SAN FRANCISCO—The San Francisco Giants have their sights set on 31-year-old Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels. Landing Hamels in time for the 2015 World Series would give the Giants a better-than-solid second starting pitcher behind Madison Bumgarner.

Hamels is currently signed with the Philadelphia Phillies under a six-year, $144 million contract slated to end after the 2019 season. Hamel’s salary for the 2016 season will be $22.5 million.

The Giants are still going after trading for David Price of the Detroit Lions.
The Giants are still going after trading for David Price of the Detroit Lions.

Contracts for Giants players Tim Hudson, Tim Linceum, Marco Scutaro, and Jeremy Affeldt are all up at the end of the 2015 season, freeing up $50 million of payroll space.

With much money to spend, even if the Giants can snag Hamels, they could still afford to sign Detroit’s David Price, another popular contender. Carlos Gomez of the Milwaukee Brewers is also a big name being tossed around for a trade deal.

But trading for Hamels, one of the most sought-after pitchers right now, won’t be easy. In addition to the Giants, the Arizona Diamondbacks, Texas Rangers, New York Yankees, and the Los Angeles Dodgers have all been in serious talks with the Phillies about a Hamels trade. The Dodgers, in particular, are said to be heavy front-runners in a trade consideration.

Hamels himself recently released his list of “pre-approved” locations he’d like to be traded to. The list included Texas, New York (for both the Mets and Yankees), and Los Angeles. San Francisco was not on the list. The Phillies reportedly want to hear the “best” offers from interested teams by Wednesday, ESPN reports.

Whatever the Giants offer on Wednesday may not be enough. According to reports, the Phillies don’t believe that the Giants have made the best offers they’ve heard so far. The Giants have yet to reveal names of players they are considering trading.