Oswalt agrees to trade to Phillies

[pretendastronaut]

The teams have agreed on which players will be exchanged, as well as the financial terms that will address the $23 million remaining on Oswalt's contract, according to a major league source with knowledge of the deal.

 

The Astros will pay $11 million of money remaining on Oswalt's contract through next year, according to a source.

 

In return for Oswalt, the Astros would get back left-handed starter J.A. Happ and two prospects, according to sources.

 

While the Phillies prospects have not been identified, sources said the Astros have pressed hard for first baseman Jonathan Singleton, considered the team's best minor-league hitting prospect. Singleton is currently at Class A Lakewood in the South Atlantic League, where he was hitting .312 with 18 doubles and 12 home runs as of Thursday.

 

It is now up to Oswalt to decide whether to waive his no-trade clause.

 

Link

 

The ESPN Insider blog is reporting however that Oswalt is okaying the trade.

[rcon14]

Singleton won't be in the deal, recently reported by Heyman. Anthony Gose and Vance Worley will go along with JA Happ to HOU. HOU didn't get much in that deal, no elite prospects.

[TwinsBrewersWorldSeries]

Happ is a bit long in the tooth (age 27) to be considered a prospect, but given the numbers he's put up at the MLB level, i think he could be a very good #2-3 (maybe even a #1) for 4-5 years... plus he's cheap. I'd be more than thrilled if we could get a JA Happ for Corey Hart

[monty57]

It amazes me that other GM's get deals done, even when put in a bad position (Oswalt basically demanded a trade and then said it could only be to a select handful of teams), but we somehow aren't geting any reasonable offers for two of the best hitters on the market.

[DocLuna7]

I am glad that he's not going to St. Louis. Despite having a GM who apparently isn't working on anything for our club at the moment, it is at least somewhat mitigated by the Cards not getting him for the next couple of years.

[Ennder]

It amazes me that other GM's get deals done, even when put in a bad position (Oswalt basically demanded a trade and then said it could only be to a select handful of teams), but we somehow aren't geting any reasonable offers for two of the best hitters on the market.

Of course most of these trades are getting negative reviews for what they are bringing back. I don't think Melvin is going to trade Fielder for a bunch of middling prospects and that is what teams seem to be willing to give up. Hart is pretty much impossible to trade because of the injury.

[LouisEly]

It amazes me that other GM's get deals done, even when put in a bad position (Oswalt basically demanded a trade and then said it could only be to a select handful of teams), but we somehow aren't geting any reasonable offers for two of the best hitters on the market.

I think there is a lot higher demand for Roy Oswalt than there is for Corey Hart.

[chinabob99]

It amazes me that other GM's get deals done, even when put in a bad position (Oswalt basically demanded a trade and then said it could only be to a select handful of teams), but we somehow aren't geting any reasonable offers for two of the best hitters on the market.

Right, but this trade is horrible for Houston. For one of, if not THE, best pitcher in their franchise history (a pitcher who was the best player on the market following the deals ealier this year), they got a #4 SP, a 19 year old A ball SS, and a AA ball fringey outfielder. And they are paying Philly $12million. Nothing about that is good for the Astros. I'm sure we could trade Fielder for a pile of rotting garbage if we really wanted to, but I'd rather we didnt.

 

 

[crewcrazy]

I love having Ed Wade in the division. I hope Houston gives him a lifetime contract.

 

I know the starting pitching market is a bit different than the market for hitters, but after seeing the kind of returns the Diamondbacks and Astros got for Haren and Oswalt in a year where there seems to be fewer pitching options on the trading block than bats, I'd almost rather see Melvin stay away from dealing anyone than accept a deal like this.

[WisconsinSportsRule]

This is an awful deal for the Astros.

[SoCal Brew Crew Fan]

The more trades I see like this, the more I can see why Melvin may wait to trade Corey or Prince.

[wibadgers23]

Yeah, this has been an awful year for trading for prospects. Houston and Arizona got shafted in their trades and I agree with everybody that trading Prince for a package of players similar to the trades we've seen so far would be an ugly mistake.

[TwinsBrewersWorldSeries]

I fail to see how JA Happ isn't considered an elite prospect. He has outstanding numbers in his year + at the MLB level and is cheap & under team control for atleast 4 years

[The Truth]

As a Brewers fan, I'm thrilled to see the Astros get completely fleeced by this trade.

 

As an (extremely) optimistic Brewers fan, I'm not thrilled to see Oswalt and Halladay and Hamels on a Phillies pitching staff that we may need to face in the 2011 playoffs

[brains and braun]

Yeah, this has been an awful year for trading for prospects. Houston and Arizona got shafted in their trades and I agree with everybody that trading Prince for a package of players similar to the trades we've seen so far would be an ugly mistake.

What about the Smoak for Lee deal?

[nate82]

Well the Astros got more for Oswalt than the DBacks got back for Haren.

[MJLiverock]

Or on the other side of the coin there are always comments about how hard it is to aquire good pitchers and how no one wants to trade them unless it is for the moon or that the only option is signed aged free agents, yet year after year guys get moved around and people complain that the team didn't get enough for them.

