Oswalt to the Phillies for JA Happ and MORE???

Yea I think the reason he's down there is to recover from that injury, maybe he's just working his way back to form/health

 

Umm... and another slightly off topic post...

As Astros fans, we've been talking a lot over the past few years about the importance of replenishing our farm system. Much of that focus is on the need to have cheap, young talent on the major league roster. While it's far from breaking news, another benefit of having a lot of good prospects is the ability to outbid other teams for top free agents when your team is in a position of contention. I suppose that isn't on the forefront of our minds since we aren't anywhere close to being in such a position. If we do continue to make strides in our rebuilding efforts though, it will also help us in free agency once we do get back to contender status. Again, nothing new... just a reminder.

Part of what helped the Rangers land Lee is that they have so many good prospects that they were able to win the bidding war without having to completely sacrifice their future.

Similarly, whoever wins Oswalt and any other big names before the deadline will likely lean at least partially on their prospect pool.

 

Dan Haren isn't an elite pitcher. He's good. But not elite. Hallady, C.C, Lincecum, Ubaldo. Those are elite pitchers.

 

"We have to look at what’s best for the Houston Astros," McLane said.

 

I just checked all the sites that I figured would be blowing up about this and they're talking about it on mlbtraderumors, astros.com message boards, crawfishboxes and espn. I hope something actually goes down. If nothing else this might give the Astros a little bit of leverage the way the Yankees gave Seattle leverage in the Lee deal.

 

Oswalt has said he would approve a trade to the Cardinals, Braves, Phillies, Mets, Nationals, Rangers and the Yankees, I don't see why he wouldn't approve it

If it is true it is a very sad day for Astros fans but JA Happ is a good pitcher, and the Rays are loaded with talent, hopefully we can get Matt Joyce, plus some young pitching....but it will still hurt seeing Oswalt in a Philly uniform if this is true, but it was time and I think Berkman would also go to TB since they've been scouting him and the Astros been scouting the Rays Minor Leagues McLane finally admits Astros won't win, 2 years too late thought




BTW I called it
http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showpost.php?p=5462508&postcount=95

Rep me please !!

 

what did you call? You quoted Buster Olney and then re-stated his rumors...all of 2 hours before more rumors came out?




anyway, i like the idea of the trade. I'd be pretty happy with happ.. but i would never use that phrase again

 

Berkman and Oswalt for JA Happ and Jason Werth, do it do it!

 

This better be sarcasm? Would we put Werth at 1B or what?

 

I didn't know Buster Olney said that since I don't follow him, this is one of the few sites I go to (since am on my phone) so rep me just kidding



Werth and Berkman would go to the Rays, Phillies would get Oswalt, and I guess we get a first baseman in return or put Feliz there for now, I wonder if we'll give the Phillies or the Rays money for a few more prospects, like the Mariners did, Wade did say he would give 4-5 mil to a team willing to trade for Oswalt

now if someone was willing to take fat Lee hmmm the White Soxs?

 

What a REP Seeking w****!

 

The first article and the less glowing reviews in the next two comport with my impression of Happ. I would be fairly disappointed in such a trade (depending on the "MORE???" and recognizing that something is better then nothing).

http://crashburnalley.com/2010/07/16/the-truth-about-j-a-happ/
http://www.phillyburbs.com/opinions...2010/march/03/what-do-we-have-in-ja-happ.html
http://www.philly.com/philly/sports...app_would_love_to_rattle_sabermetricians.html

 

Happ seems a little old to me. I really want some players who won't star their FA clock until at least next year. If you go with the 2-3 year rebuilding model(time it takes to shake off the Oswalt/Berkman/Lee contracts), we want our young pieces to still be damn cheap by then. Whereas Happ will be looking for a nice pay day by then if he's good.

But he does seem like the type of player Drayton will love. Former almost-ROY will bring much more hype than some guy we must look up on baseballamerica to get info on.

 

I agree with you to a point... but we have to realize that to a degree, this is a very neccessary salary dump. I'd love to get great prospects back for Roy, as he's been a huge part of the last decade of Astros baseball. But more than anything, we need to get out from under his contract. Roy, Lee, and Berkman have us held hostage from a payroll perspective. If we get C+ prospects for them, then so be it... at least we're not on the hook for all that money. We're going to be even more terrible than we already are, but we need the draft picks and payroll flexibility that being a cheap, bad team brings with it.

I'd feel more comfortable with the above statement if I had more faith in our scouting department. We're doing better, don't get me wrong... but every time I see Justin Smoak and Buster Posey highlights on SportsCenter, and then I look at Jason Castro's .180 batter average... just makes me want to whip the remote at the TV.

 

I understand the logic, but I think for me, it'll be hard to see O go...I hope to god we get some good prospects for him...

 

Smoak's not lighting the world on fire either and we didn't have the chance to draft Posey so whats the big deal?

 

I had no idea Happ was 27.. I almost don't want him as the centerpiece now. Like another poster said, I'd rather have guys who are in the 2-3 year window of making it to the majors.. does us no good to get Happ and struggle for the next few years waiting on our prospects to come up. By then, Happ will be 30.

 

Roy to the Cards? That would be weird....