After Roy Halladay was sidelined with a shoulder injury, people began speculating whether the Phillies would consider reacquiring Roy Oswalt. When choosing to hang up his cleats for a short leave last offseason, the righty hurler made it very clear he intended on making a comeback.
He denied an offer from the Detroit Tigers to add depth to one of the league’s most young and promising rotations, but insisted he’d be back. His leave ended earlier than many expected.
Instead of following the path of Pedro Martinez and Roger Clemens, the three time all-star is returning sooner than July, which was the speculated timetable during the winter. Oswalt had been in contact with the Red Sox, Phillies, Orioles and Dodgers before the Rangers inked him to a deal.
Texas was the first team to offer the 34-year-old a contract and Bob Garber’s client graciously accepted the $5-million offer to suit up with the best team in the American League. Oswalt will be expected to replace an injured Naftali Feliz in a rotation that never ceases to amaze.
The Rangers lead the majors in both runs scored and earned run average, which makes for a great clubhouse and a great opportunity for a seasoned veteran to jump into.
The quick acting Rangers locked up the groundball pitcher, who despite criticism had a 3.69 ERA averaging six strikeouts per game in 23 starts last season. Although his fastball’s velocity has dropped, the Wizard of Os now has to rely on his command to get batters out.
The Rangers were in a similar situation to the Phillies, but acted quicker than Amaro’s squad and that was unfortunate for Philadelphia. Last season marked the first year in his career that he had a losing record, but that can’t be held against him. In his 23 starts, the Phillies only averaged 4 runs per game leaving the right hander to do most of the work himself.
The Phillies didn’t make much of an attempt to keep the hurler in Philly, but now that he has signed for fairly cheap with the Rangers that seems like a mistake. Timing killed the Phillies in this situation because should Halladay have hit the disabled list only a week earlier, the Phils could have had a legitimate shot at signing Oswalt.
His fastball is going to be clocked in the low 90s, but as long as he keeps batters putting the ball on the ground he will be successful. Expect him to fit in perfectly with strutting Rangers and don’t expect his ERA to fly any higher than it did last season.
Oswalt’s tank isn’t empty yet and he is going to bring veteran leadership to the Rangers’ locker room, something the Phillies’ tends to be lacking as of late.
To be honest per most reports, Oswalt did not really enjoy his short stay while in Philly.. He worked out ofr Texas a few times and has been waiting on them..
Thew Cards and Braves were other options he had also, but not at the $5 Million offer the Rangers made..
You do hear that he didn’t enjoy his stay… I think it was because he was not all that great while he was here. Hard to say it would’ve been a mistake not to get him back.. It prob would have helped but he was not a necessity.I really liked him while he was in Houston, not so much here. He has the personality of white paint.
I do know thats not all that important.
I just don’t think he ever felt comfortable in Philly being from the Deep South and think he felt like he was the 4th fiddle behind Doc, Lee & Hamels. I think he had very little to zero interest in coming back to the Phils at all or anywhere in the Northeast and was looking to stay close to him which for the Rangers, he is..
F^#@ Oswalt! He is an injury prone, creep & is cooked. If stupid @$$ Amaro, didn’t trade Cliff Lee to begin with, we wouldn’t of had needed to waste a trade for Oswalt. That entire situation, was a cluster f^#@ from the get go. Their was ZERO reason, why we couldn’t of had both Halladay & Lee from the get go. It was idiotic & one of the long line of f^#@ ups of Amaro’s.
Crazy as it sounds. I think Blaton will give you similar stats to what Oswalt does.
Its vital to sign Hamels. However i think he goes to New York or L.A
If he goes anywhere besides here it is LA. And they should break the bank to get him. They have a solid lineup and you would pair him with Kershaw. That would be the best 1-2 in MLB.
Rumor Mill…
Phils Send LHP Hamels, 1B Howard & 2B Utley to the Anaheim Angels for
1B Albert Pujols…
Trumbo and Morales are good targets there.