Oswalt is trying to be the nice guy. You can see it. You can hear it. He hasn’t been overly demanding, but he wants the heck out of Houston. Who can blame him? It’s so freakin’ humid there. The franchise is well aware that freeing up Oswalt might also offer them a bat or two to build with, as well as a prospect or two, but where would Roy end up?

All signs have been pointing to Philadelphia. In fact, if you watched ESPN’s Monday Night Baseball, it was all the commentators were talking about after the Cardinals went on a home run barrage, tagging 4 in two innings. At present, Oswalt’s contract demands seem to be the issue in moving the deal forward between Philly and Houston, namely the 16 million dollar option he has for 2012. He wants it before he would agree to a trade. It’s one thing to ask this Roy to go play second fiddle to the other Roy (Halladay) they picked up in Philadelphia in the off-season, but I just can’t see Philly agreeing to the tie up an additional 16 mil. for the 2012 option.

I think this deal is dead in the water. Had they started negotiations earlier, or perhaps if Philly looked like they were going to compete with Atlanta in the NL East this year, it might be a different story. I think Roy will pitch out the season in Houston, and once the off-season rolls around, you might see some movement from one of the AL east coast squads with a little more money to toss around.

Other trade rumors a-flyin’? Well, not so much. A little bit of something surrounding Arizona Diamondback’s Dan Haren, but other than my own personal bias for the St. Louis Cardinals and wanting to see the kid come back to where he began his career, not a lot has been said–some potential interest from Philly. I don’t think Haren has much of a desire to pitch east of the Mississippi. I’m hopeful the Cardinals are doing things quietly, similar to their acquiring Matt Holliday around this time last year. (Yeah, I want Haren back in the STL. I’m still bitter about the Haren/Calero for Mulder trade back in ‘04. Worst deal ever.)

Someone is going to make a move before the July 31st deadline, and it will probably be a significant move–the only question: Who’s it going to be? I certainly don’t think it’ll be Roy Oswalt

(Image via: Around the Horn Baseball)

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