Ace left-hander Cole Hamels and the Philadelphia Phillies have reached agreement on a three-year extension worth $20.5 million, SI.com has learned.
The new deal will pay the Phillies' World Series hero $4.35 million this coming season, then $6.65 million in 2010 and $9.5 million in 2011
.Hamel was arbitration eligible, and other the past three years has averaged roughly 3.6 wins. Assuming he's around that next season, and then declines by 0.3 wins over the next three years, Hamels would be worth 56 million on the free agent market. Instead, Hamels is only entering arbitration, and adjusting his salary for such, Hamels is worth about 32 million.
Hamels going to have to bomb hard if the Phillies don't make a profit off of this deal.