7:09pm: Rosenthal now hears that the Reds are not actively pursuing Oswalt, but they are kicking the tires on the right-hander (Twitter link).
1:53pm: Pitcher Roy Oswalt is without a contract two weeks before the start of spring workouts and a number of suitors remain in the mix for his services. Because the right-hander's top choices – St. Louis and Texas – are dealing with budget constraints, clubs such as the Reds continue to explore the possibility of signing him, according to Jon Paul Morosi and Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.
Walt Jocketty & Co. have spoken with Oswalt’s representatives recently and would probably need to move payroll and stretch their budget in order to afford him, according to a source. Signing the 34-year-old, the duo writes, would signal that the Reds are going all-in and looking to win before the potential departures of Joey Votto and Brandon Phillips via free agency. Votto is signed through 2013 while Phillips is set to hit the open market next winter.
Oswalt and the Red Sox continue to have “mutual interest” in one another, according to one source with knowledge of the dialogue. He also remains interested in returning to the Phillies, according to sources, but they haven’t been aggressive in looking for starters.
Cutting through all of the speculation about Oswalt the prevailing wisdom seems to be that no one has a clue as to where he might wind up.
Yeah, at this point all we have is logical fits and places he wants to play, and there doesn’t seem to be any overlap on the two lists.
Actually Cincinnati seems like a pretty good fit for him. It’s not as far from his home in Ms. as you might think and he’s familiar with the NL Central Division from all his year w/Houston. And considering Pujols and Fielder have left the NL Central for greener pastures he should do well there pitching. The only issue and it was brought up in the article is the money. And where there is a will there is a way.
Yeah, I’d have to agree with you. Say what you want about Latos but he isn’t really the “Ace” that the Reds were and are looking for. The Reds could backload the contract so that they are paying even if he is on another team 2 years from now. Oswalt playing in Cincy makes way more sense then in St. Louis or the Rangers. The Reds can throw Leake or Bailey either in the bullpen or back to the minors for a year. Its not ideal for those two but if the Reds make the World Series in what could be Phillips last year in Cincy then it makes it all worth while.
I’m a huge Oswalt fan, but at this point in their careers Latos is the better pitcher.
Leake yes, Bailey no as he is out of options. Bailey is a no for the pen either as it takes him a long time to get warmed up. Leake could go to long relief, but he was our 2nd best starter a year ago. So they’re in a bit of a catch22 with those two guys
Take Arroyo out of the Rotation…I hear he has been battling a broken hair follicle this offseason… it is the new excuse for his lousy play… but he will likely give us 200 pathetic innings again! Cueto, Latos, Leake, Oswalt, Bailey/Chapman is my rotation…pending, of course, the acq. of Oswalt…
If you can find someone to take Arroyo off our hands I am all for it … but that deferred money becomes an upfront bonus if he is traded. So that pretty much will null any chances of him going anywhere except out to the mound for the Reds every 5th day.
Leake isn’t going anywhere…not to the minors or the bullpen. 2012 will be Mike Leake’s coming out party. As a Cincy fan, I could take or leave ‘ol Roy, but if it’s between us or the Cards – I’ll take him.
Leake isn’t going anywhere…not to the minors or the bullpen. 2012 will be Mike Leake’s coming out party. As a Cincy fan, I could take or leave ‘ol Roy, but if it’s between us or the Cards – I’ll take him.
I couldn’t agree more!
What about chapman?
Yes, but they have a full rotation and money concerns, so they aren’t any better fit than the Rangers or Cardinals.
Maine, as the poster (John) above you said they do have options to move one or move of their current starting pitcher options to the minors as for their payroll is the Reds payroll concern any more or less than what Cherington has said is the Red Sox payroll issue with the luxury tax for 2012. Besides adding a veteran like Oswalt to their starting rotation could be just what the doctor ordered.
Also, what do they have to lose? They can always move him at the trade deadline if necessary if they are not in contention.
This post says that they would likely need to move payroll and stretch their budget to add Oswalt; the Rangers wouldn’t need to do either one, they would simply need to move a pitcher to the bullpen (same with the Reds); and the Cardinals would have to move payroll or stretch their budget and also move a pitcher to the ‘pen. Again, they aren’t any better of a fit than either the Rangers or the Cardinals, maybe even less so. All three would need to move someone out of their rotation to make room, but the Red seems to be tighter on their payroll than either of the other two from what has been reported here.
I agree that, in a vacuum, he is a good fit for
Cincinnati, but actually making it happen isn’t any easier for them than it would be for Texas or St Louis.
Like I said earlier where there is a will there is a way.
That’s fine, but the same could be said for all 30 teams; that doesn’t have anything to do with whether or not they are a better fit than the Ranges or the Cardinals.
