roy oswalt to the phillies

[white Boy]

Roy Oswalt(notes) agreed to leave the Houston Astros on Thursday, his only organization in 14 professional seasons, and join the Philadelphia Phillies after the teams came to a trade agreement a day earlier. The teams were near completion of the trade Thursday afternoon, sources said.

Oswalt, 32 years old and twice a 20-game winner, waived his no-trade clause in order to join a pennant race – the Phillies are 3½ games behind the Atlanta Braves in the National League East, leaving the once-competitive Astros to their massive rebuilding effort. The process starts with their return on Oswalt: J.A. Happ(notes), a 27-year-old left-hander who is 13-4 over the past two seasons with the Phillies, and two minor leaguers – outfielder Anthony Gose and shortstop Jonathan Villan.

The Astros are expected to pay approximately $11 million of Oswalt’s salary through 2011, that being the holdup over the final hours before the clubs reached an agreement. He is owed the remainder of his $15 million deal this season and $16 million next year. The Phillies did not agree to pick up his 2012 option for another $16 million.

Three weeks after Cliff Lee(notes) was traded from the Seattle Mariners to the Texas Rangers and four days after the Los Angeles Angels acquired Dan Haren(notes) from the Arizona Diamondbacks, Oswalt become the third high-end starting pitcher to change teams before Saturday’s trading deadline.

The Phillies had needed an upgrade almost from the minute they swapped out Lee for Roy Halladay(notes) last December. World Series winners in 2008, the Phillies were National League champions again in 2009, losing to the New York Yankees in the World Series. They acquired Halladay from the Blue Jays and extended his contract, but dealt Lee to the Mariners, adding prospects but softening their rotation.

Their mistake was clear almost immediately, when their pitching staff could not carry a strangely erratic offense, and the Phillies again found themselves on the market for pitching as the deadline approached. A year ago, they had traded for Lee, and he had been a critical factor in a three-month run that ended in the World Series.

While Halladay has been all they’d hoped he would be – he has 12 wins, a perfect game, eight complete games and a 2.21 ERA – and Cole Hamels(notes) (7-7, 3.48 ERA) has improved over last season, the rest of the rotation has been hit and miss. Veteran Jamie Moyer(notes) has an elbow injury and might not pitch again. Joe Blanton’s(notes) ERA is pushing 6.00. And Kyle Kendrick(notes) has been unpredictable.

Combined with various slumps and injuries (Jimmy Rollins(notes), Chase Utley(notes) and, recently, Shane Victorino(notes)) and closer Brad Lidge’s(notes) usual ninth-inning drama, the rotation played a part in the Phillies finding themselves seven games behind the Braves only a week ago, heightening the need to acquire an established and veteran starter.

Oswalt comes at a price, and at a time when many scouts believe he’s not the same pitcher he was in the mid-2000s, when he was a regular on Cy Young Award ballots and at All-Star games. He is, however, sixth in the NL in WHIP, has pitched well in eight postseason appearances (the Astros were 5-2 in his seven starts), and through his career has been at his best in August and September.

He leaves Houston one victory shy of the franchise’s all-time record. Joe Niekro was 144-116 from 1975-85. Oswalt, who clearly had wearied of the losing in Houston, is 143-82.





ohhh shit son, doc, oswalt, hamels... 3 world series appearances in a row, you betya

[Javier]

You better hope his back doesn't start acting up

[white Boy]

You better hope his back doesn't start acting up

this year...

[Twentytwofifty]

Things are heating up nearing the trade deadline. 

I'm expecting a few more big moves by the Jays, they better move John Buck and Scott Downs.  Buy low, sell high. 

[Chamillitary Click]

Fuuuuuck.

[white Boy]

2.5 games out of the division. his first start tomorrow night, lets boogie.