On Thursday afternoon, we got word that the best free agent pitcher on the market being Roy Oswalt has decided to wait until midseason for a opportunity to open up for him on a big league team. The Red Sox, Rangers and Cardinals were all connected to him, but neither of the teams interested were able to offer both a guaranteed rotation spot or a location near his home in Mississippi.
With Oswalt spurning the Red Sox, manager Bobby Valentine will have to go forward with two open rotation spots and a choice of Daniel Bard, Alfredo Aceves, Felix Doubront, Carlos Silva, Vicente Padilla, Aaron Cook and Andrew Miller to fill them. This is something he seems to rather comfortable doing.
"I would just think that history is a great teacher. Recent history showed me that the team that won our division last year had no fourth and fifth starter coming into spring training last year," Valentine said, referring to a 2011 Yankees team that had an open spring training competition for the back of the rotation that yielded Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia, both of whom proved year-long rotation mainstays. "That's as comfortable as I am. It's not like I'm so comfortable. Roy Oswalt, he'd be maybe more comfortable, but I wouldn't be totally comfortable. What did he pitch, [139] innings last year?" (via WEEI)
According to team sources, Oswalt and agent Bob Garber had not contacted the Red Sox in recent days, which led them to believe that they were not his preference. The 34-year old was 9-10 with a 3.69 ERA in 2011 with the Phillies. He ranks fourth among active pitchers in career ERA (3.21) and tenth in wins (159).
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