Saturday, May 22, 2010

Welcome!/Oswalt to the NL East??

Greetings, everyone!

Recent anxieties about my job security in the print journalism universe have pushed me to join the most up-to-date medium in the easiest and most insignificant way available: starting a blog. New technology has never come easy to me, and even setting up this blog took much longer than the average time, which is probably around 45 seconds.

But alas, here I am and it's time to get blogging! First, I'd like to point out that though this is a forum I'm presently focusing on sports, it is a completely separate entity from my position as a sports writer with the Gettysburg Times. My opinions expressed here in no way reflect those of the paper.

Second, I'm a rather scatterbrained individual. In fact, it only occurred to me to start this blog a couple hours ago. I can't promise that I will post with any degree of regularity, but I vow that when I do post, I will let all of you know. I value all input.

And finally, though I am a writer of all sports and love my job, the one sport about which I'm truly passionate is baseball. Therefore, the majority of my postings will concern the National Pastime, and my hometown team, the Phillies. I apologize if these topics are too boring for most of you, but too bad, this is my blog. If my baseball ramblings will in anyway aid in my dream to exclusively write for a major league ballclub, they will have served their purpose.

That introduction should suffice. Please enjoy all of my postings, however ingenius or inaccurate they turn out to be. Trust me, I've been in the sports reporting business for three years, and I've hit every point on that spectrum. Now let's commence with some baseball chat, which oddly enough for my first go-around will not deal with the Phillies.

It was just reported yesterday that Houston Astros pitcher Roy Oswalt was asking for a trade. This news did not come as much surprise to me considering that the team is off to one of the worst starts in franchise history, and his paltry run support falls below what Jayson Werth alone provides the Phils nearly every night.

I imagine it's frustrating how close Oswalt came to donning a World Series ring in 2005, only to be denied by the Chicago White Sox, who needed help from the umpires just to make it to the Fall Classic. Since then, Houston has never finished better than 11 games above .500, which won't cut it against the powerhouse St. Louis Cardinals.

So where should Roy go?

His age (32), full no-trade clause and the $29 million left on his contract makes that a difficult situation, and the Astros would no doubt demand a lot in return. It doesn't appear Oswalt will be moved in the near future, but there are a couple of possibilities down the road if the teams are willing to take the risk.

The best option for both parties to me is the Atlanta Braves. They've gotten trounced by everyone in the division thus far, including the Washington Nationals, and their starting pitching - outside of Tim Hudson - has fallen well short of expectations. Altanta also has no timetable on the return of Jair Jurrjens, so a slot is open for Oswalt.

I imagine the Mississippi native would also like to remain close to home, especially after a recent tornado destroyed his parents' house. And given that the Phillies are just a Roy Halladay injury away from losing their grip on the East, adding Oswalt could help the Braves sneak into the postseason for the first time in five years.

I don't think the transition would be tough for Oswalt, as he wouldn't be switching leagues and has respectable numbers against the other four NL East teams - 19-12 record with an ERA of 3.46.

It all depends if the Braves are willing to spend the money. Their 2010 Opening Day payroll of $84.4 million was ranked 15th among the 30 major league teams, and they dumped $11 million in the offseason when they traded Javier Vasquez to the Yankees.

The deal is just one Tomahawk Chop away, and I say go for it, but me and my small-town newspaper salary will leave that decision up to the big boys.

I hope you've enjoyed these musings. Let me know what you think! Signing off for now.

2 comments:

  1. Hudson-Oswalt-Hanson-Lowe-Medlen seems pretty formidable, and could definitely compete with Halladay-Hamels-Blanton-Moyer-Happ/Kendrick

    Oswalt aside, the braves won't be able to close in on the phils because of their bats. Prado and Heyward are carrying them right now, and Glaus won't hold up his .281 this year. The only team that can beat the phils, really, is the phils.

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  2. Good work Adrian! I'm a fan. If it were facebook it'd be a "mark walters likes this." I like that you very neatly threaded factual stats and information with solid opinion. I have a blog too on this site. www.mwalt23.blogspot.com.

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