I want to say it was spun in a way in which Roy never asked to be traded but rather told the brass that he was open to be traded, basically giving them permission to explore what was out there.
I don't see why anyone in their right minds would guarantee to pick up that option. If it really is his agent speaking for him, you have to feel like he will back off of this if it really is a deal breaker.... at least if his client getting W's makes any bit of difference to him.
If Roy is truly clueless about that report, it lends further credibility to the gist of my theory on the last page. Maybe Wade leaked that to use it to gain further leverage. In other words, he can then go up to Philly or whatever team and say "I can convince Roy to drop his demand that you pick up that option if you add Player X or pick up X more of his contract." Just a theory...
I don't see how that works. Why would Roy care who was traded to the Astros? If anything, you'd think he'd want Philly to trade less so he'd be on a better team so he could win more. I don't think the other GM would fall for that.
I agree BrooksBall's scenario is a little far-fetched, but Oswalt's said he'll only agree to a trade if the Astros get a good return.
I agree that I'm reaching either way. Just passing time while this thing plays out. The way I see it, there are two facts: 1. Media reports that Roy wants his new team to pick up the option. 2. Roy indirectly stating that he never asked for that. I'm suggesting that somebody in the Astros may have leaked the option demand after (or even without) consulting Roy to make suitors feel more pressure so that Wade can then say something like "I may be able to get him to drop that demand if you also give me X." The suitor then thinks "Well, time is thin and we are desperate to get the best pitcher on the market. If Wade can get him to forgo the option pickup, we'll give them X." Basically, just negotiation tactics, something that I know little to nothing about. :grin: It's possible that the media just had a bad source, rendering my crazy theory just that... crazy. This is likely. It's also possible that Roy or his agent did make that request and Roy just didn't want to acknowledge it for whatever reason. Good chance of this as well.
Hopefully we get some of the Rays prospects out of this. Might as well trade the whole rotation, Myers and Wandy you're next, throw Berkman and Lyon out as well. Next year just sign a bunch of cheap vet SP to one year deals and tank again. Let's get a top three pick two years in a row, only way to fix this club.
The Pirates are different, they've had horrible draft picks (I trust Wade when it comes to prospects), and they trade players in the middle of their prime, plus their pitching is horrible, you can't compare anyone to the pirates, because no one knows what their doing
The point is that picking high in a baseball draft does not guarantee success unless you get the opportunity to draft a player like Strassburg and even then pitching (especially) is such a crap shoot because of the potential for career limiting injuries (e.g. Prior). There is no reason to tank for the sake of of high draft pick.
Honest-to-goodness sucktitude is always better than a tank job. Like this year's Astros: they actually TRIED, and they suck. That's *earning* those draft picks!
Roy probably doesn't care much about the Phillies minor league talent. He is expecting to play 1.5 - 2.5 years there. He would probably want them to trade every minor leaguer they had to upgrade the ML roster. And Roy may actually love Houston.
Yes, but the more minor leaguers Philly trades to Houston, the less they have to use to upgrade other pieces of the team. I'm not saying he does care - just that if he did care about the details of the trade, he'd want Philly to be as good as possible.
Are you sure? He has said he would accept a trade if it would help the Astros, but that's very different than wanting to get a good return. The fact that he has a very specific list of teams he'd accept a trade too, helping the Astros doesn't seem to be his #1 priority either (and understandably so - his priority should be his own happiness).
Yeah - my point is just that I don't think the other GM would respond the way you think. He's just be - "hey, we agreed to the players on both sides and you want this trade as much as I do. if the option is what's holding it up, and you're capable of making him drop that demand, its in your interest to just do it." There'd just be no reason to give up more unless he thinks Ed Wade would not doing what's in his own best interest already.
To add to the fun... http://www.rotoworld.com/content/playerpages/player_main.aspx?sport=MLB&id=3191&sn=t Craig Calcaterra of NBC Sports heard from a source Wednesday that the Cardinals are the "front runners" for Astros starter Roy Oswalt. Calcaterra's source says the Astros have been talking with Cardinals GM John Mozeliak for several days now and that Oswalt would love to pitch in St. Louis. It sounds like a nice fit, but the Cards' farm system is mostly tapped and it's not clear if Mozeliak and Co. would be willing to part with top pitching prospect Shelby Miller. Oswalt has a 3.12 ERA and 1.07 WHIP this season.
