Done Deal: Roy Oswalt Traded To Phillies, Will Make Debut Friday Night In Washington

It isn’t often that you see a trade welcomed by both sides. Ordinarily, only one side will be happy, or at least happier, and trades tend to be evaluated by who won and who lost. Still, today’s trade of Roy Oswalt from Houston to Philadelphia has been received well by fans of each team. We first check in with our friends at The Good Phight:

And as for The Crawfish Boxes?

I hope Anthony Gose didn’t buy a plane ticket or anything, because after coming over to the Astros from the Phillies, he’s flying back north. Way north.

The Blue Jays got Michael Taylor from the Phillies in the Roy Halladay trade and flipped him to Oakland for Wallace, so it’s funny how this is all connected. First baseman Wallace entered the year as one of Baseball America’s top prospects in the country, but he’s failed to build on last year’s success while spending half his time in a very hitter-friendly environment in AAA Las Vegas, and questions about as to the soon-to-be 24 year old’s future position. His stock has fallen an awful long way.

Todd Zolecki reports that the Roy Oswalt trade to Philadelphia is complete, with Houston getting J.A. Happ, Anthony Gose, and Jonathan Villar in return. Todd Zolecki also reports the following:

Oswalt was penciled in for a Friday start with Houston anyway, so this in no way affects his schedule. He will assume Happ’s place in the rotation, and tomorrow will oppose Craig Stammen in Nationals Park.

Just to make things a little more official, but still unofficial, Roy Oswalt has agreed to waive his no-trade clause to go to Philadelphia:

Ken Rosenthal fills us in on how his 2012 option situation will play out:

So much for Vance Worley. Says Ken Rosenthal:

Note that that’s a typo, and his name is actually Jonathan Villar. Villar is a 19 year old shortstop with A-ball Lakewood, who’s hit .272/.332/.358 with 38 stolen bases. He’s known for his defense and his subpar plate discipline has been exposed against Sally League competition, but he’s still managed to hold his own as a teenager, and is a fringe top-10 organizational prospect.

One of the big sticking points in the whole Roy Oswalt saga has been his $16m 2012 option. Oswalt had said for a while that, if he was to be traded, he wanted his new team to pick up that option. There aren’t a lot of teams who felt like committing that much money if they didn’t have to. However, while that may have been troublesome before, Ken Rosenthal reports that the Phillies and Oswalt have reached some sort of resolution:

At this point we can only guess how Oswalt will be compensated, but the Phillies will likely be happy to do anything other than guarantee him $16m in two years.

Alas, we’ve apparently cleared the last major hurdle. Reports Jayson Stark:

With the players settled, the money settled, and the matter of Oswalt’s no-trade clause settled, everything’s in place for the long-time Astros ace to head to Philadelphia. All that should be left now is dotting some i’s, crossing some t’s, and maybe some physical examinations.

Some semi-conflicting info is coming out about the prospects going to Houston in the Roy Oswalt Trade. Says Jayson Stark:

But adds Ken Rosenthal:

Roy Oswalt wants to pitch in the World Series. The Astros are not going to make the World Series. From this mismatch came, essentially, a trade demand. And now, after weeks of rumors linking the Houston hurler to both the Cardinals and Phillies, it seems that a deal with Philadelphia is all but done. All that is left is for Oswalt to sign off on it.

But should he? That’s the question SB Nation’s Astros blog, Crawfish Boxes, asks. If Oswalt’s top priority really is pitching in the Fall Classic, which team between the Cardinals and Phillies gives him the best chance? After running through some SABR models, the answer is, unsurprisingly, the Cardinals. Not including a potential Oswalt addition, St. Louis has roughly a 66 per cent chance of making the postseason (averaging a few different methods), while Philadelphia is about half that at 32 per cent.

The popular rumor for this deal is that the Phils get Oswalt (along with some cash), while the Astros would get in return J.A. Happ and prospects Matt Rizzotti and Vance Worley. And since we’re all just waiting to hear from Oswalt, HardballTalk figures now is as good a time as any to take a closer look at those two prospects, Rizzotti and Worely.

Nothing amazing, no, but an “OK haul.”

The earlier report about Philadelphia and Houston agreeing to a Roy Oswalt trade kind of came out of nowhere, so it’s only natural to question its validity. Enter Alyson Footer, who describes herself as the Astros’ Senior Director of Social Media:

Berman, of course, being the man behind the report. Over the offseason, Berman was the first to report the Brandon Lyon signing with Houston, so this certainly seems legitimate. All that’s left to do is await an answer from Roy Oswalt himself on what he’s going to decide.

The Astros and Phillies have, according to the report, agreed on both players and how much of Oswalt’s hefty contract each team will cover, leaving the fate of the deal in Oswalt’s hands. And, just as Oswalt requested, he’s got some time to mull it over before Saturday afternoon’s deadline.

Stay tuned to this StoryStream for updates, and also keep an eye on The Crawfish Boxes, The Good Phight, SB Nation Houston, and SB Nation Philly for more.