Phillies land Oswalt; three prospects going to Houston
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Phillies land Oswalt; three prospects going to Houston
Bob Brookover and Matt Gelb
The Phillies have completed a three-player trade with the Houston Astros for righthander Roy Oswalt.
Lefthanded pitcher J.A. Happ, outfielder Anthony Gose and infielder Jonathan Villar are going to Houston.
Villar, who has been removed from single-A Lakewood's lineup tonight, is hitting .272 with two home runs and 36 RBIs. Villar, 19, has 42 errors in 99 games as Lakewood's shortstop but projects as a corner infielders down the line.
Gose, who turns 20 on Aug. 10, is hitting .263 with four home runs and 20 RBIs for single-A Clearwater. He has 36 stolen bases but has been caught stealing 27 times.
Happ, whom the Phillies have injury concerns about, has made three starts this season after finishing as runner-up National League Rookie of the Year. He is 1-0 with a 1.76 ERA in three starts. Happ, 27, strained his left elbow on April 15.
Happ was running on the warning track at Citizens Bank Park around 3 p.m. and was pulled aside by pitching coach Rich Dubee and the two entered a tunnel down the rightfield line.
The monetary details of the trade are still unknown.
The two teams have reportedly agreed on a way to handle the remainder of Oswalt's salary. ESPN is reporting the Phillies have asked the Astros to pay a "significant portion" of the $5 million Oswalt is due for the remainder of this season plus the $16 million Oswalt is due in 2011.
Then, of course, there is the $16 million club option for 2012.
That has been the sticking point all along, a baseball source told The Inquirer earlier in the week.
"Oswalt has [Astros general manager] Ed Wade and everybody else at his mercy because of that no-trade clause," the source said. "I know the Phillies thought they were close to having it done last week, but I think the difference was that option year."
More to come...
Comment removed.
idiots, if we kept Lee then Oswalt would not have come up in trade talks for the Phillies... let it go, that rotation would have never happened even if Cliff was still here... Amaro fixed his mistake and the Phils will be ahead of the Braves by mid-August... get back on the band wagon people!!!— lasalleguy- MLB channel says Oswalt for Happ, Gose, and Villar (shortstop).— phillyinsd
- Romus, you know Singleton won't play 1B until 2018, right? Good trade here. It's Oswalt for this year and next, not just this year like it would have been with Lee.— malvaro38
- Meanwhile, the Phillies still have a serious concern at closing.— beaglemommy
- Happ got squeezed by the ump in the NLDS versus the Colorado Rockies. He threw strikes that were called balls. This seemed to unnerve Happ. The Phillies must have decided that one lefty on the team who gets easily unnerved (Hamels) is enough.— Freedom Fries
I nominate Ed Wade to have the next plack on the Phillies wall of fame. This guy has been an assest in shaping this Phillies team.- SS prospect Villar is the third player in the deal per Rosenthal, not Worley.— themadhacker2000
- Pitching is the name of the game. Getting another front line pitcher without giving up a current everyday player is pretty hard to argue with. Getting to #1 starts with having very good players, also needs great team interactions and still usually involves some - more than a few - lucky bounces. This Philly organization is continuing to do the first two. It's been fun watching this team for the last four years and it seems that it will stay fun.— jake52
- GoPhilsGo...This is Philly. People will complain, win or lose. I wish Bret Myers was in the deal. He's having a great year or a sh$tty team.— irishlaxer
- ruben, you have some explaining to do....
- This is a coup by the Phillies if the report is accurate, although I would rather see Rizzotti replace Worley. But we get to keep Cosart and Singleton and the other kids at Class A. The $11 millions the Astros reportdly are paying towards the $23 million owed to Oswalt is icing on the cake. That money, plus Jamie's salary off the books will help to keep Werth. Plus the option year was off the table. How can anybody complain about the trade? Have you seen Oswald's number in August, September and the playoffs?— EL Zorro
- I'm excited go phightins!!!!!!— Phillyaviator37
- Villar, Gose and Happ. I cannot believe that Amaro pulled this off! Are you kidding me? Villar has 42 errors in the minors and Gose is a good but not great prospect and Happ AND you get back 11 million dollars. Most of us have been killing Amaro for the Lee deal but he made out great in this trade. No Singleton, No Cosart, No Worley, No Rizzotti. Unreal.— matty177
- so much for the BS line about trading lee to get back prospects....now we give up a starting pitcher (happ) AND more prospects for less pitcher (oswalt) that what we already had (lee). wow.... i don't see oswalt as a big upgrade over happ.
