sunday (March 9) at 8PM Eastern Time as T- Money welcomes FIO contributor Lou Poulas to help you get prepared for your fantasy baseball draft! If you have any questions for Tim and Lou, e- mail tmiller@fantasyinsideronline.com Also to be discussed: NFL Free Agency, Brett Favre retires, Rockets continue to soar, Nuggets pick up their game after T- Money rips them a new one, and all the usual, weekly segments brought to you by ATS! Listen Live, Sunday March 9 at 8PM Eastern Time here: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/tmoneysports and join other listeners in the chat room! You can also call into the show, 718- 664- 6559! If you can not join the show live, be sure to listen to the show on the archive featured at http://www.fantasyinsideronline.com/ats.asp If you would like to sign up to receive the ATS newsletter in your e-mail, send a message to tmiller@fantasyinsideronline.com