With Oswalt trade looming, should Braves worry about Philly?
Mad skills: Roy Oswalt can pitch and blow a bubble at same time.
If you’re a Braves’ fan, this would be a good time to pull for anybody other than Philadelphia in the Roy Oswalt trade sweepstakes.
While the Braves have gone through a relatively magical run this season, with unlikely subplots like Brooks “The Big Bambino” Conrad, it figured to be only a matter of time before the Philadelphia Phillies re-emerged as a factor in the National League East. And here they are.
The Phillies have won four straight to trim two games off the Braves’ division lead (down to five). That’s of some concern. But these are the bigger issues:
♦ The Phillies have struggled all year with injuries, most notably to shortstop and leadoff hitter Jimmy Rollins and shortstop Chase Utley. Rollins has missed over half the season (playing in 42 of Philly’s 98 games), but he is 9 for 21 (.429) in the past five games. Utley was 18 for 49 (.367) over 13 games before he had to go back on the disabled list after thumb surgery. He likely is out at least another month.
♦ Many expect the Phillies to be players before Saturday’s trade deadline. Philly must know now that they botched it in the winter when they traded starting pitcher Cliff Lee (acquired last July from Cleveland) to Seattle. (Lee was traded again two weeks ago to Texas.) They need a starting pitcher. Houston’s Roy Oswalt is the most likely candidate.
Former AJC comrade Joe Strauss, now of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, is reporting the Cardinals are unlikely to acquire Oswalt, who had made it no secret that the Cards were his first choice. That may leave Philly as the most likely buyer.
According to the Philadelphia Daily News, scouts from Houston and Tampa Bay both were in attendance at the Phils’ game against Colorado Sunday. Philly is said to be dangling Jason Werth in any potential deal.
If the Phillies get Oswalt, they’ll have Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels and Oswalt at the top of their pitching rotation. That’s pretty sick.
Combine that with Rollins and Utley coming around, and Philly could again look like the team that has won three straight National League East titles.
So what’s your level of concern? Should this increase the pressure on Braves general manager Frank Wren to make a deal, and if the Phils get Oswalt, do you think that gives them a leg (or arm) up in the division race?
♦
Instant re-post on demand (in HD)
♦ Ranking the SEC, from Bama to Vandy (and Georgia No. 4)
♦ Dooley calmly moving from one fire to next at Tennessee
♦ Richt’s words, actions haven’t changed ugliness at Georgia
♦ It’s no coincidence Saban suddenly is concerned about agents
♦
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318 comments Add your comment
Bravo Taco
July 26th, 2010
11:24 am
Not time to panic yet – but we’ve seen the Phils make strong runs in the second half, and you can bet they will make it interesting. Braves can play steady and still win, but we can’t keep strolling McClouth out there.
JS – Any rumors on availability/cost of a Matt Kemp trade? He’s young, affordable, and has power from the right…am I delusional?
BoroBall3
July 26th, 2010
11:27 am
Let’s Go Bravos — you’re a spot on there, but I guess a lot does really depend on how things go over the next two/three games seeing as the trade deadline is approaching. If they do find themselves up 5,6 or 7 still on the 31st, I’d say we hold our cards and play with team we have, but if we find ourselves up 3, then obviously there are issues that will need to be addressed, but this raod trip will answer some first
bvillebaron
July 26th, 2010
11:31 am
If I recall correctly, the Phils trailed the Braves by 5 at the Allstar break. Thus, the “trimming” of the lead from 7 to 5 means that they only got back to where they were before the break after the Braves played 10 games and the Phils 11. The Braves just lost their first series out of the last 22 and people want to panic around here. The Braves just need to keep playing and worry about themselves.
Regarding Oswalt, what exactly do the Phils have that could possibly land him? They aren’t going to trade Dominic Brown and other than him, the are basically tapped out of good prospects that would interest a rebuilding Astros team. Can’t see the Astros taking Werth and his contract in a walk year.
I think we should wait to see if the Phils land Oswalt (or anyone else for that matter now that Haren is off the market) before you write this article. Even if they do, I think the Braves still win this thing!
Chpatt
July 26th, 2010
11:40 am
Schultz – I would definitely agree that Dunn was a stud in the minors as you showed. Obviously Frank wants to keep all of the pitching for our future, which looks unbelievably promising. But I know Frank wants to win now especially with it being Bobby’s first year. Someone actually posted in the discussion after the game yesterday on ESPN that Eddy Perez told them that KK and Jesse Chavez were both on the verge of being traded? Who would ever take them. Seemed outlandish to me, but who knows.
