Free agent starting pitcher Roy Oswalt, a player the Red Sox have thought to be targeting, is reportedly close to an agreement with the St. Louis Cardinals, according to ESPN Boston's Gordon Edes.
Terms of the agreement remain unavailable, and Edes notes that Oswalt had also recently rejected a contract offer from the Detroit Tigers.
After the trade of SS Marco Scutaro to Colorado, it was widely presumed the Red Sox would target a starting pitcher with the cap space cleared from the deal. Oswalt and free agent Edwin Jackson have been floated as the most likely candidates for Boston to pursue, but Boston has not offered Jackson a deal, according to Edes.
According to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, Jackson has been offered multiple three-year contracts, but may end up taking a one-year deal with a team and re-enter free agency next offseason.
Jackson split the 2011 season between the Chicago White Sox and St. Louis, winning 12 games and posting a 3.79 ERA. He started Game 4 of the World Series for St. Louis, giving up 3 runs in 5 1/3 innings in a 4-0 Texas win.
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