Offense or Oswalt?
News blogs, sports blogs, entertainment blogs, and more from Philly.com, The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News.
Offense or Oswalt?
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
The question is hypothetical, because we do not yet have an indication that the Phillies are serious players for Roy Oswalt, who is still back home in Mississippi gearing up to play some ball. But we know that the team has seen the veteran righthander pitch, and we know that Roy Halladay is headed for a doctor's appointment today, and we know that Roy Halladay does not tend to make doctor's appointments and leave games early for minor ailments. So there is plenty of reason to believe that Ruben Amaro Jr. might have interest in bringing Oswalt back for another go-around.
The tricky variable is the offense, which has shown some signs of life over the last month but still has yet to prove that it is anything more than a middling unit that does most of its damage against middling pitchers. And the two biggest variables for the future of the offense are Chase Utley and Ryan Howard, neither of whom are likely to have returned by the time Oswalt picks a team. All of that could be related if the Phillies have a limited amount of payroll that they can take on between now and the trade deadline.
Maybe the offense does not need any help. Maybe Utley gives you what he gave you after his return last season, and maybe Howard can at least get himself back to the point where he is the batting order's top power threat and RBI producer. And maybe Ty Wigginton rotates in at first base against left-handed pitchers and Laynce Nix and Juan Pierre rotate with John Mayberry Jr. in left field and all of it works to produce a cohesive unit. And maybe Jimmy Rollins breaks out of a funk that has been going on two months and maybe Shane Victorino and Hunter Pence get back to the levels they were playing at for the bulk of last season.
But that is a lot of maybes, very few of which will be sorted out before a decision on Oswalt is due. I don't get the sense that the Phillies will allow themselves to be hamstrung by finances at this point. But I don't know that for sure. Left field is the one clear opening where they can slot a potential difference-making bat -- think Josh Willingham of the Twins, although it is not certain that he will be available. Boston's Kevin Youkilis could also be available at third base. Point is, the Phillies need to have the flexibility to make such a move if July arrives and the jury is still out on the offense. Which is why I'm not sure that spending a sizeable chunk of money on Oswalt would be a prudent move.
Signing Oswalt would be an indication that they would trade a baby-ace for a bat.— SilliBilli- Start dangling Victorino...— Seegs
Jon Pettibone? Once we've figured out who that is, we can entertain the idea of bringing sulky Roy Oswalt back, and quickly discard it. The player who can bring the Phils some offense is Hamels. It seems increasingly likely that he's exploring a future in some other city. (LA?) If that's the case, trading him could net a young position player with pop, AND either a starter or a reliable reliever.- feudal_nobility09--Who are you going to trade Utley and his bad knees to and what would you get for him? No one is going to give you anything of consequence.— bobbyuk
- Utley has zero arm for the outfield. IT's 1b or bust. Technically, they have 5 first basemen, 4 of them lefty.— SilliBilli
- Trade for Chase Headley. Padres have a 3b prospect in the minors and Headley is getting expensive. Headley would hit 20+ home runs for the Phils.— willthethrill11
- Not Roy. Bring up two kid pitchers. Polly is still a good TB and he seems to be healthy. No pop, but teams are not going to give the Phils some pop without scamming them for kids. And if they trade in July, make sure the people go to the AL. Atlanta seems in a spin so the real threats are the Nats. They have the kids. So we need kids too.— Koons
- Anyone who thinks that Scott Elarton or Dave Bush is the answer as a replacement for Halladay is dreaming. Not that Oswalt is either. He was nothing more than an average, injury prone pitcher last year. The Phillies are in no short supply of those types.— SteveS11
- I got the impression watching Oswalt last year that either his heart wasn't into it or he didn't want to be here or some reason. It's the same vibe Scott Rolen gave in his last half season here. So, great career, thanks, but no thanks. The Dom Brown inability to make the team has always been the #1 Domino that made all the other dominoes fall flat. His poor play in the field, a penchant for injury and a seeming indifference to taking the bull by the horns has resulted in him being a career minor leaguer at this point with no prospect of stepping into this line up in the future. A shame so much potential talent was either wasted thanks to him or improper minor league instruction or a combination of both. I agree with those who advocate going young and using our minor league kids who are stepping up.— DelawareRiverRat
- enough of this. no indication oswalt wants the phils, and the phils want oswalt, and even if they did, they money doesnt match up. texas is the obvious leader- closer to his home, an actual world series contender, and they arent up against the luxury tax.
but please, stop talking about scott elarton and dave bush. the stats of 32 year old guys pitching in AAA is completely irrelevant unless you're bringing them up to face the Pirates, Padre or Giant lineups- those guys wont stand up to major league hitters, which is why they are in AAA at their age.— jim715 
Comment removed.- pitching!
as in, you better sign Hamles to a long term deal.— NJ_taxpayer - Comment removed.
- The key is how bad is Halladay's shoulder? If it's a two or three-week thing that can improve with rest and rehab, no way on Oswalt. Worley is due back, KK has been good as a starter and Hamels sure looks like the ace to me. If Halladay needs surgery -- god forbid -- all bets are off.— eman
- Bottom line is the role players are doing their jobs, it's the "locks" like Pence, Rollins and Victorino that needed to step up and haven't.— Vote for Dickie
