The Detroit Tigers reached out to Roy Oswalt to fill the fifth spot of their great mix of young studs and flame throwing Justin Verlander. The former Philly rejected the $10-million offer and CBSSports’ Jon Heyman tweated that the 34-year-old is taking a break to reevaluate his future, but a midseason return cannot be ruled out.
The nine-game winner posted a sub-four ERA and was also in the sights of the Red Sox, Rangers, Cardinals and Reds due to the weak pitching free agent class. Oswalt plans to stay in shape and may be following the footsteps of former Astros’ teammate, Roger Clemens, and former Phillie, Pedro Martinez, who emerged out of no man’s land to sign with a playoff contender at about midseason.
After being bumped down to the fourth spot of Philadelphia’s rotation, the right-hander took heat for his inconsistent losing record. He was acquired by the Phillies at the trade deadline from the Houston Astros during the 2010 season and dominated from Jump Street. His one lose in 12 starts and sub two ERA in red stripes sky-rocketed expectations, but after his regression during an injury plagued 2011 campaign Ruben Amaro Jr. decided to part ways with his number four starter.
Is coming back mid-season Oswalt’s best option?
Clemens’ return was his last hoorah and with a six inning win over the troubled Pittsburgh Pirates to round out his record at six and six and his ERA slightly above four, he hung up the spikes. Clemens lack of success shouldn’t hold back the three-time all-star because the Rocket led his comeback at age 42 not 34.
Pedro’s return went a heck of a lot better than Clemens’ and landed the righty in the World Series. Philadelphia embraced the flashy star and his 5-1 record after signing him in early August during their ’09 run. Amaro Jr. took advantage of his chance to sign the (at the time) 39-year-old and it made him look like a genius.
Oswalt’s age makes him more than suitable to play half a season, which lately seems like all he has been able to stay healthy for. Since returning from an injury in August last year, he posted a winning record and an ERA slightly above 3.50 during the last two months of the year.
He proved the second half was his time when he was acquired by the Philly and won seven straight starts to finish the season. If Oswalt can stay in shape, a midseason return should be expected because someone trying to make a playoff run will definitely be desperate enough to pick up the veteran hurler.
Some not so good news from Phils Camp already
– 1B R Howard has set-back and heading back to Philly for some tests by the Doctor who performed his Surgery.. (Wonder if he is attempting to come back a little too quick)
– LHP C Lee has Abdominal Strain and will not throw for another week, no Lee has had this issues before but remember, he’s 33 years old now and sometimes the soreness and pain takes a little longer to bounce back from
No need to panic, but do remember that the core of this team is getting old anyway you look at it .. Rollins,Utley,Polanco,Victorino,Halladay,Lee,Contreras are all on the downside of their Professional Careers and have played lots of games over the years and their bodies are simply not going to bounce back like they were when they were 26-28-30 Years old, it’s just a fact… The Phillies Bench will be relied on a lot this Season and will probably be the difference of them making the Playoffs or them coming to the end of a great era for Phillie Baseball..
Who cares? He is a non-factor to our team. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!!!
I have downgraded the Phils to miss the 2012 Post-Season..
Their everyday line-up is to old,injury prone to win it this Season, and there top 3 PItchers are very good, but not good enough to cover for this poor offense