By James Bailey
In this era of free agency and spiraling contracts that force teams to move hometown heroes, we romanticize the rare player who spends his entire career with the same team. Cal Ripken would never have looked right in anything but an Orioles uniform. George Brett will always be a Royal, and Derek Jeter a Yankee.
Jeff Bagwell may have been drafted and signed by the Red Sox, but he spent his entire big league life in Houston. As did Craig Biggio. For the latter part of their careers they both played with Roy Oswalt, who enjoyed back-to-back 20-win seasons while pitching in front of the two future Hall of Famers.
Oswalt has won 139 games in his 10 seasons with the team, but he seemed destined for more after leading the Astros to the World Series in 2005. At that point he was an 83-game winner, having averaged nearly 17 wins over his first five seasons in the majors. A year later he cashed in with a $73 million, five-year contract that would keep him in Houston through 2011, or 2012 if the club picked up his option.
So much has changed since then. