For most of the decade, Roy Oswalt has been the one mainstay on the Houston pitching staff. You could pencil him in for 15-20 wins every year and know he'd put in his best performance every time he pitched. But it might be time to say goodbye, not during the season but during the winter months.
Let me start by proclaiming that, the Astros have various reasons to show appreciation to the young hurler from Wier, MS. Without him, the Astros would not have reached two LCS's and one World Series. He's been a noble man and a powerful competitor. If the Astros seemed to be a team able to compete in the next few years, I'd like to keep him around.
But the truth is that the Astros are going to have to to take a step or two backwards before they can go forward. Since 2007, they have relentlessly tried to milk another championship by putting increasingly older squads on the field and it visibly hasn't worked.
Going into next baseball season, the Astros will have to disburse three large salaries, all with no-trade clauses. Two of the contracts, Lance Berkman and Carlos Lee, reveal no signal they would approve a trade. Oswalt skirts around the issue but it seems clear he would go somewhere that could put a World Series ring on his finger and fit in with his lifestyle.
It's been a frustrating year for Roy who is not used to being this deep into the time of year and still be caught on 7 wins. He's in a position of not earning ten wins for the first occasion in his baseball career. He hasn't been boosted by much run support and, when he has, something has often kept him from getting the win, whether it be a slight injury, some blunders behind him or a relief pitching collapse.
You don't need to read much between the lines when he asserts he "didn't come here to be on a mediocre team" and claimed, after his most recent loss in St. Louis, that the players are "only going through the motions" to know he's not content spending his days here.
So, where else might Oswalt go? I think Oswalt would choose to end up in the South or the Midwest. Teams like the Diamondbacks, the Royals and the Twins don't have the bank roll to assume Roy's contract. Likewise, the Marlins and Tampa Bay would be nice fits except the franchises don't have the cash.
Until lately, the belief of dealing Oswalt would have been met with knee-jerk denunciation but it seems unmistakable Roy doesn't want to stay through a reconstruction run (if there is one) and he won't be content about being an Astro if Cooper is still the boss. Dealing away his salary brings relief and elasticity to Astros''s salary cap which may make them a little more courageous to offer mediation to athletes who will bring draft selections our way if they end up somewhere else.
Let me start by proclaiming that, the Astros have various reasons to show appreciation to the young hurler from Wier, MS. Without him, the Astros would not have reached two LCS's and one World Series. He's been a noble man and a powerful competitor. If the Astros seemed to be a team able to compete in the next few years, I'd like to keep him around.
But the truth is that the Astros are going to have to to take a step or two backwards before they can go forward. Since 2007, they have relentlessly tried to milk another championship by putting increasingly older squads on the field and it visibly hasn't worked.
Going into next baseball season, the Astros will have to disburse three large salaries, all with no-trade clauses. Two of the contracts, Lance Berkman and Carlos Lee, reveal no signal they would approve a trade. Oswalt skirts around the issue but it seems clear he would go somewhere that could put a World Series ring on his finger and fit in with his lifestyle.
It's been a frustrating year for Roy who is not used to being this deep into the time of year and still be caught on 7 wins. He's in a position of not earning ten wins for the first occasion in his baseball career. He hasn't been boosted by much run support and, when he has, something has often kept him from getting the win, whether it be a slight injury, some blunders behind him or a relief pitching collapse.
You don't need to read much between the lines when he asserts he "didn't come here to be on a mediocre team" and claimed, after his most recent loss in St. Louis, that the players are "only going through the motions" to know he's not content spending his days here.
So, where else might Oswalt go? I think Oswalt would choose to end up in the South or the Midwest. Teams like the Diamondbacks, the Royals and the Twins don't have the bank roll to assume Roy's contract. Likewise, the Marlins and Tampa Bay would be nice fits except the franchises don't have the cash.
Until lately, the belief of dealing Oswalt would have been met with knee-jerk denunciation but it seems unmistakable Roy doesn't want to stay through a reconstruction run (if there is one) and he won't be content about being an Astro if Cooper is still the boss. Dealing away his salary brings relief and elasticity to Astros''s salary cap which may make them a little more courageous to offer mediation to athletes who will bring draft selections our way if they end up somewhere else.
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