Phillies decline 2012 options for Oswalt, Lidge

The Phillies offseason is officially under way with this news: the team has decided to not pick up their 2012 options on pitchers Roy Oswalt or Brad Lidge and both are now free agents.  Both players were bought out and neither move is a surprise.

Oswalt, who was bought out for 2 million, would have made 16 million dollars in 2012 if the Phillies picked up his option.  Lidge, who was bought out for 1.5 million, would have made 12.5 million.  Neither player is worth that much money but the Phillies are expected to at least negotiate with each player and they could bring one or both back at a lower salary.

If I had to guess, I would say we have definitely seen the last of Brad Lidge with the Phillies.  While he would be nice to have at the right price, there will be a team in the league that offers him way too much to be a set-up reliever in their bullpen.  Let someone else take the risk.

Roy Oswalt is more likely to return to the Phillies but it would pretty much be up to him.  Is he comfortable starting again in a new situation or would he rather finish his career in Philadelphia?  Should he leave, Vance Worley steps into the 4th starter role and the Phillies would have to search for a 5th starter if they want an upgrade over Kyle Kendrick.  At the right price, Oswalt is a significant upgrade over Kendrick so hopefully the Phils make him a serious offer.

Phillies falter, face must-win Game 5

The other Roy just wasn't good enough to get it done.  Roy Oswalt took the mound for the Phillies in Game 4 but didn't have his best stuff as he gave up 5 runs and the Phillies lost, 5-3, and now must play a do-or-die Game 5.  Here are a few quick thoughts on the game:

-Despite Oswalt not having his best stuff, he was still the right choice to start Game 4.  Vance Worley has been great this year but Oswalt is a veteran who has proven himself time and again in the playoffs.  No reason to second guess the starting pitching choice.

-The Phillies blew an early lead for the second time in this series.  The offense seems on point at the start of these games but has been basically absent in the middle innings.  Edwin Jackson is no great starter but the Phillies just couldn't crack him after the first inning.

-That Shane Victorino stumble and bad toss in the outfield was something else.  Can't say I've ever seen that before.  First Ronnie Brown and now this.  Yikes.

-I'm sure Oswalt, an avid hunter, can figure out a way to get rid of that squirrel.

-Jimmy Rollins has been ridiculously locked in, hitting 9 for 16 with 4 doubles and 6 runs scored.   Think he is gunning for a big contract this offseason?

-Brad Lidge faced his demons and won, getting Albert Pujols out in the 8th inning.  I'm not sure Lidge will ever live down the moon shot he gave up to Pujols a few years back but this was at least a positive step one.

Being forced into an elimination game is never a good thing for a team but the Phillies will send Roy Halladay to the mound and have Cliff Lee available out of the bullpen.  If the Cardinals are able to best the Phillies top two aces, they really are the better team.  In Roy and Cliff we trust!

Phillies moves: Oswalt to the DL, Romero released

The Phillies announced a flurry of moves today, none of which is too surprising:

-Roy Oswalt has been placed on the DL. Despite not getting an MRI until Monday, the Phillies decided to stash Oswalt on the disabled list. That certainly isn't a good sign. Like I said yesterday, your Phillies rotation now features Vance Worley and Kyle Kendrick. Scott Mathieson was recalled to take Oswalt's spot on the roster.

-J.C. Romero has officially been released. After being DFA'd last week, Romero went unclaimed by the rest of the league, so the Phillies released him. So long, J.C. Don't be surprised if another team signs him in the next few days.

-Brian Schneider, who hasn't played for the Phillies since May 11th, was activated from the disabled list and will resume his role as backup catcher. Dane Sardinha was sent to the minors.

With the addition of Oswalt to the disabled list, the Phillies now have four players on the DL: Oswalt, Joe Blanton, Jose Contreras and Brad Lidge. It's unclear when Oswalt will be back but the other three should be back sometime around August.

Oswalt leaves game early, could be out a while

We may need to get used to only having three aces on the Phillies for a while. Roy Oswalt, who was forced to leave his start against the Cardinals on Thursday night due to back soreness, will miss at least his next start and will have an MRI on Monday.

Oswalt discussed his condition with the Phillies beat reporters after the game and sounded very negative, hinting that he may not be able to throw another pitch. With a history of back problems, it could be only a matter of time before Oswalt decides that the pain he is going through simply isn't worth it anymore. With a contract that has a mutual option after this season, Oswalt might decide to just walk away from the Phillies. Luckily, he's a fighter and I'd be willing to bet he's going to do everything he can to be healthy by October.

