Oswalt is not coming off very well in my view. I love the guy...and nothing I've seen from him would indicate he's delicate. But he's handling this like a junior high girl. No one like they're name being thrown in on trades...but it happens all the time. Huge names get moved. Huge names move in free agency, as well. Oswalt has made comments about testing free agency. Certainly, behind the scenes Allyson Footer has reported over and over again that all indications from Oswalt are that he wants to test the waters. But this notion that any player is above being traded is ridiculous. The notion that you'd be so insulted is silly. These guys are made millionaires over and over again. This is part of the job, Jim Jackson.
This is a side note, but isn't it a shame that Alyson Footer writes better and more objective articles than Justice or Ortiz? The woman is paid by the Astros and is more objective than those clowns.
As my daughter would say... Well, duh... It's all ego and of course he felt he was untouchable...Now its about damage control...I think he's worth 5 years, but the Stros' won't...he'll go on to somewhere else and be badass...
There is no pitcher that deserves that type of contract more than Oswalt. If we could get away with him agreeing to a 5 year $75 million deal right now, we should jump all over it. If we wait until he rocks again next season then we are looking at a pitcher that will probably get close to $100 million over 5 years, or possibly $120 million over 6 years. He's a top 5 pitcher in the prime of his career.
Well said, Max. Roy's attitude has certainly changed this season, at least from what's been said in public - calling out his teammates (Ensberg in particular), and now this. Don't like it one bit. STFU & pitch.
If he has a $20MM/yr type demand, we shouldn't keep him, as hard as it may be. At the very most, he impacts the pitching-half of 20% of your games - for a team like the Yankees, you can justify it, but for the Astros, no player that plays that little can eat up 20% of your payroll. You're setting yourself for failure, in my opinion, if you do that. Personally, I think $14MM per year is on the high side, but reasonable if its 3 or 4 years. When you start talking 5 or 6, there's a whole lot of risk there. If they don't re-sign him this offseason, I think they should trade him before the season starts - basically, follow the Oakland philosophy in what they did with Mulder and Hudson and get prospects that will replace him down the line. If it gets into a free agent bidding war, someone will overpay, and I hope that won't be us.
Exactly amazes me how THE TEAM can do underhanded stuff but when a player does something similar everyone is all up in arms They right the Astros have the right to talk to who ever they want and at the end of this contract Roy O has he right to bend them over. . or simply use them for leverage on another team it is a business Rocket River [See Mike James ]
Heaven forbid they get emotionally attached to a team or city Heaven forbid they remind us that they are human SHUT UP AND PITCH AUTOMATON You Human robot you .. . I guess if you get paid enough . .you check your humanity at the door Rocket River
Look, I'm the last person to talk about a person's affections for a city. But that's not what we have in Oswalt, RR. You're talking about someone else. Oswalt is going to test the free agent market. The mere fact his name was mentioned in a trade doesn't piss him off because he loves it in Houston...it pisses him off because he's insulted by it. As if somehow he's above it. Frankly, I think it's entirely possible this new found, "bad taste in my mouth" is a negotiating ploy, anyway. Because i can't see roy being so soft as to truly be insulted by this. The greatest in the game have been traded. Most players don't spend their careers with one team...that includes the very greatest.
why??? i'm not criticizing him for wanting to test the free agent market, pgabs. i'm laughing at the notion that any big league player thinks they're beyond being traded. babe freaking ruth was traded. alex rodriguez has been traded twice. manny ramirez gets mentioned in trade talk all the time. roger freaking clemens was traded. great players get traded. i don't blame him for feeling that way, necessarily. i imagine it hurts. and i get that. but shake yourself and realize that you're not in some elite class of players that never has their name thrown out in trade rumors.
once, but i agree - oswalt makes a living throwing 97MPH heat to barry bonds; like having his name mentioned in trade talk is somehow disheartening? yeah, right. DD is right; pay him and we'll never hear from him again. he's just negotiating. clemens is proabably in his ear, advising...
it has nothing to do with free agency or anything. its the notion that a player shouldn't speak his mind. bags and big never complain, never express dissappoinment, not at management, not at fans. as soon as a player in this town in any sport speaks their mind, they're a cry baby or a jerk, instead of just being honest.
i hear ya. i grew up with the oilers, though. people spoke their minds all the time. i get tired of biggio's cliches, frankly, as much as i like him. but this one is just silly, pgabriel. silly to the point that i don't find it really believable. again, star players find their names on the block all the time. it's part of the job. star players have their names rumored in trades all the time. players who've made greater impact than roy oswalt have been traded. it just happens. i'm fairly certain his comments weren't sincere...but that they'll be used to garner some leverage for him in trade negotiations. "you guys really pissed me off, and now i'm even more serious about looking elsewhere."
Absolutely not true. He did it just about every offseason. And go back & read some of his comments during the 2000 season. The "travelling horsesh!t show" one was my favorite.
I wonder if any of this has to do with roger and andy. do you think roy feels a little underappreciated. this guy has come up through the organization, has negotiatied with them, yet all we hear, even from the organiztion, is how they have to play better for roger. when your team is winning, players can ignore things like that.
Exactly. According to Drayton they planned on working on the extension after the trade deadline so they will be working on it soon. The bottom line is that he wasn't traded, he is still an Astro and they are trying to keep him as an Astro for years to come. That is the important thing.
I don't know. Drayton buys him a tractor and he's been our opening day pitcher every year those other two have been here. It sounds like he simply had his feelings hurt. He'll get over it.