 

I dont' know that either of these guys would have agreed to a Milwaukee trade (there was a thread on that around here for a while - does Milwaukee have to overpay and is there a bias against coming to Milwaukee, etc.)

 

I would ask Doug which is it? We hear teams don't want to trade good prospects, teams don't want to trade good ML pitchers. Teams are getting deals done and the Brewers have been in the position to trade ML players for prospects and prospects for proven ML pitchers over the last couple years but haven't done much and tend to say there are no deals to be made or no one is willing.

[crewcrazy]

Per Ken Rosenthal, the Astros are flipping Gose to the Blue Jays for Brett Wallace. Jeff Fletcher notes it's the third time Wallace has been traded in the past 12 months. Interestingly enough, Wallace has been tangentally involved in three of the biggest trades in the league during that time -- went from STL to OAK in the Matt Holliday deal, and from OAK to TOR for prospects the Jays got in the Roy Halladay deal. Now, he's getting traded for a prospect received in the Oswalt deal.

 

Wallace still doesn't really have a position on an NL club, so maybe he's Lance Berkman's eventual replacement at first?

[trwi7]

Oh wow, that's a terrible deal for the Blue Jays.

[JJHardy7]

I would ask Doug which is it? We hear teams don't want to trade good prospects, teams don't want to trade good ML pitchers. Teams are getting deals done and the Brewers have been in the position to trade ML players for prospects and prospects for proven ML pitchers over the last couple years but haven't done much and tend to say there are no deals to be made or no one is willing.

 

CC Sabathia?

[TwinsBrewersWorldSeries]

I apologize for my negative, anti-Melvin related posts, but i am really frustrated. Clearly, today is another example of teams willing to make moves to improve their teams either short term (in getting elite players) or long term (getting core prospects for their next run). it is absolutely inexcusable that Doug hasn't made any moves. There is no reason to keep premium talent on a team when we have little realistic chance to keep them beyond 2011. Doug has had nearly a decade to get us good pitching, and we have a 75 win team with a record payroll. We keep hearing that teams aren't offering anything decent, but i don't believe that. I have zero trust in Melvin and nothing in his history leads me to believe that he has any kind of plan to improve our pitching.

 

The Packers should have won multiple superbowls during the Favre era, but unfortunately Mike Sherman, and later Ted Thompson, were too stupid to get the supporting talents needed to make a run when our elite talent was at its peak. Doug Melvin is equally guilty of being an awful GM. We are wasting the prime years of Gallardo, Braun, and Fielder (and to a lesser extent Hart and Weeks), because Melvin has no plan.

 

I will have a hard time renewing my season ticket order unless the GM actually improves the talent on the field. When we have 3 million fans showing up year after year there is no excuse for such a pathetic product on the field (mainly our pitching). The Brewers are a great organization with a great owner, but we need a new GM.

[Crew2323]

TwinsBrewersWorldSeries,

 

You're advocating for Melvin to make all of these moves. But have you seen the returns that these teams have received for the likes of Oswalt and Haren? If Melvin traded Hart of Fielder for such a return he would be ostracized. I would rather he hold on to those players than get meddling prospects in return.

 

You have also been clamoring for Melvin to make these trades, especially for Dan Haren. But you refuse to acknowledge the fact that Haren had a no-trade clause and his preference was to stay out West. Even if the Brewers made the best offer of any team, Haren likely wouldn't have waived his no-trade clause to come here. The same would have happened in regards to Oswalt.

 

You seem to want Melvin to make a move simply to make a move. Whether that's your intention or not, that's how I and likely others are taking your posts. This isn't MLB The Show where you can add enough sub-par players and trade for Roy Halladay or Albert Pujols. No matter how badly Melvin might want to make a deal, he cannot help but watch from the sideline as teams give lesser players to receive these impact players. And considering the returns that some of these bigger deals have brought in, I'm more than fine with Melvin holding onto Fielder and Hart rather than trading them just for the sake of trading them and getting mediocrity in return.

[sveumrules]

Trying to figure this out from the Phils perspective...so you trade Cliff Lee for a middling return to turn around and midseason acquire an inferior pitcher who is owed more money over a longer period of time??? Amaro is trying to edge his way in on the Minaya/Moore battle, methinks.

[Polish Falcons]

I would prefer another year of Fielder + a Type A comp pick over this kind of junk trade.

 

What I don't get is, why do the Astros have to fork over $11 million to complete this deal? That's nearly half his earnings over the next year in a half that he'll be pitching for the Phillies. He earns $5M for the rest of this year, $16M in 2011, and a $2M buyout. In my mind, in this market, that is fair value for a guy like Roy Oswalt, or at least close to fair. Maybe the Stros give up a few million, but $11? What happened here? I don't get it. The Phillies gave up minimal amount to get him in players, and now they have to pay him far less than his market value because the Stros eat the cost. Stupid

[davego]

I with The Falcon...if this is what Prince would bring back. Then I'd rather enjoy his last 162+ game in Milwaukee and take the picks.

 

I'm wondering if this Philly/Houston trade ends up being bad for both teams?