What this all means is that we should get used to seeing Vance Worley and Kyle Kendrick on the mound for the Phillies. With Joe Blanton still out until at least the All Star break, the Phillies will be forced to trot Worley and Kendrick out 2 out of every 5 games for at least the next month. While the three aces are still very good, the Phillies rotation suddenly looks very thin. Hurry back, Oswalt, and let's hope you still have a few good pitches left in you.
(Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)

Oswalt leaves Phillies to deal with storms in Mississippi

Roy Oswalt left the Phillies immediately following his start yesterday against the Diamondbacks. According to the team, Oswalt left the team due to "personal reasons" and they did not say when they expected him back. While many on Twitter wildly speculated that Oswalt had injury issues or some marriage problems, the Phillies have cleared things up by releasing another statement: Oswalt left the team out of concern for his family and his home after the recent storms in Mississippi. Phillies GM Ruben Amaro also thinks he could be back for his next start.

Hopefully things are okay with Oswalt's family and he can make a quick return to the club. I won't even bother speculating how long he will be gone.

Oswalt dominates as Phillies even series

That's more like it. Behind a strong pitching performance by Roy Oswalt, the Phillies cruised past the Giants in Game 2, winning 6-1 and evening up the NLCS at one game apiece. While it wasn't a must-win game, the win certainly put the Phillies right back on track after dropping Game 1.

Oswalt was on point all game long, going 8 innings, striking out 9 while allowing 1 run on 3 hits and 3 walks with his only blemish coming when Cody Ross inexplicably hit his third homer of the series. While he did hit a few rough patches here and there, Oswalt stuck to throwing strikes (71 of his 111 pitches) and letting the defense do the work when he wasn't getting swings and misses. Oswalt didn't just contribute on the mound, though, as he had a key single and hustled home to score an insurance run in the 7th inning. This Roy certainly proved that the Phillies have the best trio of starting pitchers in baseball.

Despite being stymied by Jonathan Sanchez for most of the night, the Phillies offense awoke just in time to widen the lead in a 7th inning rally where they picked up 4 runs. The big hit for the night came off the bat of Jimmy Rollins, who broke out of his postseason funk with a bases loaded double that plated 3 runs. While the Phillies are still struggling to string together hits against the tough Giants pitching, it was nice to see them finally break through with some key hits when they needed insurance runs in the late innings.

With the series now shifting to San Francisco, the Phillies have washed away the bad feelings left from the Game 1 loss. With the dominant Cole Hamels set to take the mound in Game 3, the Phillies are in an excellent position to jump out to a lead in the series. While the Giants are a tough team to piece together runs against, a few more dominating pitching performances like tonight and the Phils will be preparing for their third straight World Series appearance. 7 more wins to go!
(Photo by Matt Slocum/Pool/Getty Images)

How sweep it is: Phillies take control of NL East

That will just about do it for the National League East.

Everything worked exactly as the Phillies planned when they set up their rotation so that Cole Hamels, Roy Halladay and Roy Oswalt would face the Braves in a pivotal 3 game series this week. After Hamels and Halladay won their starts, it was up to Oswalt to complete the sweep, and he more than rose to the occasion, giving up just one hit in 7 innings while striking out 8 batters. Since the Phillies didn't score until Raul Ibanez doubled in Jayson Werth in the 8th inning, Oswalt didn't get credit for a win but he certainly gets credit for pitching a gem.

The win over the Braves pushes the Phillies division lead to 6 games with just 9 games left to play. While there is another series with the Braves looming at the end of the season, it's safe to say that the division is basically wrapped up at this point. Given that the Phillies have won 10 straight games and are playing better baseball than anyone else in the league, it should only be a matter of days before they clinch their 4th straight NL East title.

Roy Oswalt plays left field in epic 16 inning Phillies loss

In case you went to sleep before the end of the Phillies game late Tuesday night/early Wednesday morning, you missed a whole bunch of strange things in the Phillies 16 inning 4-2 loss to the Astros:

-Ryan Howard was ejected for throwing his bat after getting called out on strikes in the 14th inning. With Howard tossed, the Phillies were out of position players.
-With no one left on the bench, Raul Ibanez moved to first base and Roy Oswalt played left field. Yep, Oswalt played LEFT FIELD. He had a catch and even had an at-bat with the game on the line; unfortunately he grounded out. Oswalt was the first Phillies pitcher to play a position in the field in 39 years.
-Ross Gload was tossed from the game as well. Gload is on the DL.
-The game lasted 5 hours and 20 minutes
-The Phillies used every pitcher in their bullpen, right down to David Herndon, who had to pitch 3 innings of relief. Should the game have gone much longer, Kyle Kendrick was likely going to be used.
-While the umpires will be blamed for both of the Phillies losses to the Astros, the bats just haven't been there as they have scored only 4 runs in 25 innings against Houston. That's just not going to cut it.

