The Philadelphia Phillies signed pitcher Roy Oswalt from the Houston Astros in the boldest move of Thursday’s trades in Major League Baseball.
Miguel Tejada, Jorge Cantu and Matt Capps also moved ahead of Saturday’s deadline for swaps.
Philadelphia got Oswalt and about US$11 million from Houston for pitcher J.A. Happ and two speedy minor leaguers.
“I’m excited,” Phillies ace Roy Halladay said. “It says a lot that this team is dedicated to winning.”
Oswalt agreed to waive his no-trade clause and approved the deal to the two-time defending NL champions. The three-time All-Star was set to start yesterday’s game at Washington.
Still throwing hard at 32, Oswalt was 6-12 despite a 3.24 ERA for the foundering Astros. He asked for a trade earlier in the season and the St Louis Cardinals were among the teams that were interested.
The NL West-leading San Diego Padres acquired infielder Tejada from Baltimore for a minor league pitcher. At 36, the former AL MVP was hitting .269 with seven homers and 39 RBIs for the last-place Orioles.
“It’s an honor to go to play where they want me, but I’m sad because I’ve loved being here,” Tejada said. “I’m sad, but I know this game is a business.”
“It’s a good chance at being in the playoffs and that’s always good,” Tejada added. “We can have a chance to win.”
The AL West-leading Texas Rangers added another bat for the playoff push, acquiring Cantu from the Florida Marlins for two minor league pitchers.
“Deep inside I’m very sad to leave the Marlins, of course,” Cantu said. “My turn is to go right now to the Texas Rangers and help that ballclub out. They’re playing well and winning the division. Whenever you go to a new team it’s always fun and exciting ... There’s still two months to go. I know what I’m capable of doing.”
Cantu was set to meet the team in Anaheim yesterday. He hit .262 with 10 home runs and 54 RBIs for Florida this season.
The Rangers already have All-Star Michael Young at third base — Cantu said in recent days he was prepared to switch back to his former spot at first base, a position of need for the Rangers.
“I had a good feeling something was going to happen,” he said. “I really wanted to win here for the Marlins. It is a good relief because it was lingering around in my head for about a week. I tried not to think about it.”
The Minnesota Twins made a big push to solidify their bullpen that has been without closer Joe Nathan all season, acquiring Capps from the Washington Nationals for prized catching prospect Wilson Ramos and minor league pitcher Joe Testa.
“The motivation is that this makes us a better club,” general manager Bill Smith said. “This gives us more depth in the back of that bullpen. Matt Capps is an established, veteran closer who is going to give us a better chance to win our division and advance to the World Series.”
Capps is 3-3 with a 2.74 ERA and 26 saves in 30 chances this year for the struggling Nationals. He will move into the closer role for the Twins, who have been aggressive in improving their club in their first season at Target Field.
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