Chpatt
July 26th, 2010
11:40 am
Last year**
GT Alum
July 26th, 2010
11:41 am
We honestly didn’t think the rest of the division was just going to fade into obscurity and let the Braves run away with it, did we?
I don’t think the Braves necessarily need to make a trade to respond to the likelihood of the Phillies getting Oswalt. I just think they need to make a move to strengthen the offensive production from the outfield that they’ve always needed to make. McClouth has been a disaster. Even if that move is just bringing Blanco back up to split time in CF with Melky, the Braves need to get McClouth out of the playing rotation.
phillyfan
July 26th, 2010
11:42 am
ATL fans hate to break the news to you but Utley was taking ground balls yesterday before the game and he is playing in one minor league game that is set for August 13th and they he will be back for the remaining 54 games…. you should start to worry!! also the reason they are willing to get rid of werth is becasue they have the Number one minor league prospect (dominic brown) batting almost 400 in triple A, has power and speed.. and is ready to come up… you will choke, and thats ashame to see cox go out like that….
iSportacus » Blog Archive » Roy Oswalt Facts, Rumors, and Innuendo
July 26th, 2010
11:42 am
[...] Atlanta is certainly hoping that the Phils don’t get Oswalt. [...]
Walker, Texas Ranger
July 26th, 2010
11:43 am
If you are going to deal for a CF, dont get a .275 hitter. We got that in a platoon situation. Either get a legitimate 40 steal guy or a combo average/power hitter like Kemp. Ross or guys like him are not going to add a whole lot. Speed is the wave of the future in baseball minus steroids.
Chpatt
July 26th, 2010
11:45 am
Phillyfan – don’t get cocky…Dominic Brown is no Jason Heyward, oh and don’t forget that you guys will ride his ass way too hard being in Philly. You know you can’t count on Brown to carry you guys to the promiseland.
also, 5 game lead. Check back when you’re not down by 5.
Walker, Texas Ranger
July 26th, 2010
11:45 am
As far as Utley goes, he struggled before he got hurt, so what are the chances he regains form this year to do any damage?
Clay
July 26th, 2010
11:45 am
Thanks for that phillyfan, and while you’re at it can your crystal ball give me some lotto numbers to play tomorrow?
Chpatt
July 26th, 2010
11:47 am
Hey PhillyFan…Dominic Brown is no Jason Heyward. And you guys will wish you never got rid of Jayson Werth.
Get back to me when you guys aren’t down by 5 games, alright??
Chpatt
July 26th, 2010
11:48 am
Phillyfan…you have no idea what you are talking about. Trading Jayson Werth will make you a worse team. Guaranteed.
MARK
July 26th, 2010
11:48 am
damn philly! we got a very good team, just continue to play baseball the way we have.and we will be fine. go braves
Cardinals may find price for Roy Oswalt too high
July 26th, 2010
11:50 am
[...] With Oswalt trade looming, is it time to worry about Phillies? [...]
Jeff Schultz
July 26th, 2010
11:54 am
Chpatt: No question Braves want to move KK — he’s made 1 appearance in 1 month since being taken out of the rotation –but if he’s being dealt I’d have to think Braves are picking up some salary.
(And on first year/last year: Yeah, I figured that out.)
phillyfan
July 26th, 2010
11:55 am
wow i dont remember comparing brown to heyward, and i agree with all of you brown has done nothing yet and heyward is a stud i will give that to you. werth has the worst batting average in the league with runners in scoring postion and the reports in philly is that he is becoming a problem in the locker room… i am not saying the phils will win the division, you have a 5 game lead and have been playing great ball, but if the phils cant win the division (which i admit will be tough at this point) they could easily get that wild card, and if they do the braves can not counter against halladay, hamels and oswalt ( if they get him)…
Voice of Reason
July 26th, 2010
11:55 am
I see that Colorado is looking to unload Hawpe and are looking for relief pitching. Maybe a package of Chavez, Kawakami, and Dunn could get Hawpe. He definitely needs a change of scenery. He may not have anything left in the tank (there are signs of that after making the All Star game last year) but if we could throw in McLouth in the deal, we would make a lot of fans happy.
Jeff Schultz
July 26th, 2010
11:57 am
Philly Fan — If Utley comes back Aug. 13 it’ll be a little earlier than expected. When he had surgery (July 1) they said it would be at least 8 weeks.
dobearsbare
July 26th, 2010
11:57 am
Kawakami is apparently the Japanese word for “albatross.”
