Oswalt to make Phillies debut tomorrow
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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.
Feel bad for Happ. Nice kid and will be a good pro if he stays healthy, but he was never going to be a #1 or #2. The Phils got a #1A type starter and have him now for at least through next year. The Phils will have Halladay, Hamels and Oswalt through this year and next. That is a hell of a rotation. Now if Kendrick would stop being bipolar on the mound.— Philalawyer- You folks have your head in the sand and see only the Oswalt of prior years (before 2009). These days he ain't the same guy. For the past 2 years Happ has been the better pitcher and had better results. So, the Phils are worse off than yesterday. If this actually goes down.— innc
- Still need to be able to close out games. Would have rather taken my chances with current starters and got a proven set up guy or closer - even if you had to over pay - Lidge is DONE! COOKED! You cannot blow saves when you are 2.5 GB in the Wild Card and def. can't blow saves in the playoffs if you get there!— rock12
- This is too good to be true. Wade is going to get murdered in the Houston press. Halliday, Hamels and Oswalt, H20— cupajoe
- This just in...RAJ has traded Halladay to Seattle for 3 minor league scrubs...— tralala
- ruben, i'm going to finally shutup about the cliff lee deal. and next time someone gives you slack just tell them you made the below trade: drabek, happ, marson, taylor, carasco, donald, knapp, d'aurnaud, gose, villar FOR gilles, jc ramirez, aumont, oswalt, and halladay— vmurali
- This whole situation makes no sense at all. Lee could not stay because of money?? So we pay more for Oswalt, who is not as good a pitcher. Loose Happ and a half a dozen prospects in the process. I think Happ has more upside potential than Oswalt so go figure. Amaro is an idiot. And people complain about the Eagles management........— craig123
- happ was a 27 year old #4 starter who peaked....Oswalt is a pitch away from a back surgery. As long as we dont have to pick up the option a decent deal.— toml312
- @craig123 u were the idiot i was talking about in my earlier post....The Astros are giving us 11 mil--read next time before u say stupid S**t— Phillies Freak
- craig123 - read the deal. We pay less than we would for Lee because Houston gives us (reported anyway) 11 million of his contract money. Plus he's locked up for another year or two but not for some ridiculous number of years. We would have paid 9 million for one year of Lee and then a lot more with a lot of years to keep him. This is a more than decent compromise: less years but enough to make some runs at the title, less money.— s
- @mattchew1227 Pat Gillick had a lot to do with the Lee to Seattle deal as well...Once again, Rube get's no credit when he makes a great deal.— hope55
- Lee right now is best pitcher in baseball --he goes out and gives up 2 runs or less with 8-9 innings pretty much 9 out of 10 times. I would call that stat -- 2 runs or less and at least 8 innings --the "super Start" (as complared to more mundane "Quality start"). No one else (not Halladay or Oswald) is even close. No matter what else Ruben ever does, there will never be a good rationale for losing the best pitcher for 3 low prospects. But at least Ruben appears willing to try to move on and see if Phls can still win in 2010 and 2011...— warbiscuit
- Are you kidding me This is a steal. Happ was never going to be more than a #3 SP. We have a ton of CF prospects (T.Gillies, L.Castro, J.James, A.Altherr,) so trading Gose is no hit to our farm at all. Villar is a nice prospect at a premium posttion SS but he still in A ball. I would take this deal any day. No top pitching prospects Cosart Colvin, may, . No Singleton, Valle, Worley. Great deal. A+++— Joey0210
- If reports are true, farewell, J.A. Very impressed by how well you handled yourself during last year's trading season. Despite rumors, you took the ball every fifth day and were nearly lights-out. We will miss you.— andrewfrombrooklyn
- Big Ragu & tralala, Ha Ha! Reuben knows he screwed up, so now he fixed it as best as he could. I think he made a backroom deal with Ed Wade that will result in Houston getting a good deal during the winter from Philly. As things stand now, Houston got fleeced...
