Free-agent pitcher Roy Oswalt has elected to remain in the National League and is likely to sign with the St. Louis Cardinals "soon," a major league source said late Friday night.Presumably, any agreement would be pending a physical for Oswalt, who has a history of back problems."It's not yet 100 percent," the source said.On Saturday, Cardinals GM John Mozeliak wrote in an email to ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick, "These are just rumors, and nothing more."Oswalt, one of the last big-name free agents still on the market, had been ardently pursued by the Boston Red Sox, among others. Another team reportedly in the mix for Oswalt was the Texas Rangers, while CBSSports.com reported late Friday night that Oswalt had rejected an offer from the Detroit Tigers. Source: ESPN
heard conflicting reports that the phillies are trying to unload blanton (willing to pay 1/2 his deal) to make room for oswalt again. i would not like that.
I don't really care about letting go of Blanton but I'm not sure Oswalt is the right fit. I think his best days are behind him & we are holding on to a miracle.
Evan Grant, MLB writer for the Dallas Morning News, points out in his column today that Oswalt has been among the game's more effective starters. According to the Wins Above Replacement (WAR) stat, a formula used to try and gauge a player's total worth, used by Baseball Statistics and Analysis | FanGraphs Baseball, Oswalt ranks 27th in baseball among starting pitchers over the last three seasons. In that period,107 pitchers have made at least 60 starts. Oswalt has still been in the top third in the major leagues even with a bad team (Houston) and then a bad back.
that's fine but i look at what he did last year and it seemed he was all too willing to just collect a paycheck.
It looks like the Rangers are just a little bit over their payroll for the 2012 season. Don't know if they're going to go at Oswalt after all. I saw something over the weekend that said that Beantown might be interested in him.
