Executives from multiple teams complained they had no idea the Astros were willing to include $11 million of the $23.5 million owed Oswalt

by Raidas77 on Jul 30, 2010 3:34 PM CDT

Well, well, well:

Executives from multiple teams complained they had no idea the Astros were willing to include $11 million of the $23.5 million owed Oswalt through next year and his 2012 option as they did to move him to the Phillies. The Yankees were not told at all how much the Astros would eat. The Mets were told that Houston would take "some money," but nowhere near $11 million, and were never given an exact amount. Of course, the likelihood is the Astros would never have agreed to pay one penny to the Yankees or probably the Mets either; and it is possible Oswalt might not have agreed to go to New York.

But an executive of a team interested in starting pitching said, "I don't know how we didn't know [what Houston was willing to pay]. I don't know how it is in the best interest of your organization not to explore every avenue. We knew the pitcher [Oswalt] was available, but we didn't know it was a financial giveaway."

Astros GM Ed Wade had been the Phillies GM from 1998-2005 and was clearly comfortable dealing with his former boss, Philadelphia team president Dave Montgomery, and an organization he knows well. Wade's biggest trade before yesterday since becoming Houston GM after the 2007 season was his first deal in which he sent Brad Lidge to the Phillies for three players, including Michael Bourn.

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Screw the Mets

by StrosSouth on Jul 30, 2010 3:37 PM CDT reply actions 1 recs

Should’ve gotten more for the 11 mill, no doubt. Maybe Wade just valued Wallace and Happ more than any other deals he was being offered.

Liberty Ballers.com. II @LibertyBallers.

by Jordan Sams on Jul 30, 2010 3:43 PM CDT reply actions

After

yesterday’s performance, I value Happ much higher myself. And tonight we get to see Wallace too. I know the sample size is small but it’s something.

"He’s been following him around for two weeks like his lapdog". - Stan Van Gundy about Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade

by RocketsAstros on Jul 31, 2010 1:43 PM CDT up reply actions

Wade stuck it to them

for signing Beltran away from Houston. Serves em right.

by StrosSouth on Jul 30, 2010 3:49 PM CDT reply actions 2 recs

Which

we all know how it worked out for them. We got to

"He’s been following him around for two weeks like his lapdog". - Stan Van Gundy about Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade

by RocketsAstros on Jul 31, 2010 1:46 PM CDT up reply actions

the WS the following year and they became the laughing stock of the league come September.

"He’s been following him around for two weeks like his lapdog". - Stan Van Gundy about Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade

by RocketsAstros on Jul 31, 2010 1:47 PM CDT up reply actions

Seems like the Mets are whining because the Phillies are even stronger now, which doesn’t even matter because even if they did land Roy, they are going to have their inevitable September collapse anyway.

You ain't a has-been, if you never was.

by jello44 on Jul 30, 2010 4:13 PM CDT reply actions

This is mildly disconcerting, since it raises the possibility that Wade didn’t shop around the $11 million salary buydown and makes you speculate that maybe a better deal was out there.

However, I don’t have any sympathy for the complaining teams. If they didn’t like what the Astros initially proposed, they should have continued negotiating. If they had been actively discussing Oswalt continuously (rather than throwing up their hands and saying, “we’re out of here”), they might have had a chance to make an offer around the $11 million cash payment. Obviously the Phillies got what they wanted because they kept at it. Also, the Yankees complaining is funny, since they were mad that the Mariners shopped their deal around to the Rangers.

by clack on Jul 30, 2010 4:23 PM CDT reply actions

The spirit of Tim Purpura

haunts the phones.

Astros fan for life

by Joe in Birmingham on Jul 30, 2010 5:12 PM CDT up reply actions

My guess is

that the Astros had no desire to include $11 million. I suspect that was a demand from the Phillies. The other teams could have made offers including that, but apparently did not. I suspect this is all CYA because the return for Oswalt is being trashed by the media. But the majority of the Astros fans are happy and that is more important than the whinings of other GM’s and sports writers.

by kdm59 on Jul 30, 2010 4:35 PM CDT reply actions

Like I said: Screw the Mets

by StrosSouth on Jul 30, 2010 5:21 PM CDT reply actions

and the other teams?

and the Astros ?

