Reports: Oswalt deal pending his approval
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Reports: Oswalt deal pending his approval
Daily News staff
All that stands in the way of the Phillies' acquiring Houston righthander Roy Oswalt is his willingness to waive his no-trade clause, according to multiple reports in Houston this morning.
The Phillies would send lefthander J.A. Happ and prospects to the Astros in exchange for Oswalt, the reports say.
According to the Houston Chronicle, Oswalt has been told of the deal on the table and the terms. Of course, it is not a certainty that Oswalt approves the deal, even if he was the one who asked the Astros to move him to a contender.
Houston's Fox 26 had the initial report late last night.
The trading deadline is 4 p.m. Saturday.
Oswalt told reporters Wednesday that he would like to have some time to decide before the deadline, perhaps increasing the urgency for the sides to come to an agreement.
"You do need a little bit of time," Oswalt said, according to MLB.com. "I don't want it to be two hours before the Deadline and have to make a quick decision. I would rather have a little bit of time to think about it."
According to the Fox 26 report, the sides have agreed on how much salary the Astros are paying, and ESPN is saying it could be a "significant amount." Oswalt is owed about $5 million for the rest of this season and $16 million next season.
It is unclear whether the Phillies have agreed to pick up Oswalt's $16 million option in 2012. He has indicated a willingness to restructure his contract in the right situation. Of course, that option year would put a major dent in what is already shaping up to a big payroll for 2012. The Phillies have $40 million combined due to Ryan Howard and Roy Halladay alone.
Phillies officials were not available this morning for comment. Houston GM Ed Wade has declined comment.
Foxsports.com reported earlier this week that Oswalt was unwilling to come to Philadelphia and did not want to pitch on the East Coast.
Oswalt told the Houston Chronicle, in response, "That's not an issue. Like I said from the beginning, it's going to have work for both of us."
Oswalt is 6-12 with a 3.42 ERA in 129 innings with 120 strikeouts this season. His arrival would give the Phillies a strong 1-2-3 punch at the top of their rotation with Roy Halladay and Cole Hamels.
The Astros are off today and Oswalt is scheduled to pitch Friday night at home against Milwaukee. If the deal happens, Oswalt would leave the Astros franchise one shy of the team record for wins (144) held by Joe Neikro.
Initially, reports indicated that the Phillies and Astros were looking for a third team, possibly Tampa Bay to be involved in the deal. That no longer became the case when the Phillies could not trade rightfielder Jayson Werth, following Shane Victorino's injury earlier this week.
Happ, who returned to the big leagues Sunday after missing most of the season, was drafted by the Phillies in the third round in 2004, when current Astros GM Ed Wade was still the Phillies' GM. He is scheduled to make $470,000 this season and is still several years away from free agency. The Astros have scouted Happ twice over the last week and a half.
The Phillies have talent at the lower levels of the minors and the Astros have scouted Lakewood, including a visit from Wade himself. The package figures to be heavy on pitching, rather than position players. Speculation has that Vance Worley, who was with the Phillies over the weekend and started at Triple A Tuesday night, could be included.
Interestingly, the Phillies keep saying that you can never have too much pitching and they keep ending up with less depth than they started with each move.
Ruben Amaro is an A-hole— ozone
we're overdue for a comment referring to 'air guitars'— dpcoz- I say, keep whining about Cliff Lee. It was a stupid deal by a stupid GM. Just because many of us think it was a bad deal, doesn't mean we're not Phillies fans.— phineas
- Ruben traded Lee for a few reasons, mainly because he wanted Sabathia's money. But he also was counting on Happ to improved from his very good season, where he performed admirably amid the flip floping from the pen to the starting rotation he was subject to last year. He envisioned a rotation of Halladay, the 2008 version of Hamels (which is happening as we speak), Happ, Blanton and Moyer/Kendrick. It didn't happen and now he has to go to Plan B, which is acquiring another front line starter for the stretch drive, because it will take Happ a few starts to be dominant again and there is not time to wait. How hard is for people to understand that?— EL Zorro
- Don't do it Roy! You don't want to pitch here, you are damaged goods!!! We fans are brutal here just ask your old buddy Billy the Wimp. Rather have a healthy young Happ than a banged up Oswalt. Back issues are no joke, don't do it!!! Since Dumb and Dumber (RAJ and Wade) won't put a stop to this madness you should!!!— tralala
- How is he more injury prone than Happ. 5 outta the last 6 seasons he has thrown over 200 innings. Last year = 181. this year he is on his way to 200 again. Didn't Happ just miss half the season? And since you like stats so much,ow about this year: 3.42 ERA, 129 IP, 120KS, only 109 hits and 34 walks. Forget about the record, he plays for the stinky Astros.— bugsyhawk
Comment removed.- ccheung, calling somebody a clown is the only thing you apparently know how to do. Why don't you get a job? Whinning about Lee is so old. Stop looking back and look forward to a very possible World Series appearance this year if he pulls the trigger on this one.— frankfj
- You armchair General Managers are hilarious. What any of you know about the inside operations of a baseball team you could write on a finger nail. Hey, jas157, if you believe anything you hear from the king of negativity (Cataldi) then I've got some swamp land I'll sell you cheap...— Russ
- I would of rather keep Happ and try and get Carmona of the Indians. Although, with Halladay, Hamels and Oswalt as a playoff rotation should drastically improve our chances for a World Series "if" we make the playoffs.— usn1223
- Maybe Rube can do a Jedi mind trick on Wade and make him take KK instead of Happ.
- come on roy lets do this!!! drop the no trade and form the best rotation in baseball. The entire area needs to keep their eye on the houston game tonight and hope for a healthy scratch..oswalt is due to pitch. then we can focus on landing bautista and be ready to stare the yankees in the face.— jrlwvu
- BTW, If I were RAJ, I would try hard to keep Singleton and include Rizzoti, who could help the Astros in a year or two, by the time Berkman retires. Singleton is at least 4 years away from the majors.— EL Zorro
- maybe i'm just delusional, but maybe the reason the phils don't want to pick up the 2012 option is so they can have oswalt for the rest of this year to try and help them win the ws and then trade him in the ofseason and sign cliff lee. ruben said it was always about restocking the farm system. this way you give up prospects once and get them back twice, plus you end up wiht cliff lee. but like i said i could be delusional— pbuscio
Only in Philly: Good article regarding loss of Lee. Rosenthal even predicts a possible World Series of Phillies vs Rangers and Lee! He blast Ruben for trade..see link: http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/if-phils-want-oswalt,-why'd-they-deal-lee%3F-072810— dogman5