Just about the only thing that wasn't strange about the game was that Cole Hamels had another solid outing, striking out 8 and giving up 2 runs, but once again got very little run support and got another no-decision. Hamels is now 7-10 on the season but has been one of the best pitchers in the National League.

What a bizarrely epic baseball game. You truly do see something new every time.

5-run 8th pushes Phillies into Wild Card lead

After a slow start, the Phillies managed to ruin Pat Burrell's return to Philadelphia. Burrell, likely pumped by the standing ovation the crowd gave him, spoiled things early for the Phils, hitting a homer in his first at bat in a regular season game at Citizen's Bank while wearing an opposing uniform. Starting pitcher Roy Oswalt settled down from there, though, mowing through the Giants while allowing 3 runs across 7 innings.

The Phillies offense came alive in the 8th inning when, while searching for insurance runs, the Phils nearly batted around, plating 5 runs off a usually strong Giants bullpen. The big inning allowed the Phillies to win the game 9-3 and take a one game lead over the Giants in the Wild Card.

While Burrell made some noise in his return to the Phillies, Chase Utley was fairly quiet in his first game back in several weeks. Utley finished the night without a hit, going 0 for 5, but he did look healthy, which is the most important thing. As for who supplied the offense for the Phillies, Placido Polanco was a big contributor, going 4 for 5 while increasing his batting average to an NL-leading .325. The rest of the offense came from all over the lineup as every Phillie besides Utley registered a hit and either scored a run or drove one in. Most impressively, the Phillies managed to score 9 runs without hitting any home runs.

While the Braves won again on Tuesday night to keep the Phillies 2.5 games back, having the Wild Card lead is a nice fallback for the Phillies. While their goal should be to win the division, simply getting to the playoffs any way possible is ultimately the most important thing. After all, with a 1-2-3 pitching rotation of Halladay, Hamels and Oswalt, it's not going to matter whether they are at home or on the road to start the playoffs.

Blown call helps Phillies salvage sweep over Marlins

In a season filled with injuries the Phillies finally look like they are catching some breaks. On Thursday night, with a runner on second and the game tied up in the bottom of the 9th, Marlins hitter Gaby Sanchez rolled a grounder down the third base line that would easily have scored the game-winning run but was instead called foul. Replays clearly showed that the ball stayed fair the whole time but no amount of arguing by the Marlins reversed the call. Capitalizing on the mistake, the Phillies quickly got out of the inning and then won the game after Carlos Ruiz homered in the 10th and Brad Lidge had a (relatively) clean save to help the Phils win 5-4 and finish the sweep in Florida.

Lost in all the madness of the bad call and the terrible baserunning by the Phillies at the end of the game was the performance of Roy Oswalt. In his second start as a Phillie, Oswalt showed why he is still considered one of the better pitchers in the game. Despite having some issues locating his pitches, Oswalt left the game in the 7th with two runners on base and the Phillies up 2-0. A few pitches by J.C. Romero later and Oswalt was on the hook for a pair of earned runs, but he still had a respectable night overall, striking out 5 batters and even retiring 10 straight Marlins at one point. Given how poor he looked in his last outing, it was nice to see the real Oswalt do his thing.

With the Marlins out of the way, the season-best 12 games over .500 Phillies now come home to face the mediocre Mets. The Phillies goal with Ryan Howard should be to tread water and keep the Braves close but they are doing even better than that as they sit only 2 games back. A solid series win against the Mets while the Braves are face the tough Giants pitching could make things even tighter. Winners of 12 of their last 14, the Phillies appear to be making their move.
(AP PHOTO)

Oswalt struggles in Phillies debut but there is no reason to overreact

As Phillies fans, we've grown accustomed to our newly acquired aces having impressive debuts with our team. About a year ago, it was Cliff Lee who pitched a complete game 4-hitter and gave up only 1 run. Then, on Opening Day this season, Roy Halladay threw a gem of his own, striking out 9 batters and giving up 1 run in 7 innings. Fast forward to tonight's Phillies debut by Roy Oswalt, though, and you saw a much different outcome: Oswalt struggled against the Nationals, giving up 5 runs (4 earned) and 7 hits in 6 innings of work as the Phillies win streak came to an end. That's not what I would call a good first impression on his new team.