Reds seem like a good fit. Probably the only place he’ll get close to the money he wants, be on a competitive team, and be somewhat close to home.
Except the article says that the Reds can only think about affording him if they move payroll or stretch their budget. Boston, Philly, and Cincinnati are all far enough away to warrant a long plane ride. If he goes to one of those three I don’t think “close to home” makes a difference.
All I’m saying is that the Reds are probably more willing to make room and give him what he wants than the Cardinals and Rangers. And a flight from St. Louis, MO to Weir, MS is about 44 minutes and from Cincinnati, OH to Weir, MS is about 57 minutes. So not that big of a difference.
And if one of Roy’s top choices was Texas, I don’t think the “close to home” thing had any legs to start with.
Moving payroll is speculation. Bob Castillini has money and wants to win now. But, if a move happens, it would likely be a trade of Homer Bailey since he is out of options and isn’t a good fit for the bullpen. I’m not sure the slight upgrade from Bailey to Oswalt is worth it, but I trust whatever Jocketty is planning on doing.
If we are looking at just this season and win now…I would pick oswalt over bailey. 100% I trust jocketty too.
I really think the Astros should sign him, or at least try. At one point they did, but I’m not sure what happened. Here’s what I think they should do:
Sign Oswalt to a 1-year deal worth $7-8MM (other teams are offering $5MM, he wants $10MM. Met him halfway). He said he wants to stay near home, and Houston is the perfect place. So sign him, swap him for 2-3 prospects at the deadline to a contender who needs pitching, and complete a win-win scenario. We get prospects to rebuild while putting more butts in the seat at Minute Maid this season from the signing!
I really don’t see why not doing it. Some people ask me what if he gets injured. And? What if he does? To build a successful organization, you have to take risks. After trimming quite a bit of our payroll last season, we could use some of that to sign Oswalt along with another veteran or two, then trade them all at the deadline for prospects towards the rebuilding project.
Just my two cents…
If he knows he’s going to get traded at the deadline for prospects, why wouldn’t he just choose where he is going to pitch for the whole year on his terms? It may make sense for the Astros, but it doesn’t for Oswalt since he really wants to be selective of where he wants to pitch the entire year. He would have almost no say in where he would get traded, and he could go to a city that he really doesn’t want to pitch for whatever reason. He might aswell start off pitching for a contender, rather than play for one of the contendors for half of the year that he can’t choose.
cmon sox sign him
Pete Abraham from the Boston Globe summarized the Oswalt/Red Sox situation well IMO: “Here’s the problem with Oswalt: He’s the best guy you can get at this
point but he would come grudgingly. That’s not what you want, not in a
place like Boston.”
That said, I still hope we sign him.
I don’t think Abraham is right; Boston might not be his first choice, but he wouldn’t come “grudgingly.” Oswalt is a professional and competitive, he would come to Boston (or any team) trying his hardest to win every time he took the mound. Even it wasn’t a place he particularly wanted to be, he wouldn’t cause a distraction over it, and he would still play as well as he possibly could.
I agree about his competitveness and professionalism but I have to think it’s more than just Boston not being hs first choice – I think he doesn’t want to play there. Why else would be trying so hard (and this close to ST) to sign with two other teams who don’t have a pressing need for starters?
Because he has reason to want to play in those two places. Boston wouldn’t be an ideal fit because of the park and division they play in, but they are a competitor and they do need pitching. If he didn’t want to play in Boston (as opposed to simply preferring other teams over Boston) he would have told them he wasn’t interested like he did Cleveland and Toronto, which he hasn’t done.
To bump the price up.
it’s not clear to me that his preferences are any stronger than the average player; he’s just been more public about it than most free agents are willing/can afford to be
oswalt has talked about retirement before. if he really had a problem playing in boston, i expect he just wouldn’t do it. he already went that route with teams like detroit, who offered twice the money
I agree…Not to mention if it’s on a presumable one-year deal. That’s enough for anyone to come out guns blazing.
Let him go Phils, the whole back issue is getting old.
Depending on the dollars involved, I could see the Phillies dumping Blanton for $3-4 million dollars of relief. They’re already over the luxury tax threshold anyway and this could potentially be the last year Halladay/Lee/Hamels are together. Getting Oswalt for $5-$8 might work. I don’t think its likely but I wouldn’t rule it out, especially if he’s desperate.
If I am the Reds I find a way to sign him. Go all in this year. If they feel they won’t be able to afford to resign Votto after his contract is up I think this year would be the time to make a run. Be a decent front three with Oswalt, Latos and Cueto. Sometimes you just have to go all in.
I agree. I say sign him if its possible. Oswalt is a reds killer so last thing I want to see is him in st. Louis.
