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.
It also makes me a tad nervous that Oswalt doesn't really want to play here. With that mentality, if he has a bad outing or two, he could get eaten alive. Cross your fingers his back holds up.— Muckrakers- How is it that 161 people (21.9%) have already voted "No"? Did they not understand the question? Is J.A. Happ online, flooding the poll with votes? C'mon, guys, this is a bonafide victory for Amaro. He fleeced the ever-loving bejeezus out of Wade. Don't get me wrong, Villar could be a good MLB SS... in 5 years. Gose won't be as good as Bourn, but the Phils have enough depth in the OF in their minor league system to take that punch. If Gillies can stay healthy, he's got more upside than Gose, with a similar set of strengths. The Phils got big cash to make Oswalt, a bonafide ace, downright cheap for the next 2 years. Those who complain about his injuries need to look closely at the stats. He regularly pitches over 200 innings, and he's still spotting his 95 mph fastball, despite these back issues (which have been overdramatized in the press). What an amazing deal!— Mike P
Comment removed.- vafan - why feel sorry for Happ? He'll probably get more of a chance to start with the Astros. The injury really hurt Happ I think. We didn't see enough of him to see how much of last year was real. Right now he's a bottom of the rotation guy, with potential, but also with injuries. Who would you rather have pitching in game 3 of the World Series -- Happ or Oswalt? With the money, this deal makes complete sense. Happ's a great kid. Good luck to him in Houston.— s
- This is a better deal than I was expecting. Good job, Reuben.— dlscholt
- This is even better. Not Singleton, Cosart or Worley. Now, can Rizzoti and other prospects not named above could get us Tejada or even Bautista?— EL Zorro
- If the tranasction speculation is accurate, I love this trade. We get a top of rotation guy PLUS finacial relief ($11 of $16M)...meaning Oswalt's 2011 salray hit is only $5M. Now....do something to beef up the backend of the BP.....and figure a way to retain Werth....after the parade of course ;)— Marcus Hooke
- @Phillies Freak - if Oswalt remains healthy this year, this is a steal. Gose is just a long-term prospect, and Happ seems to be making no progress in his career. If Happ were more formidable, Charlie would have started him in the playoffs. There is no question that a 7 game series would go Halladay-Hamels-Oswalt-Halladay.
- Amaro is still a Stunod!— Big Ragu
- I would rather have Lee this year. Long term this looks OK, but I'd rather have locked up Lee instead of Oswalt. Dollar wise that might not have worked though.— pigsofsunday
- This deal is just incredible. We did not have to give up Singleton, Cosart, Worley or any of the great Single A arms that are in the system. I cannot believe we got Oswalt for those three players and received 11 million dollars.— matty177
- Muckrackers, you lose all credibility when you say "even if you think he's (Oswalt) an upgrade over Happ,.." as if that was somehow open for debate. Oswalt leads the National League in every major pitching category aside from ERA over the past 10 years and is still only 32. Happ is a back of the rotation starter coming off an arm injury. People comparing the two are truly stupid, stupid fans.— jaybatt79
- Oops, Can Rizzoti and other prospects not named above get us Tejada or even better Bautista?— EL Zorro
- muckrakers-we are giving up a #4..maybe a # 3 (in happ) in a couple of years at best. who cares about the prospects. this team has now got 3 aces for the rest of this year and all of next with a possible option on oswalt for a third (which probaly wont happen). as for our 4 and 5 yes we have blanton who needs to get his act together and kk...but do you think they will get on the mound at the end of october??? no way it goes right left right...halladay hamels oswalt..right back to halladay. we still have some injuries, but WOW we are ready to stand up to the yankees.— jrlwvu
All Roy, All the Time! Halladay Oswalt & 2011 ROY Brown.
