Phillies' pitcher Cole Hamels was happy to avoid arbitration with the team and is excited to begin their title defense. "A lot of guys, you talk, you get information from each other as far as what they've gone through in their career," Hamels said Sunday of the talks. "Someone will say, 'Man, I've got this contract [negotiation] coming up. I don't know what to do.' " He signed a three-year, $20.5 million contract extension with Philadelphia last week.