Tale of Two Roys? Oswalt Looks to Be Joining Halladay In Philadelphia

by Dave Levy | 7:56 am, July 29th, 2010

With Saturday’s MLB trade deadline coming fast and furious, the normal late July deals are really getting going. The biggest prize of the summer went at the beginning of the month, likely, when Cliff Lee was shipped to Texas from Seattle. Well, the next biggest arm that was available looks to be on his way out of the Lone Star State, as sources are saying that Roy Oswalt may be headed to the defending NL champions, Philadelphia Phillies.

Oswalt’s hefty contract with the Houston Astros is something that Philly will need to take on, but Big League Stew notes that it looks like the Phils won’t have to give up their top prospect, Domonic Brown, instead sending J.A. Happ and another minor leaguer. In return, they would pick up Oswalt’s 3.42 ERA and 120 Ks (look over that 6-12 record, though, mostly due to the dismal offense of the Astros).

This is the second year in a row that Philadelphia has looked to the trade deadline to shore up their starting rotation for a playoff run. Last year, they brought in the aforementioned Cliff Lee from Cleveland (how many teams has that guy played on in the last two seasons?), and in the offseason, they shipped Lee to Seattle to make room for their Roy Halladay move.

Having fought through some injuries – including stars Jimmy Rollins and the still DLed Chase Utley – the Phillies are still very much in contention thanks to the clockwork-like cascade of the New York Mets. Winning seven straight, they are only trailing the NL-East-leading Braves by 3.5 games, and if they can get to the postseason again, a back-to-back rotation of Halladay and Oswalt sounds like a stellar 1-2 punch.

If the deal gets done, we’ll update as soon as we can.