8:14pm: Scott Miller of CBSSports.com hears that Oswalt already has several "very nice offers" on the table, though it's unclear which teams presented them.
3:53pm: The Angels haven't had anyone watch Oswalt throw near his Mississippi home recently, Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com tweets.
11:48am: Rosenthal reports (on Twitter) that neither the Yankees or Tigers are in the mix for Oswalt at this time. The righty intends to sign soon, possibly within the week, and pitch in MLB by mid or late June, Rosenthal tweets.
11:19am: The Phillies and Red Sox occupy last place in their respective divisions, but both teams are eyeing midseason reinforcements. Free agent right-hander Roy Oswalt threw a bullpen session for the Phillies last week and worked out for the Red Sox this week, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports (all Twitter links).
Oswalt is also throwing for two unknown teams, Rosenthal reports. Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com hears from someone who expects Oswalt to return within a month (Twitter link).
The Phillies, winners of five consecutive games, are familiar to Oswalt, who pitched for Philadelphia in 2010 and 2011. The Red Sox, who have won six of their last seven games, expressed interest in Oswalt last offseason after the Phillies declined his 2012 option. The 34-year-old appeared to be in good shape during his workouts but was not yet in midseason form, Rosenthal reports. Bob Garber of Select Sports Group represents Oswalt.
Mike Axisa contributed to this post.
I would really love for the Sox to sign him….I wonder if they really would though..and who would they take out of the rotation..
Bank on the Nats being one of the mystery suitors. They need someone to step into the rotation once the innings limits on Stras/Detwiler/Zimmermann become an issue. And it’s not gonna be Chien-Ming Wang or John Lannan.
Stras is the only one with inning limits…as of today that is, if they are still in the playoff hunt by august..i doubt they will hold him to it
The Red Sox starting five have pitched well in recent weeks. In fact, during the month of May, the team’s combined ERA is slightly above 4. The ERA numbers will improve too as the weather warms up during the weeks ahead. Statistically, Morales and Padilla, two middle relievers, seem to be the biggest concern, so I cannot fathom why there would be serious interest in Oswalt, a starter, who is injury prone. The club has Tazawa, for instance, waiting in the wings for a reliever’s spot, and Cooke, hoping to come back as a starter.
Because a healthy Oswalt is better than at least two (most likely three) of their current starting pitchers (he’s also clearly better than Daisuke and Cook).
Lower back problems never go away without (ultimately) surgery. Oswalt has chronic back problems and never has had surgery. Yet, Oswalt wants $10M/yr. for his services. And, as you point out, Oswalt acknowledges he is at the end of his career.
If this were September, say, and the Sox are in the the hunt for a playoff spot, Oswalt would be worth signing, for a prorated $10M. Look at his experience with the Phillies in 2010. Spending an additional $2M to get into the playoffs would be justifiable.
But, this is May. The Red Sox are 18-21 this morning. And, they already have $85M tied up with players on the DL. I do not see them adding a prorated $10M to their payroll for a pitcher who, after 8 -10 starts is likely to break down. I think it is a no go on Oswalt. The timing isn’t right. Plus, they have too many “stars” on the injury list who, if healthy, could impact the club’s fortunes.
If the Sox do anything to strengthen their starting pitching it will be through a trade, reordering their current roster for starters (they have Aceves and Miller in the BP) or bringing someone up from their minor league teams. However, I don’t think they have given up on any of their starters, at least not yet… Each has had their good moments.
“Lower back problems never go away without (ultimately) surgery.” That’s not true, and even if it were, Oswalt proved in the second half of last year that he can still pitch. The problem with the team is the starting pitching, and the players on the DL are basically all position players (the only starting pitcher on the DL that’s coming back this year is Daisuke), so the fact that they are 18-21 and their biggest problem is pitching is a good reason to add a pitcher like Oswalt.
Ahhhh, the mystery teams once again.
With only 30 teams in the league, you’d think with all the “Spies” running around you would think they would know.
How about the Astros as being one of those teams.
I thought he wanted to go to a contender?
In divisions where the last place teams are .500 and 1 game below, anything goes.
I put my money on the Sox signing him…but beware a pitcher going from the NL to the AL…it can have pitfalls.
That’s overblown… even if it wasn’t, a healthy Roy Oswalt isn’t posting an era much higher than 3.5 in the AL East… with Boston’s offense behind him, that’s fine.
The Twins should their hat in the ring and try to woo him with some extra dollars, to at least show their fans that they’re not OK with being one of the worst teams in professional sports.
I’m sure Oswalt doesn’t want to play in Minnesota, considering the way the team has played this season. If he did sign here, though, I wouldn’t complain at all. This team needs pitching, and with the way Walters and Diamond have been pitching lately, we could have a decent rotation.
a Blanton for Youk trade has been mentioned, and that would seem reasonable that the Phillies then signed Oswalt.
That wouldn’t make any sense at all for Boston.
why wouldnt it lol? Blanton has done good this year they have Middlebrook to play 3B so where would youkillis play? trading youk for blanton isnt to bad. hell i wouldnt mind the yankees trading Arod for blanton if we had someone like middlebrook to take over at 3B
Because, despite his good start this year (which is a tiny sample size, and in no way going to make everyone forget about the rest of his career) he has never been a very good pitcher – his career numbers in the NL aren’t any better than what the Sox are already getting out of the back of their rotation in the AL East, so even if he comes over and is every bit as good as he has been over there he wouldn’t be an upgrade at all over what they already have.