Most of you know, however, that there is no reason to panic. In Oswalt, the Phillies have acquired a known commodity who has established himself as an above average pitcher, not someone who is going to fizzle out and be terrible for the entire second half of a season. These types of starts happen to every pitcher, even Lee and Halladay, who weren't dominant pitchers every time they took the mound for the Phillies. For example, take a look back at three starts Lee made back in late August and early September of last season where pitched a total of 15 innings and gave up 17 earned runs. Even our beloved Roy Halladay has also had four starts this season where he gave up 5 or more runs.

My point isn't that Lee and Halladay aren't stud pitchers, though, my point is that bad games happen to every pitcher. You can chalk it up to nerves, chalk it up to trying too hard to impress his new team or just simply say that Oswalt had an off night; whatever the case, don't overreact to this one start and compare it to how J.A. Happ did in his Houston debut (0 runs in 6 innings) and rant about how the Phillies made a bad trade. Bad starts happen to good pitchers and Oswalt is going to do just fine with the Phillies.
(AP PHOTO)

Roy Oswalt is officially a Phillie

The Phillies have acquired their third ace pitcher in the last 12 months, getting Roy Oswalt from the Houston Astros in exchange for J.A. Happ and prospects Anthony Gose and Jonathan Villar. The Phillies will also get 11 million dollars in cash to pay some of Oswalt's salary, which is about 5 million more for 2010 plus 16 million more next season. Oswalt also has a 16 million dollar option for the 2012 season that the Phillies can pick up or buy him out for 3 million dollars.

The two teams had an agreement in place since last night but were waiting on Oswalt's approval of the deal since he had a no-trade clause. Getting Oswalt gives the Phillies a 1-2-3 punch in the rotation that rivals any other rotation in the majors. Sure, Oswalt is about to turn 33 and isn't quite the same dominant pitcher he was back in 2004-2006, but he's still a workhorse that goes deep into games, gets plenty of strikeouts and will keep the Phillies competitive every time he pitches. As long as he stays healthy, a legitimate concern the last few seasons, the Phillies just got themselves a No. 1 pitcher who will slot in third in their rotation.

To get Oswalt, the Phillies did have to give up some good, young players. The toughest player to lose was Happ, who has had a strong start to his career with the Phillies. Look beyond Happ's 14-5 lifetime record, though, and you notice a pitcher who lets a lot of guys on base and constantly has to work his way out of jams. Happ should develop into a nice middle of the rotation guy but he was never going to be an ace with the Phillies.

As for the two prospects in the deal, both has spent the season playing A ball and are a few years away from having any kind of impact in the majors. Gose is an outfielder with some serious speed that seems to be in the mold of fellow Astro and former Phillie Michael Bourn. Villar is a shortstop with a decent glove and very little power. Neither was considered the cream of the crop of the Phillies farm system.

Welcome to Philadelphia, Roy Oswalt. While there will be a number of fans who will complain that he isn't Cliff Lee, Oswalt is not a bad consolation prize. At this point, I think we all understand that Ruben Amaro made a mistake in the whole Lee situation but he is doing the best he can to make the Phillies a World Series team yet again. Say what you will about the job Amaro has done but having Oswalt and pairing him up with Roy Halladay and Cole Hamels for this season and next only further strengthens the Phillies title chances. The fact that Amaro pulled this deal off without giving up much and even got cash to pay Oswalt with from the Astros makes this trade a big win for the Phillies.

Oswalt agrees to come to the Phillies

Roy Oswalt has agreed to waive his no-trade clause and come to the Phillies. Apparently the deal is not official just yet so we still have to wait to hear what the Phillies gave up in return but so far the word is that J.A. Happ and two prospects are going to the Astros.

I'll have more when the trade goes official.

Phillies and Astros have deal for Oswalt done but wait for his approval

Roy Oswalt may finally be coming to the Phillies. According to Fox 26 Sports in Houston, the Phillies and Astros have agreed on a deal that will send Oswalt to the Phils but they are waiting for the star pitcher, who has a no-trade clause, to approve the trade. While the report mentions nothing about what the Phillies will be giving up, it has long been rumored that J.A. Happ has been someone the Astros coveted in return.

Given that he has reportedly balked at coming to Philly in the past, this deal is far from official. I'm not sure why he wouldn't want to play for a contender like the Phillies, but Oswalt was given a no-trade clause for a reason and he has every right to exercise it and squash the deal.

While I'll hold off judgment of the deal until something official is announced, having a rotation that begins with Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels and Roy Oswalt is insanely good. While we all still wonder what could have been with Cliff Lee, Oswalt is basically the next best available starting pitcher. As long as the Phils don't give up too much, having Oswalt in a Phillies uniform for the next few years will do nothing but increase their title chances.