Photo Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Photo Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

All offseason, Cole Hamels has said a variation of the same thing: “I would like to be traded, but I’m not demanding a trade or anything. I just want to win.” And now that he’s down in Clearwater and the fact that he’s still a Phillie is setting in, he wants us to know that he knows what team he’s on. Hamels told USA Today that the Phillies aren’t going to win, which is news to no one:

“I just want to win. That’s all. That’s all any competitor wants. And I know it’s not going to happen here. This isn’t what I expected. It’s not what the Phillies expected, either. But it’s reality.”

It’s a sad reality, but at least Hamels recognizes it. It makes you wonder when he first realized it, and if he realized it before Ruben did (he probably did). It’s hard to blame Hamels here. He’s got good years left, and just doesn’t want to waste them throwing some of his best baseball and ending the season with 11 wins. “In the grand scheme of things we have a very small window in our lives,” Hamels said. “You understand this is going to end. The Phillies will go on forever, but we know our careers are going to end. And I want to go to a place where I can win again.” He wants for himself the same thing that Mike Schmidt wants for Ryan Howard. But in Hamels’ case, it’s more realistic.