One of the best left-handed pitchers in the game has finally been traded after months of speculation.

The Philadelphia Phillies will send ace Cole Hamels, left-handed relief pitcher Jake Diekman, and cash to the Texas Rangers for five prospects and Matt Harrison, according to Jon Morosi of Fox Sports. The deal was first reported by T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com.

Just six days after throwing the first no-hitter of his career, Hamels will join the Rangers as the teams new front of the rotation pitcher. The team also has Yu Darvish who is out with an injury and will join the team next year. The 31-year-old is 6-7 with a 3.64 ERA. The record does not really show how good Hamels is as the Phillies could not score runs for him. He averages about 10 strikeouts per nine innings and has a tremendous arm, as shown in his no-hitter as he was throwing 96 MPH in the ninth inning. The hope is that the team will be healthy so that they can make a run in 2016 and not necessarly 2015. The Rangers are only 4.5 games back in the AL Wildcard, so if the team were to come back and win the wild card they would not complain. Hamels has three years of team control left plus a club option in 2019.

The Rangers also received left-handed reliever Diekman. The 29-year-old can throw 100 MPH and will be a nice addition to the Rangers bullpen. He is has appeared in 41 games and has a 5.15 ERA.

The Rangers are sending five prospects over to the Phillies. The first prospect is outfielder is Nick Williams. Williams was a second round pick in the 2012 draft. The 21-year-old is hitting .300 with 13 home runs and 45 RBIs. Williams was the number five prospect in the Rangers system. The Phillies will also receive catching prospect Jorge Alfaro. Alfaro is just 22-years-old and he is hitting .253 with 21 RBIs in Double-A. He was the number three prospect in the Rangers system. The team also will receive right-handed pitcher Jake Thompson, who was traded from the Detroit Tigers to the Rangers last year. He is 6-6 with a 4.72 ERA in Double-A. The 21-year-old was the Rangers number two prospect. Two other righties were also sent to the Phillies in Alec Asher and Jerad Eickhoff. Asher is just 23-year-old and is 3-6 with a 4.73 ERA in Triple-A. Eickhoff is 24-years-old and is 8-4 with a 4.47 ERA. With all this said, the Phillies have got five guys that are under the age of 25 that will be impactful for the team moving towards the future. The Phillies now have a good young group of guys who could be the core of the team moving forward. 

The Phillies also got a left-handed pitcher in Matt Harrison. Harrison will take Hamels spot in the rotation as he is an eight-year veteran. The 29-year-old was traded particualry for finanial reasons. Harrison is owed $13 million this year and the Rangers traded him to shed his salary for the next two years. Harrison has only appeared in three games this year for the Rangers as he has been out with a back injury. He is 1-2 with a 6.75 ERA in his three starts.

The Phillies got a pretty good haul for Hamels as they move towards rebuilding with an eye on the future, and the Rangers got their ace left-hander to help them this season and for several more years as they look to compete for a playoff spot.

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