We were told that free agent Roy Oswalt would make a statement through agent Bob Garber on Thursday. Sure enough, said statement has been made, and it confirms what was reported by sources Thursday morning.
Roy Oswalt Will Not Sign With Anybody Soon
oswalt will stay in shape and hope to pitch for a contender at some point this year, agent bob garber announces
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) February 23, 2012
Roy Oswalt is Roy Oswalt, and even despite injury problems, he posted a 105 ERA+ last season. It stands to reason that Roy Oswalt would've been desirable, and shouldn't still be unsigned. But, of course, the issue is that Oswalt is picky. I don't mean that in a bad way. Roy Oswalt has every right to be picky. Roy Oswalt has every right to do whatever he wants*. But it's basically Roy Oswalt's fault that Roy Oswalt doesn't have a team.
* I guess not really
He wanted to pitch for the Rangers or the Cardinals, but neither the Rangers nor the Cardinals have an opening. He didn't want to pitch for the Tigers, who offered good money. He didn't want to pitch for the Red Sox, who made an offer as well. And Oswalt's never won a World Series, so he's looking to get a ring, and ... yeah, here we are, and it's not a great shock that Oswalt hasn't put pen to paper.
We'll see where this goes. As mentioned, Pedro Martinez signed midseason. Roger Clemens signed midseason. Roy Oswalt is not blazing a new trail. But he'll either need to hope that the Rangers or Cardinals sustain an injury, or he'll need to be more open-minded. Maybe time off will make him more willing to play farther from home. Maybe time off will make him less willing to play farther from home.
I suppose he could hope for the Royals to be a surprise contender. That'd be convenient. That'd also be - well we don't have words for that. I kind of feel like writing this section in wingdings, as long as we're being crazy.
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