Dodgers: This old Cole Hamels trade rumor headline will blow your mind

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Cole Hamels sure was a hot commodity back during the 2014 season. A number of teams gave the Philadelphia Phillies a call to inquire about the left-hander, who had no place on that floundering roster.

Naturally, the Dodgers were interested.

Why wouldn’t they be? They won the NL West that year and were one of the best teams in baseball.

And they wanted to go for the jugular, especially with their rotation.

They had Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke, Dan Haren, Josh Beckett and Hyun-Jin Ryu slinging it and could’ve used more support after Beckett was lost for the season in early August.

But the Phillies were driving a hard bargain. So hard, in fact, that if the Dodgers had agreed to the reported proposal, these franchises might be in two totally different places right now. See for yourself!

Cole Hamels is now a Dodgers LHP … and this old trade rumor brings it full circle.

Excuse us? Three of the Dodgers top prospects at the time? For a 30-year-old pitcher attached to a mammoth contract through 2018? Nothing against Hamels, obviously, he’s a baseball legend of sorts, but at the time it was the second-largest contract for a pitcher behind CC Sabathia’s $161 million deal with the New York Yankees.

How badly would this have altered the Dodgers’ trajectory? Would they even have a World Series? Would they be contending in 2021?

Joc Pederson, though no longer with the team, was a postseason legend for the Dodgers. His contributions for the last five years helped lift LA in so many October contests. Seager, the team’s starting shortstop, just won the NLCS and World Series MVP, and, when healthy, is undoubtedly one of the best in the game at his position. And Urias?! He’s looking like a future cornerstone of the rotation. And he clinched LA’s World Series win with a save!

Even more mind-blowing? This was before the Andrew Friedman era! He wasn’t hired until the next season.

The last Dodgers regime very much knew what they had in Pederson, Seager and Urias. And so what if it took seven years to get Hamels to LA? It’s come full circle now, and the wait was worth it, because there was no chance we could’ve stomached the team shipping off part of their core that helped take over MLB the last five years.

Dodgers signing Cole Hamels to continue starting rotation makeover

The Los Angeles Dodgers are reportedly signing left-hander Cole Hamels as they continue to rework their starting rotation.