He *WAS* a Reds killer. Oswalt is 0-3 in the last 3 times he faced the Reds. He was a Reds killer when the Reds were completely terrible from 2003-2009 when Oswalt got his “Reds Killer” status. They even beat him up in the playoffs in 2010. The current Reds team is completely different than it was in say 2008. I read something that we have only retained a few players (Bronson, Brandon, and one more I can’t remember) from 2008. This team has been completely flipped, and Oswalt doesn’t own these Reds as he did the mainly no-namers we sent out in 2000-2009 era.
Ok, so I’m asking you. Would you sign him and make room for him or would you let him go to st louis and stick with what we have? I’m just curious from another fan view.
Considering payroll restraints, it’s not worth it. Check out his ground ball numbers from ’04-’08: 315, 390, 346, 375, 331. How about since ’08? 2009-2011 Ground Balls: 265, 278, 218. Roy Oswalt doesn’t quite keep the ball on the ground as often as he used to. Infact, he doesn’t do a lot of what he used to. Everything is down. Ks through 9, K/BB ratio, etc. It’s all going down.
Homer is much cheaper, has enough upside, and getting Oswalt would force a trade of Bailey (hence losing 3 years of Bailey for 1 of Oswalt, same argument some people used for the Latos trade when we lost all of those player controlled years). Signing a player just to block him from the Cards isn’t a good enough reason. There’s no gurantee that the Cards will get him either, because they also have a complicated situation.
I’ll personally stick with Bailey, but it isn’t mine nor your choice as to whether the Reds sign him. Whatever happens, happens.
I can’t see the reds signing oswalt. Not that I would object. The reds already have cueto latos leake arroyo and bailey..and I believe bailey is out of options so if the reds were to sign oswalt bailey would be traded. Not to mention chapman may be a starter,possibly triple A, who knows. Also, the reds signed francis so they already have a possible 7 starters without oswalt. I don’t think the reds have the money to sign him for 7-12 mill for one year..if they did they would need to trade bailey to at least free up a little money.
Cueto, Latos, Oswalt, Leake, Chapman. Damnnnnn
A couple a years ago “Damnnn” in reference to the Reds rotation would be negative. Boy, times have changed for the better from a few years ago.
I’m not quite sure Latos is going to put up number “2” type numbers in the ball park. He was an average pitcher last year posting an ERA+ of 102. I can see him being in the 3.8-4.00 ERA.
However, I think Cueto and Leake will put together great years.
We don’t want to start the Latos is a Petco product argument again. It has already been argued and shown multiple times that he is not. Sure, his ERA will go up a little, but I doubt it’ll go to 4. I’m guessing 3.5 or below.
ERA is a very poor way to evaluate a pitcher (and by extension ERA+ is only slightly better). Latos is easily the best pitcher of the three according to FIP, xFIP, SIERA, tERA, and K/BB.
I know it won’t happen, but I would love for the Marlins to pick him up. I see the Sox paying the most for his services.
The closer we get to pitchers and catchers reporting, the more curious I get about which happens first. Does Oswalt cave and accept an offer from a team like Boston or Detroit, or does one of his preferred teams find a way to make room for him? Or maybe he retires?
So Oswalt has been downgraded from “actively pursuing” to “kicking the tires”…
Who signs first, Oswalt or Manny?
So Oswalt has been downgraded from “actively pursuing” to “kicking the tires”…
Who signs first, Oswalt or Manny?
ources say: He also remains interested in returning to the Phillies, according to sources, but they haven’t been aggressive in looking for starters.
I always thought him returning to the Phillies would be his best bet for a few reasons.. (1) He has a chance to put up great numbers in Philly, who won 102 games last year, and are better this year than last with a revived bench and a healthy Utley, Rollins and Polanco.. Howard won’t miss as much time as people thought, (2) Philly LOVES him and he loves to play there… (3) He’d be the #4 starter and have to face everyone else’s 4th best.. in other words, 15-18 wins easily. (3) Best shot at getting a ring.
NOBODY saw Halliday , Pence, and Cliff Lee signings… RAJ has found a way to get the big name in there… and if it means eating Blanton’s salary, or trading Kendrick – then its worth it, as the Phillies are in a WIN NOW mode as they are all getting old fast, so a 1 year deal would be a perfect marriage for both.
BRING BACK THE 4 ACES!!!!
Reds are going to get Oswalt. Think, the Angels said they weren’t interested in Pujols before they signed him and same with Prince and the Tigers. They will have him on the rotation next year for sure.
Hell there was even a source downplaying the Reds interest in Madson about an hour before they agreed to terms with him. I said a week ago when it came out about the Cards signing him that the Reds would ultimately get him. I’ll stand by it.
Reds are going to get Oswalt. Think, the Angels said they weren’t interested in Pujols before they signed him and same with Prince and the Tigers. They will have him on the rotation next year for sure.