yeah...you might regret giving Oswalt a long-term deal because he might get hurt. that concern, of course, is limited solely to Roy Oswalt and Houston pro sports franchises. it would not be a concern if Roy were to sign a 5 year deal with, say, the Boston Red Sox, NY Yankees or NY Mets. carry on.
he's a F'en idiot! i don't understand how all these people become sports writers.. i feel like that guy on 610 a.m. this morning. about Richard Justice
Wow, I feel dumber just from reading that article. I mean, did he really even say anything that doesn't have to do with EVERY player in every league? I mean, signing Lebron James in the NBA might be a mistake because he might have a recurring injury the rest of his career making him no better than Marbury. (he might as well write about that.)
To be fair, he did say that no pitcher should get a five-year deal. I don't necessarily agree with the article, but I see the logic. How many superstar pitchers are there out there that have maintained that level for 7 or 8 years (which is what Oswalt would be expected to do). Who were the superstar pitchers of the future 5 years ago? Mulder, Hudson, Zito, etc? None of them maintained their level. I wouldn't be surprised if we're annoyed with Oswalt's deal 5 years from now, just as many people are annoyed with Bagwell's deal today. That said, it's still a good signing simply because he's a vital part of the puzzle of the next 2-3 years for sure. Hopefully he's still at that level 5 years from now, but for the most part it doesn't seem to be the case.
Nice job of writing Mr. Obvious. With or without the contract he could get hurt or win the next five Cy Young awards. It is amazing people get paid to write that kind of lameness.
I dont see anything wrong with the article really. True. The Astros might regret it in 5 years BUT True. The Astros had to do this to field a good team in the next coming years...you make this deal 100% of the time. Think the Mets regret giving Pedro a long deal?...think the Sox regret not doing it. You betcha
The PR cannons would have blown Drayton off the map if he screwed this one up..ala D Kile. I know he left under his own volition but come on... there has got to be more to it other than an additional million from the crappy Rockies.
agree 100%. it wasn't a bad article at all, and i agree that more than likely oswalt will not be the great pitcher he is 5 years from now..... but it had to be done. he may be stating the obvious, but he wasn't bashing the astros.
the general idea of the article, it's a risk to give a pitcher a 5 year deal, is true, but i think he's a little off-base on roy or maybe he just doesn't have as much confidence in him as i do. for instance, the groin injury was completely unrelated to pitching and that has been so far the only major injury that roy has sustained over his career. roy also has phenomenal control and eventually when he loses some mph, he is perfectly suited to rely on some finesse. even right now he pitches for contact not for strikeouts.
I think the point is, where were these articles when Unit and Schilling were signed? Or that headcase currently pitching for Boston? How long was Pavano's deal? (If it's more than 3, the same applies and even more so.)
The deal is really a four year deal with the final year a club option and a buyout of $2 million instead of paying $16 million for the last season. Oswalt also received a no-trade clause which was obviously a no-brainer. If by chance Oswalt were to get injured or start to decline they could simply buy out his contract in the last year of the deal. If the Astros were to buy out the last year that would make the total deal: 4 years, $59 million. This was a good deal, we get to keep a player who has been an Astro his entire career and came up through the Astro farm system. Oswalt has been nails since coming into the majors in 2001, an amazingly enough made the jump from AA to the majors (which is unheard of for the Astros to do, see Jason Lane, Jason Hirsch and Hunter Pence). Its a good deal. In regards to the article, consider the source. MadMax hit the nail on the head, if either NY team, the Angels, Red Sox or Dodgers made this deal it would be pure genius.
The Astros are gonna regret signing him to a five year deal...but if they didn't sign him...the headlines would label the organization as fools and unloyal. That's what's wrong with the article. The basic premise I can buy; it's risky giving anyone, pitchers especially, a long term deal. But the way he gets there is flawed. He mention's his recurring groin problem....but that problem is no longer recurring, happened one season three seasons ago, and he's been pretty much healthy since. He mentions the Tejada deal. Why must the media just assume that the Astros were willing to part with O. If they were, then Tejada would be here. I'm so sick of people trying to fan the flames of a non-existant fire. At most, the Astros put Oswalt out on the market to asess his value. Or Baltimore asked for him and the organization took any deal off the table. Why the hell would they FEAR giving him a long contract when he's one of the best pitchers in the game and back-to-back 20 game winner (and probably on his way to another 20 win season if not for the offense). Now they DID fear losing him to FA, thus the reason for his name on the market. He mentions Oswalt will more than likely have to become less of a power and more of a finesse pitcher toward the end of his contract. Yeah like a certain Roger Clemens. Ok maybe bad example cause Roger could go till he's 50 probably, but still the point is clear. Oswalt has some nasty breaking stuff; and this season he hasn't used as much as he should. No reason to believe he'll rely on it more as his velocity comes down.
Pavano's deal was roundly criticized for being over the top. Unit didn't get a 5 year deal, exactly for this reason. I have no idea what Schilling got, but in both their cases, they had a decade-long history of success. Pedro's deal got criticized all over the place. The media is not anti-Astros, as much as people would like to believe. We just pay more attention to articles about the Astros.
because you don't read the articles when they're written about blue jays. my god, you people are tripping the sensitive meter. chill out. because we all know you'll be the first ones here in three years b****ing up a storm that the team can't get any help because the team's hamstrung by "tommy john" oswalt's $15M.... jeff bagwell ring any bells? it's a legitimate concern. but it's also the price of doing business. the astros made the right decision for today, and the forseeable future.
I thoght it was a 5 year deal with an option for a 6th year... 5 years for 71 plus 2 mil buyout for $73 or 6 years at $87 mil.