To the person who said Oswalt has been mediocre this year: Only if you look at his won-lost record. His ERA’s right at 3. Put him on a team that hits and plays defense, and that w-l could easily be flip-flopped.
Consider this: If the Phillies get him, the Braves could face him three times in the regular season AND maybe twice in a seven-game postseason series.
Why aren’t the Yankees in this sweepstakes again?
Jeff Schultz
July 26th, 2010
11:58 am
Walker, Texas Ranger — I’ve got no problem with a .275 hitter if it’s an every day player.
Tommy
July 26th, 2010
12:01 pm
We can’t counter against that? The only one I give you the edge to is Hallady cause the Braves get owned by him, pure and simple. However, Hamels is not the Hamels of 2008 and I give the Braves the edge with Jurrjens. Tommy Hanson and Oswalt would be a good matchup. Its all pretty subjective really, but to say we CAN’T counter the big bad Phillies rotation? Please. And you guys have nothing after Hallady and Hamels anyways and you kinda need a 5 man rotation to get into the playoffs at all…
phillyfan
July 26th, 2010
12:01 pm
jeff: a report last week on philly.com said he was way ahead of schedule, it is a temporary date for his rehab start on the 13th but i was at the game yesterday and he was taking ground balls with a wrap on his hand. i guess if there is a set back it could be longer. he was scheduled back the end of august but now they are saying mid august based on his fast recovery
Rider
July 26th, 2010
12:02 pm
You always have to worry when booby cox is your coach. He’s so stupid he lets McOut bat with the game on the line. That’s why this team had a dismal success rate of winning a world series. Phillies win 2 recent NL titles and one world series. Braves win 6 and one world series. All thanks to booby cox. The dumbest manager in history.
Chpatt
July 26th, 2010
12:02 pm
Okay PhillyFan, thank you for admitting those facts. You’re one of a kind as far as Phillies fans go. I think Brown would be good in the future, but even with Werth having the worst batting average with RISP, is Brown really an upgrade over .286 13 HR and 53 RBI? That’s all im saying.
@Schultz, If you were to package any of the pitching prospects who would you package in a deal? They all have done outstanding in the minors and we have such an abundance. Also, if we were to deal Kris Medlen (which i hope we don’t), would Mike Minor be called up. He’s done great in Triple-A so far, and we could use a lefty in the rotation. His fastball, change combo looks nasty.
phillyfan
July 26th, 2010
12:03 pm
tommy: hamels has given up one run in his last 23 innings. including a one hitter on sat against the rockies.
Jeff Schultz
July 26th, 2010
12:03 pm
For all asking about Domonic Brown: When Baseball America came out with its top 100 prospects in Feb., Jason Heyward was No. 1 and Domonic Brown was No. 15 (pretty high). Here’s a link: http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/rankings/top-100-prospects/2010/269546.html
James
July 26th, 2010
12:06 pm
Roy Oswalt wants to come to Atlanta so we shop trade Derek Lowe to Houston for Roy Oswalt.
Chpatt
July 26th, 2010
12:07 pm
Don’t get too carried away Phillyfan…he was playing the Rockies, and they are struggling mightily right now.
W/E
July 26th, 2010
12:11 pm
Hamels is overrated, we usually light him up. Phillies pitching hasn’t been the problem when they play us, it’s been their lack of offense. you think they’d realize that by now. HR’s don’t do jack if they’re all solo shots
meh
July 26th, 2010
12:14 pm
If Wren got someone to take Jo Jo Reyes, then he should be able to talk someone in to taking McLouth. maybe the Royals. they like crappy former Braves (Kyle Davies, Bruce Chen, etc.)
Braves fan
July 26th, 2010
12:14 pm
I think the Braves need to fear the Braves. Unless management is ready to fill the hole and realize that McLouth is and never was that great addition to center field, then we are going to start losing. We needed a bat, not a centerfielder who stands looking up while the ball is already on the ground behind him. Fluke? I think not. Fact is, if the braves want to win then they need to fill the hole in center. Diaz and Calberea are not all that terrific but they are ok to platoon but if we dont get a centerfielder and a right handed bat, we will again be going home in October.
We already have a nice lead in the National League East and these guys play their hearts out. Go and get that last piece or two of the puzzle and stop counting on a centerfielder who stunk last year and has not produced this year. You pay to play ya know!
justafan
July 26th, 2010
12:15 pm
Cody Ross is another Nate. He has hit 125 the laast 27 days. No to Ross!!!!!
If Hart is ok he would be great with J-Hey in OF. Upton has had problems but still a 5-star player that would have 4 more years before free agents..Under Cox he could really turn it around.
