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Roy Oswalt Trade Possible

Per Richard Durrett, Roy Oswalt has cleared waivers, and per TR Sullivan, a trade is "possible."

The panicky -- and quite possibly ownership-driven -- $5 million signing of Oswalt has not worked out particularly well for the Rangers. Oswalt has a ridiculous 5.94 ERA, and while his underlying xFIP of 3.49 suggests he has actually performed much better, he has also seemingly been far too prone to throwing hittable pitches.

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Regardless of the outcome here, his signing will remain a black mark on the season, though hopefully a negligible one. While he has done nothing to inspire his ability to remain a starter, he would be a nifty right handed reliever who could come in to mess with teams setting their lineups to face a Matt Harrison or Derek Holland in the playoffs. ZiPS gives him a serviceable 4.32 ERA as a starter for the rest of the season (4.10 if you adjust for Arlington), which could be missing how much he's aged, or it could be suggesting keeping him around is a good plan for Texas.

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Unfortunately, Oswalt has made it clear he's not a team player, with huffy post game interviews over disliking his role, and refusing to pitch relief innings. If asking Oswalt to fill a role that helps the team turns him in to a cancer, Texas probably needs to consider getting what they can out of him, and second guess paying $5 million to an over-the-hill pitcher in the future.

Photographs by jamesbrandon, jdtornow, phlezk, flygraphix, mcdlttx, tomasland, and literalbarrage used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.