Our pals over at The Good Phight are excited about what seems like a very good deal for the Phillies.
If that sounds like a good deal for the Phillies, that’s because it is. J.A. Happ is a nice pitcher, Gose has tremendous potential, and Villar is emerging as an intriguing infield prospect, but the Phillies really just got an ace-quality starting pitcher to slot behind Roy Halladay in the rotation, at a huge discount, through 2011.
Is this a Cliff Lee like(getting him, not giving him up) caliber deal for Reuben Amaro? He was generally seen to have pulled a coup in that trade with the Indians. He paid a major price in terms of prospects for Halladay, but this move for Oswalt seems much closer to the job he did on the Lee deal. The Phillies kept all of their top prospects & get Oswalt on the cheap for a year and a half at least. It’s a bummer to give up Happ, but he was traded for a true ace here. He’ll never be that good.
Since 2001, Oswalt leads the NL in wins and strikeouts. He’s 2nd in IP and 5th in ERA over that period.