Braves made need another LHRP, = OHMAN (sp.)
Don’t look for much action from Wren but Hope is alive…….What about Jose Bantista?
Brad
July 26th, 2010
12:19 pm
Am I the only one who sees Tommy Hanson as being the weakest link on our starting rotation? He’s terribly inconsistent and I can see him costing us some games in the playoffs, provided we get that far. Jeff, would it be possible for, say, Milwaukee to be interested in a deal that included Hanson and Nate “the Out Machine” McLouth for Corey Hart?… or would the Marlins bite on such a deal for Cody Ross? We could still have decent starting rotation with Hudson, Lowe, Jurrjenns, and Medlen. Just a thought… not trying to post a controversial remark, just idle conjecture.
Blackberry Cobbler
July 26th, 2010
12:20 pm
Braves need another bat (CF) and more pitching if they expect to be in first after 162 games.
The pitching looks tired and vunerable (except Hudson and JJ), Chipper will be hurt and/or not contributing much of the time when he plays, and McOUT just needs to go. And of course, we don’t have enough talent to overcome HOF Booby Cox brain-dead decisions.
joe
July 26th, 2010
12:21 pm
Hell no to Ross.
Blackberry Cobbler
July 26th, 2010
12:21 pm
Brad- @ 12:20pm– I would MUCH rather see us get rid of Lowe than Hanson.
GeorgiaDawg
July 26th, 2010
12:23 pm
If Bobby keeps running chavez and mcclouth out there then yes we will lose the division, but may win teh WC…The Phillies are going to be right on our heels sooner than we think…
Sonny Clusters
July 26th, 2010
12:23 pm
“At Turner Field, 19 percent of vendors had critical violations. Inspectors found bacterial growth on a ketchup dispenser and asked that the product be thrown out.”
Maybe they could inspect McLouth and Chavez and find some bacteria and get ‘em thrown out.
Seems some chemistry got messed up when .310 Blanco got sent down for .168 Mclouth. Maybe the Braves got their Chavez’s mixed up and this is the Venezuelan president.
Chpatt
July 26th, 2010
12:23 pm
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=140312839322140
everyone join the new Facebook page titled…. “get McOut Outta Here!”
papadawg
July 26th, 2010
12:24 pm
Getting a player back from injury doesn’t mean you’re getiing him back at peak player form physically or mentally
Marc in FL
July 26th, 2010
12:26 pm
The pitching is fine, they can’t be lights out every night. The Marlins and Brewers both have great line-ups and they finally got to us the these last few games. No biggie, our pitching has been great all year and will continue to be great. Hanson is only in his second year of big league ball, and his first year wasn’t even a whole season. He’s been good this year except for a few blow-outs and I think we even came back to win one of those.
We just need to keep the offense as consistent as possible. Blanco was really helping to keep it all together.
It's a shame what he did to that dog.
July 26th, 2010
12:27 pm
“If you’re a Braves’ fan, this would be a good time to pull for anybody other than Philadelphia in the Roy Oswalt trade sweepstakes.”
Jeff, a few questions:
1: How many MLB teams have you coached?
2: Do you know more about baseball than Bobby Cox?
Lifetime Braves Fan
July 26th, 2010
12:27 pm
Well went to the Gwinnett Braves Game yesterday and came away really discouraged about what we have in minors. Not running out grounders, horrid pitching and a genearal sence of not giving a damn. I would say trade away anyone down there to get a big time Center Fielder.
It's a shame what he did to that dog.
July 26th, 2010
12:27 pm
“Am I the only one who sees Tommy Hanson as being the weakest link on our starting rotation?”
Nope, Hanson is a weak link. As are a few other players.
justafan
July 26th, 2010
12:28 pm
No one will take Nate’s contract unless Braves pay 75% of it.
Wren has said we will go all out this year to win WS. If that is so….he needs to get busy fixing OF, 1st, and relief pitcher.
Upton, Hart & Bantista etc.
Bobby's Cox
July 26th, 2010
12:29 pm
Need to immigration involved get Chavez and Kawakami shipped back over the border, what would that cost the Braves, a lot cheaper than payroll for sure
NORRIS
July 26th, 2010
12:32 pm
why do people keep calling for Upton. The guy is stinking up the place.
If we are going to have stinking ballplayers we might as well keep Mclouth.
If we are going to win this division we need another big bat. I say Corey Hart or go after a good average guy with Podsednik. Pod has been having a great year.
justafan
July 26th, 2010
12:32 pm
Lifetimebravefan= You’re right about AAA. Someone needs to kick A@@ over there. Its a joke!