Oswalt to make Phillies debut tomorrow
Roy Oswalt has passed his physical will make his Phillies debut tomorrow night against Washington at Nationals Park.
Oswalt to make Phillies debut tomorrow
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
Roy Oswalt has passed his physical will make his Phillies debut tomorrow night against Washington at Nationals Park.
If the Nationals thought that too many Phillies fans made their way to D.C. for the season opener, imagine what this might be like.
"I'm at a point in my career where I just want a chance to get back to the World Series like I did in '05 with Houston," he told ESPN.com. "I'm excited to be going to Philly. I love watching Roy Halladay pitch and I think with him and [Cole] Hamels the three of us can feed off each other."
Oswalt is getting on a plane and flying into Washington tonight.
"He really wanted to pitch tomorrow. He didn’t want to wait," agent Bob Garber told the Daily News. "He’s in great shape. He’s healthy. He feels good. A pitcher like Roy, you can pitch for a long time.”
Oswalt was scheduled to pitch tomorrow night for Houston prior to the deal so he will remain on his usual turn. J.A. Happ was set to pitch for the Phillies.
As for the reports that Oswalt did not want to come to the Phillies, Garber said that was not the case.
"Roy never said he didn’t want to go to Philadelphia," he said. "He never wavered about Philly. We never had anything in front of us until yesterday. He slept on it overnight and woke up and wanted to be with the Phillies.”
Garber indicated the Oswalt camp figured the four teams that were involved were the Rangers, Cardinals, Yankees and Phillies.
The Astros get J.A. Happ, minor leaguers Anthony Gose and Jonathan Villar.
They also are expected to pay $11 million to the Phillies. Oswalt is owed about $5 million for the rest of the season and $12 million next season.
“There’s a lot of money being sent between teams," Garber said. "That’s why it took a while [to finalize].”
The Phillies did not extend Oswalt's $16 million option for 2012, but increased the buyout should the option not get extended, reportedly by $1 million.
"There was a change in the buyout," general manager Ruben Amaro said Jr. "[The amount was] not deemed significant."
"I didn't want [the option] to be a deal breaker," Oswalt told ESPN.com. "It wasn't about the money, it was about getting a chance to go somewhere and win. I was confident that we could always find a way to overcome that."
The Phillies now have Oswalt, Roy Halladay and Cole Hamels at the top of their rotation.
"I like our chances with the three pitchers at the top of our rotation," Amaro said.
As for Oswalt waiving his no-trade clause, Amaro said, "He’s pretty excited about coming here. One of the things that he has as a result of his contract status is he had the right to refuse the trade. In some ways, we’re very fortunate he allowed himself to be traded to Philadelphia without really getting a whole lot for it."
Oswalt has had back issues in the past, but Amaro said the two team doctors and trainers and a back specialist were all consulted.
"We did our due diligence," Amaro said. "He has had injections. We knew about them. We know about them. We feel confident that at the very least he will be able to play at the level accustomed at least through the 2011 season."
Happ, 27, was 1-0 with a 1.76 ERA in three starts for the Phillies this season. He was originally selected by the club in the third round of the 2004 draft and finished second in National League Rookie of the Year voting last season. For his career, he is 14-5 with a 3.11 ERA in 47 games (31 starts).
Gose, 19, was hitting .263 with four home runs, 20 RBI and 36 stolen bases for single-A Clearwater. He was a second-round selection by the Phillies in the 2008 draft and led all minor league players in stolen bases (76) last season.
Villar, also 19, was hitting .272 with two home runs, 36 RBI and 38 stolen bases in 100 games for single-A Lakewood. A native of the Dominican Republic, Villar was originally signed as an amateur free agent by the Phillies in May of 2008.
And now this, according to Fox, Gose has already been flipped by the Astros to Toronto for Brett Wallace, who last year was flipped from Oakland for Michael Taylor after the Halladay deal.
