I'm all for trading Oswalt. (and Berkman for that matter) As previous posters have mentioned, he isn't going to pitch that much longer. He has proven to be a guy that will have nagging injuries pop up from time to time. I know that Drayton is in love with the idea of Roy and Lance being the "new" Biggio and Bagwell, but to me it just isn't the same. Maybe I'm alone in this, but I don't think Roy and Lance really clicked with the city like Biggio and Bagwell did. Maybe it's just because I'm a more cynical fan than I was in the late 90s when the Killer B's were at their peak. Barring some unforeseen strange circumstance, the Astros aren't going to be any good for the next two seasons. By then, Lance will be 36 and Roy will be close to 35. Not to mention that Roy has said on a couple of occasions that he wouldn't mind retiring at the end of this contract. I know none of what I just said is anything new, but it's just frustrating to me that I feel like there's no chance either of them are going anywhere. Drayton needs to let go of his romantic view of the game and allow his baseball people to make baseball decisions. Say what you will about Ed Wade as he seems to be a polarizing figure, but he certainly can work a lot better without Uncle Drayton in his ear.
There is an ESPN insider article about Roy to the Nats, not going to pay for the service so if anyone can post that would be cool.
I don't have Insider, but Buster Onley mentioned Oswalt to the Nationals on Mike & Mike this morning. He basically said they are one mid/small market contender that has the financial resources to pay Oswalt the money remaining on his deal. At least of the surprise contenders. It was a subject of buyers/sellers, and not specifically about Oswalt, but he was the only name he threw out when talking about possible buyers.
Gracias, makes sense but just don't think the Nats will stay in contention much longer. Oswalt seems like he will be the hot name at the deadline this season, should be good for the Stros.
He is, the bad news is that only a limited number of teams are willing to add that kind of payroll. The Nationals also face the problem that Roy may not accept a trade there because he wants a World Series title if he goes, not just a slim chance at the playoffs. Really its a full month before speculation really matters.
I didn't realize the Nats were doing as well as they are. 1 game out of the WC and only 4 behind the Phils (though I imagine the Phils will eventually pull away from the rest of the division). The Nats will have Strausberg up probably within in a month. Add Oswalt to that and they have a pretty damn good rotation...at least good enough to stay in the race.
maybe it's different than before, but the Nats made a great showing a few years back through like June or July... then they faded like nobody's business. because they are the Nats.
That was their first year in Washington. They finished 81-81. They do have reason to believe they are going to fade. They have a -14 differential. Livan Hernandez at 35 is dominating after several seasons of ERAs over 5. Their offense isn't very good. Of course there is also positive factors. Lanaan will probably pitch much better. Olsen may have figured everything out and become a solid 2-3 guy. Strasburg may become the staff ace immediately, and a deal for Oswalt would give them another solid player. I think they have to many ifs and maybes to rely on in a division with the Phillies and Braves.
Guess this is the best thread to put this in: [rquoter]Owning up: Hardly a week goes by without some kind of talk in this column about the possibility of the Houston Astros trading Lance Berkman and/or Roy Oswalt this July. Which means hardly a week goes by without Rumblings questioning whether owner Drayton McLane would ever sign off on dealing two of his favorite players. But GM Ed Wade tells Rumblings that McLane has never told the baseball operation that any kind of trade is off limits if it can make the Astros better. "We want to win with the group we have now," Wade said. "But if, at some point, it looks like that's not possible, we have to pay attention to any opportunity that makes us better. And if that means we have to look in a different direction, so be it." Asked whether McLane understands that, Wade replied: "Yes." The Astros are still a long ways from opening that auction, though. And both Oswalt and Berkman have no-trade clauses that could complicate any potential trade, even though both men have said recently that they're open to moving on if it's to the right situation. If the Astros ever were to trade both of them, it would mean the exit of the last links to the Killer B's glory years and the end of an era in Houston. And although that might be tough for some Houstonians to accept (including, we'd guess, McLane), Wade says: "I'm not sure it's my position to necessarily get bogged down in eras. I always say the glory years of the Astros coincided with Craig Biggio hitting the home run off Billy Wagner in 2005 (that launched the Astros to the wild card and, eventually, the World Series). But all that home run did for me was hasten my departure [as the GM] in Philadelphia. So it's safe to say I have a slightly different perspective than other people here."[/rquoter] http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=stark_jayson&page=rumblings100520
