Q. Is Roy really healthy? I hear he has some back problems, and that worries me.
A. The Phillies feel pretty certain that Roy is healthy. He has had some issues with his back and has received some cortisone injections, but the Phillies are pretty confident this won’t be another Freddy Garcia.
Q. How can they afford a guy like this when they couldn’t afford a guy like Cliff Lee? Cliff was the man!
A. Yeah, Cliff was the man. He kinda still is. Just wait until he gets his big contract this off season. Then you’ll see why we couldn’t afford him. The Phillies made the decision not to keep Cliff Lee because they wanted a pitcher that they could keep for more then just 2010. When Roy Halladay accepted a deal to stay here for a this duration Lee had to go. Yeah he would have been inexpensive to hold onto this year, but the Phillies needed that money in case something bad happened and they had to go out and spend. With Roy Oswalt the Phillies also received a reported $11 Million dollars. That will help offset some of the remainder of Oswalt’s salary this
season (about $5 million) and next ($16 million). It was a pretty good deal that they got. But yes, there were risks.
Q. I was a big Happ fan, and I think it sucks we gave him away!
A. Well, we didn’t really just give him away. We got one of the toughest pitchers in baseball. Charlie Manuel said that whenever Oswalt faced the Phillies in the past our hitters would talk about how tough he was to hit. J.A. Happ was, like Oswalt will be, a risk. He has spent the majority of this season on the D.L. and nobody was sure he should have been called back up as quickly as he was. J.A. was a great guy and I hope he does well, but I think that the 1,2,3 punch of Halladay, Hamels, and Oswalt was just too hard for the Phillies to resist. If Joe Blanton can maintain or improve on his season things are looking up for the starting staff.
Q. What are the chances now of getting back to the World Series? I’m gonna order my tickets today!
A. It’s OK to be a confident fan, but cocky fans aren’t cool. Things are looking up, but there are still quite a few games to win. The N.L. is surely better this year. One game at a time. One exciting point I do want to make though is that Roy Oswalt has never lost a game he started at Citizens Bank Park. Nice.
Q. Do you think we traded away the “Future”?
A. No. You have to remember that prospects are what they are, prospects. Most of the guys in Single A have less then a 10% chance to make it to the bigs. I’m not saying that I think we gave away a bunch of stiffs, I just think it’s worth it to take a proven commodity over a couple of lottery tickets that can’t be scratched in until 2014.
OK, so yes the money. This is a good deal. The Phillies will only need to pay Roy Oswalt about $10 million over this year and next. The one sore note there is that it will pretty much end the Jayson Werth era. I don’t see how it would be possible for the Phillies to keep Jayson Werth with how much money it would cost. Not to mention that Domonic Brown is waiting in the wings. With Oswalt the Phillies as an organization see a guy that can help get them into the post season this year and next.
Roy Oswalt for the first time in his 14 year career will be starting for a team that’s not the Houston Astros organization. Tonight at 7:05 the Phillies will take the field behind Roy Oswalt and seek out their ninth straight win.
Let’s be friends! Just not in real life… Find me on Facebook!
Sometimes if I remember I even use Twitter
I hope Oswalt stays healthy…if not, it is going to be another Garcia. They took the work of the Houston doctors and did not do an MRI or any other tests; same scenario as Garcia, and we know how that worked out. And poor Happ…he was a great guy…I am sad :O(
Crossing my fingers tonight!
Jenn
http://philliesphollowers.mlblogs.com/
I’m still on the fence about this trade especially after the lackluster performance by Oswalt in his bebut. Really like Happ should’ve won Rookie of the Year in ’09. Yes he got hurt but big deal that’s part of the game. If he had proved to be a fluke okay get rid of him. Never got a chance to do that. Hate trading away good young talent for fly by night players. I say this because like most I’m a skeptic and won’t change my mind unless proven wrong. I’m giving Oswalt a chance but if he blows it I’ll be very pissed. Just like the old saying” I’m from Missouri SHOW ME”. Always cracks me up how bipolar Phillies fans are. When we win a few games it’s “we’re goin all the way gonna order WS tickets!” When we lose a few it’s”this team sucks get rid of this one and that one or I’m changin teams!” I’ve stuck by this team for 20+ years through the horrible teams most of this period and the few good teams recently. Oswalt please don’t be a bust or another Garcia!
I like the way you explained everything here, Oswalt as we know has some agrivated disc issues in his back, but they all have some issue some where…
-peter
Phillies Outside