EARLIER:
The Phillies appear to have their man. One of the biggest remaining hurdles between the Phillies and a rotation that includes Roy Oswalt has been eclipsed, according to a source familiar with the righthander's thinking, as the veteran righthander is prepared to waive his no-trade clause and green-light a deal with the Phillies.
Several reports have the Astros acquiring lefthander J.A. Happ and minor league outfielder Anthony Gose, and the Phillies receiving $11 million from Houston, although the Daily News has not independently confirmed the terms of the package.
FoxSports.com reported that a third player headed to Houston is shortstop Jonathan Villar, who is still at the bottom of the Phillies' minor league system.
No word yet on the status of Oswalt's $16 million option for 2012.
Oswalt was scheduled to pitch tomorrow for the Astros, although it is unclear if he will be in Washington in time for the Phillies' game against the Nationals.
Happ arrived as usual at Citizens Bank Park today and was spotted running wind sprints in the outfield. However, he was later greeted with hugs from his teammates.
It is unclear whether physicals have been scheduled.
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In other news, shortstop Jimmy Rollins is out of the lineup for a third consecutive game after fouling a ball off his foot Monday against Colorado.
Also, Domonic Brown is not in the lineup. Ben Francisco will play rightfield. Manager Charlie Manuel had said Brown would play against some lefthanders, but apparently not this evening against new Diamondback Joe Saunders, who was acquired Sunday in the Dan Haren trade with the Angels.
Great job Rueben, and to all you whiners......shut the f up and go root for Texas.— blaqjaq
An outstanding deal! Happ still a question mark, Oswalt is not. Two minor leaguers did not inclue Singleton or Worley. Phils continue their commitment to contend now and this is a tremendous addition to top of rotation. Hope this puts all the Lee talk to bed for awhile. Great job Rube! Let's go Phils!— Z-Force
I want Amaro to start off Oswalt's introductory press conference telling all the fans he blew it when he trade Cliff Lee, and that he now accepts his mistake, and that this trade should be seen as an apology to all the people who were right all along and that he will learn from his mistakes and try better in the future. He can then tell Oswalt to man up, shut his trap about not wanting to go to Philly, and start playing ball for keeps.- "Roy never said he didn’t want to go to Philadelphia," he said. "He never wavered about Philly. We never had anything in front of us until yesterday. He slept on it overnight and woke up and wanted to be with the Phillies ...."— wxdavid
- 66 comments LEE is somehow mention in 34 of them— wxdavid
- How much will they lose on the Villar bobbleheads which are now worthless ?? By the way, critics, Paddy G was the force behind the force on this deal. I have insider info, right Paulie H ??— mick314
- What about our farm system? It's depleted! We're doomed... We're doooooooooomed.— HighDrama
- glad we didn't have to give up the worley kid. after that 9th inning gem he tossed didnt want to lose him.
- You are right Spider Rico when you say "Ed Wade is an integral architect in building this Phillies team." Who would have thought that Ed would keep "building the Phillies" after he went to work for the Astros!— kzimm63
Am I sad to see Happ go? Where was he this year? Injured. Will Happ need surgery?— road515- I feel really bad for Happ. Seems like a good guy, and besides, would you want to leave the Phillies to go to the Astros?— pizzzmoe
- Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt, and in right field, wearing #9, The Natural (Roy Hobbs).— andrewfrombrooklyn
- Ya, this is a great deal for the Phils. Halladay, Hamels, Oswalt, Blanton, Kendrick the rest of the way. Offense is heating up. BP could use some help, but you have 3 guys who can and will eat a lot of innings, so we don't need to break the bank. Gonna be a fun stretch drive. LET'S GO PHILS!!!— pocobull
Excellent - now trade Victorino for bullpen help and resign Werth!— Leegles- Absolutely PHAN-tastic deal. Now let's put the past behind us and move on with one of the best 1-2-3's in MLB. Would still like to see some BE bullpun insurance.....and then resign Werth.— Marcus Hooke