If the Cardinals, Dodgers, Twins, and Rangers for example were aware Houston would take on $11 million, very likely they would up what they wre wiling to offer. Not using that as a possible negotiating point with them them was incompetent.

Astros fan for life

by Joe in Birmingham on Jul 30, 2010 6:39 PM CDT up reply actions

Maybe the other teams were low balling them player wise and then the Toronto deal emerged and it worked for all parties involved and thats why they never knew about it. They could also be BS all their fans to cover their asses and not look so stupid.

by StrosSouth on Jul 30, 2010 7:00 PM CDT up reply actions

My guess is that Amaro and Wade negotiated the players part of the trade and then the “money” part of the deal was kicked upstairs to be negotiated between Drayton McLane and the president of the Phillies. For whatever reason, McLane agreed to increase the cash he was willing to give, compared to what the Astros reportedly had been offering to other teams. At that point, the negotiation probably was more personalized, and perhaps the negotiations had reached a stage that the parties might have viewed it as unethical to shop it around. (This is what I alluded to about the Mariners-Yankees discussions; the Yankees thought the Mariners had acted unethically in taking a finalized deal and shopping it with the Rangers.) More likely it was just so late that the Astros didn’t take that additional step, which I would have liked to have seen, of checking back with the other teams.

However, these other teams should have known that the late rumors indicated that the Astros would give the Phillies a lot of salary relief—all of us were commenting on it in the trade threads, so everybody who keeps up with the trade stuff should have know. After they read Rosenthal saying that the Astros had offered the Phillies more than $10 million, those teams should have re-contacted the Astros if it would have changed their offer.

by clack on Jul 30, 2010 10:56 PM CDT up reply actions

I like this theory but check out Rhombus67 in the Lance traded to Yankees thread. Both scenarios are plausible

by StrosSouth on Jul 30, 2010 11:22 PM CDT up reply actions

Just as an FYI

This really more of a fanshot.

The Crawfishboxes
A good friend of mine used to say, "This is a very simple game. You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains." Think about that for a while.

by Stephen Higdon on Jul 30, 2010 7:10 PM CDT reply actions

Sorry about that, I'm new....

and don’t know the difference between the two. Is there a FAQ section or anything to explain them? TIA

by Raidas77 on Jul 30, 2010 9:01 PM CDT up reply actions

Fanshots

you can use fewer words and a link to make a post.

FanPost on the other hand require a certain number of words to be used for it to be published.

by Timothy De Block on Jul 30, 2010 9:55 PM CDT up reply actions

This is a mistake...

If you are willing to go to 11M with the Phils, you should be willing to go to 11M with everyone else.

This would have SIGNIFICANTLY increased to the overall package received in return for Oswalt. For everyone that was disappointed in the return for Oswalt, the reason the return was low is that the TEAM did not shop around for the best offer. That is a disappointment.

JD’s like, "you want some fucking pitching? Here’s all the pitching you can stand. Now choke on it, bitches!"- RCCook

by laxtonto on Jul 31, 2010 9:16 AM CDT reply actions

That's similar to my point made above

Hence I think you are a very insightful person, far superior to the average person in intelligence, personality, character, and, I’m sure, good looks.

Astros fan for life

by Joe in Birmingham on Jul 31, 2010 11:09 AM CDT up reply actions

I don't buy it

As was said on Twitter, this could easily just be executive butt-covering.

by OremLK on Jul 31, 2010 11:46 AM CDT up reply actions

considering what Stl gave for Westbrook

I am not to sure on that…

JD’s like, "you want some fucking pitching? Here’s all the pitching you can stand. Now choke on it, bitches!"- RCCook

by laxtonto on Jul 31, 2010 1:22 PM CDT up reply actions

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