WOULD RATHER BE IN CLEARWATER
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...
Bob Brookover and Matt Gelb team up for their third straight season covering the Phillies for the Inquirer and philly.com.
This is Brookover’s second stint writing about the Phillies, having joined the coverage team after seven years as an Eagles beat writer. Brookover was hired by The Inquirer in 2000 as the Phillies beat writer after spending 13 years writing about the team for two suburban newspapers. While on the Eagles beat, Brookover, who had covered just two winning Phillies teams in 15 seasons, saw the Phillies move into a cash-cow new ballpark and begin playing a brand of the game he found unrecognizable. Follow him on Twitter here.
Gelb is in his third season covering the Phillies. He was hired by The Inquirer in August 2009 after graduating from Syracuse University. He has also covered baseball at The Star-Ledger and Cape Cod Times. Born and raised in Bucks County, he attended Central Bucks High School West. Follow him on Twitter here.
To submit a question for Matt Gelb's Phillies mailbag, click here.
 | Join on Facebook |  | Follow on Twitter |