Don’t get to excited about Middlebrook yet. They are already starting to catch up with him. He needs more time in the minors.
If somebody offered to take his entire salary right now for a bag of balls, I’d take them up on that offer.
Yes, he’s pitched well this year, but he’s not going to have a 2.96 ERA all season long.
You don’t trade your former All Star third baseman for a #5 starter. A #5 starter plus prospects? Maybe… but unlikely.
Trading Youk for Blanton would be bad for the Sox. Not only do the Red Sox not have room for him (even despite the struggles of some of their starters), but Dice-K would be arguably as good as Blanton if they have an injury or Bard moves to the pen (where they really don’t need him right now)
Youk will be starting when he gets back this week, and if he hits well he will bring more back at the deadline IF the team is out of it. And considering despite an extremely bad start, they are still only 3.5 games out of the wild card…the front office will likely think they are “in it” in July unless they are more than 7-8 games out. That is not a reasonable deal at all.
I’ll give you Melancon for Blanton
Braves should sign him in my opinion. Great fit for Oswalt, and since Teheran, Minor, and Jurrjens are struggling it’s definitely a need for ATL. And since he’ll only make 15-20 starts, there’s good reason to think he will be effective and healthy.
I would so love the Orioles to sign him . It would be a nice gesture to us long suffering O’s fans if the owner and front office did everything they could to assist the first winnining O’s team in 14 years 😉
I know Oswalt may not want to come here but enough money may change his mind ? At the very least the O’s should be the top bidder for him. If he takes less money to play elsewhere , fine ! But they have no excuse not to try. Adding a former ace pitcher with post season experience would cost a fortune in young talent , Oswalt only costs $ and only for half a season.
The players are giving their all on the field , it is not to much to hold the owner and front office to the same standard off the field as we do the players on the field 😉
He needs to suck up his pride and pitch for Detroit.
He doesn’t really need to “suck up his pride” and do anything, he’s already made his millions. And it’s not a matter of pride anyway, it’s a matter of pitching where he’s most comfortable toward the end of his career.
Detroit presents a much, much better chance at getting into and advancing in the playoffs than Boston or Philly, simply because of the sheer weakness of the AL Central–and division winners not having to play the 1 game playoff and going straight to the ALDS.
I won’t freak out just because the Sox watched him, but this is a good sign I believe. Them watching him means they have money available (assuming they know what he’s going to command alread) and are willing to spend it ASAP to improve this ball club. The pen is where Bard belongs and I understand it’s his first season as a starter and he has time to improve but he has had constant success out of the bullpen and he can slide into the closers or set up roll until Bailey comes back and Aceves is eventually moved.
Agreed and disagreed, yes Bard is probably better in the bullpen, but in the times where we saw him in the 9th last year, he blew up like crazy, he’s the perfect 8th inning man, but there’s a reason the long-fabled “let Papelbon walk and Bard becomes the closer” scenario didn’t come to pass, and it ain’t Bard’s sway over the management into becoming a closer. Aceves should have had Bard’s starting role, but as it is, he’s doing A-OK as the closer.
It might sound counter intuitive initially, but I wonder if the Phillies could trade Hamels and sign Oswalt to take his place? It would presumably allow them to upgrade their offense (the place where they actually could use an upgrade) without losing much production out of their rotation.
I thought the same thing, but IMO, the Phillies would want prospects (a young third baseman would probably be the #1 target) back.
I still can’t see them trading him, especially since he’s been arguably our best starter all year.
In order to deal Cole Hamels, Ruben’s probably looking to get blown away. Even with Roy Oswalt (hypothetically) in the rotation.
I’ve seen it mentioned a couple of times (I’m kind of on the fence about it my self) that it might make sense for the Red Sox to trade Middlebrooks instead of Youkilis. The assumption is that Middlebrooks would have more value in a trade than Youkilis and would be used to bring back a top of the rotation starter.
The likelihood that they would actually do it might be pretty low (he’s the “3B of the future” and a fan favorite right now), but I think I can see the rationale behind it. Youkilis is likely the better play in the short term (this year and maybe next, which happens to be how long he is under team control) and three of their top 5-10 prospects are third baseman, so there are a few opportunities for guys to step into that spot in the future.
Hamels for Middlebrooks, Kalish and Dounbront?
No way, you don’t trade a potential all-star 3B, your #4 starter, and an above average regular in RF – all major leaguers, and all of whom have at least 5 years of team control left – for a couple months of a starting pitcher, no matter who that starting pitcher is.
Wrong thread for this (so what’s new lol) but have been wanting to get your take on what believe has been Aviles new found range at SS, or maybe should say his range to his left.
Early on this year? His movement to the left has been as good (to me) as anyone they have had at short since Gonzalez.. It’s been phenomenal. he doesn’t seem to move to his “off” or RH side nearly as good however, but him and Pedey cover nearly anything going up the middle, unless it’s a real bullet of a grounder it seems to me early on this season.
Yeah, Aviles (particularly his defense) has been a pleasant surprise to me so far this year.
Comedy central of the season so far.. How about Youk for Hamels and Roy
Halladay? That would have a better chance of happening….
Oswalt is using the Sox for salary leverage , he doesn’t want to go to the Sox