Oswalt Waives No-trade Clause, Traded to Phillies

Roy Oswalt has been offically traded to the Philadelphia Phillies. Yes, indeed he has. Welcome to Philadelphia.

Reports say Jonathan Singleton was not invovled in the package. Players in the package were J.A. Happ, Worley (saw him in a relif inning) or could be Jonathan Villar a shortstop, and Anothey Gose (speedy outfielder/pitcher)

As of right now Oswalt is looking like a rental player. He has 1 year remaining on his contract. If the Phillies don't pick up the 2012 club option of 16 million. If the Phillies want to resign Werth, they would have to let Oswalt become a free agent. I don't see the Phillies resigning Oswalt if they want to keep Werth. Amaro is redoing Cliff Lee.

My opinion on this trade is it's a bad trade. We lost a young proven starting rotation player, lost a future starting pitcher or at least a long relif in the bullpen, and a outfielder that can hit.

Pro's and Con's: The City of Roy's

We know that Philadelphia is nick-named "The City of Brotherly Love." Well it maybe named "The City of Roy's."

The reports are saying that the Phillies have a deal in place with the Astros to get Roy Oswalt. The deal may inclued J.A. Happ, the 2nd year starter in the Phillies rotation. The deal is also reportly said to give alittle money to help soften the deal. Roy O. Is owed 5 million this year and a club option through 2012 with 16 million.

J.A. Happ is 1-0 on 3 starts this season, along with a 1.76 ERA. He next start is suppose to be Friday against the Washingtion Nationals. He is 14-5 career with a 3.11 ERA. He has proven himself to be a starter in the Major Leagues.

Ruben Amaro has declared Jon Singleton "untouchable" so they cannot ask for him. There are a few pitchers in A ball. Trevor May, Brody Colvin, Jarred Cosart were being looked at by the 'Stros.

Pros:
Gives the Phillies a chance to make the playoffs again for the 4th straight year, and win a NL East pennet for the 3rd straight year.

A second ace on the rotation, Roy Halladay and Roy Oswalt top of the order.

Cons:
Giving up good prospects plus J.A. Happ for a old(ish) pitcher

16 Million dollar club option through 2012, alough I did hear the Astros were paying a huge part of Oswalt's salary.

Starting Rotation:
Roy Halladay
Roy Oswalt
Cole Hamels
Kyle Kendrick
Joe Blanton

Kyle Kendrick to AAA?

CSNPhilly's Jim Salisbury has reported that Kyle Kendrick got designated to the Iron Pigs today (7/20/10). Kyle has not pitched well at all lately. He got roughed up last night in the 5th inning after pitching effectively against the red-hot Cardinals. He gave up 4 homers.. they went back-to-back-to-back-to-back.

Andrew Carpenter, 25, pitched for the Phillies in 2008. He went 1-0 with a 9.45 ERA in 7 innings. His BB/9 is 6.75. His K/9 is 8.10. (that's his only major league start which was in 2008.)

Carpenter's career stats are: 35-24, 3.61 ERA, 5 CG, 3 SHO (shutouts), 487 IP. Lets hope this adds hope to a Phillies lineup that just has not performed lately. This was a great move to put Kyle in the Minors and bring up someone a little bit more sturdier to the starting pitchers. His 2nd major league start will most likely be against the Colorado Rockies, not an easy team to start against.

On Another Note: The Phillies have released Juan Castro after hitting .216, no homers and around 7-10 RBIS.

Time To Get Back To Baseball, Phillies At Wrigley

The Phillies are in Chicago for a four game series at Wrigley Park. Wrigley is one of the oldest baseball stadiums in the game, next to Fenway, home of the Red Sox.

Jamie Moyer is going to be pitching to a struggling Cubs offense. They have struggled throughout the season. The last time the Phillies faced the Cubbies was in May (19,20), the Phillies split with them (1-1).

The Cubs will counter with a Right Handed Pitcher named Ryan Dempster. Ryan Dempster is 7-7 with a 3.61 ERA. Ryan is 0-1 with a 6.63 ERA in 3 starts against the Phillies. It isn't very likely he will win tonight. Offensive struggles have shown with the Cubs at home, they are batting .221 and have been outscored 35-12 in a 2-5 stretch. The Cubs home record is 20-23.

The Phillies are looking to ride the momentum off their 4 game sweep of the Cincinnati Reds. They had a 1-0 win from the last game of the series going into the all-star break.

2 Down, 2 Up: Phillies Not Getting It Done

Phillies are getting more disappointed as the season moves on. They have lost 2 of 4 games against the Pirates. Score of the first game: 3-2 Bucs, Score of second game: 2-0 Bucs (note: Ross Ohlendorf was 0-6 going into this game)

Our infield needs help. After losing Placido Polanco and Chase Utley, we cannot used our AAA or AA because they aren't very well offensively. Wilson Valdez has been a pleasant surprise offensively blasting 4 homers to some of the deepest parts of the field (ex. at PNC Park in Pitt., hit a home run to the 410' sign in left center field.) Juan Castro isn't doing anything at the plate. Brian Bocock, well we haven't seen him yet except for some AAA footage.

Phillies are looking at some prospects, here are some note able names, Jose Bautista (RF, Toronto), Ty Wigginton (2B, Baltimore), Kelly Johnson (2B, Arizona.) Jose Bautista is a homerun machine with 20 on the season, but he is a outfielder. So I'm not sure if he is a player that is a OF/IF.

Some news from MLB Trade Rumors, Phillies are interested in Cliff Lee. The Phillies call themselves "long shots" in getting Lee. Oh how I miss the Lee chants during the 2009 postseason!

Here is the link for the article: http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2010/07/phillies-interested-in-lee-tejada-wigginton.html

Phillies Set To Face State Rivial

Phillies are in Pittsburgh today, to face the Priates.

Phillies Record:
41-35
Pirates Record:
27-51

Phillies Lineup:
1. Shane Victorino CF
2. Greg Dobbs 3B
3. J. Rollins SS
4. Ryan Howard 1B
5. Jayson Werth RF
6. Rual Ibanez LF
7. Brian Schneider C
8. Wilson Valdez 2B
9. Pitcher Spot -- Cole Hamels (6-6 w/ 4.08)

Pirates Lineup
1. Jose Tabata RF
2. Pedro Alvarez 3B
3. Andrew McCutchen CF
4. Garrett Jones RF
5. Lastings Milledge LF
6. Ryan Doumit C
7. Bobby Crosby SS
8. Andy LaRoche 2B
9. Pitcher Spot -- Daniel McCutchen