The Atlanta Braves have signed left-handed starting pitcher Cole Hamels to a one-year, $18 million deal:

Hamels spent the 2019 campaign with the Chicago Cubs, going 7-7 with a 3.81 ERA while allowing 141 hits and striking out 143 batters over 141 2/3 innings of work. An oblique injury abbreviated his season.

The 35-year-old is a big name but is no longer the ace he once was during his days with the Philadelphia Phillies. That being said, he is a fine consolation prize behind Gerrit Cole, Stephen Strasburg and Madison Bumgarner.

Hamels was originally selected by the Phillies in the first round (17th pick overall) of the 2002 MLB Draft.

He made his big-league debut in 2006, going 9-8 with a 4.08 ERA over 23 starts. The following year, Hamels broke out, going 15-5 with a 3.39 ERA while surrendering just 163 hits and fanning 177 hitters across 183 1/3 frames, en route to his first All-Star selection.

Hamels was then even better in 2008, as he went 14-10 with a 3.09 ERA and gave up 193 hits while registering 196 strikeouts through 227 1/3 innings. He didn't make the All-Star team, but he did help lead Philadelphia to a championship, notching World Series MVP honors in the process.

The lefty spent the first nine and a half years of his career with the Phillies, making three All-Star teams. He was traded to the Texas Rangers midway through the 2015 campaign, and in 2016, he earned another All-Star appearance with the Rangers after going 15-5 with a 3.32 ERA.

Texas dealt him to the Cubs in July 2018.

Over the course of his career, Cole Hamels has gone 163-121 with a 3.42 ERA.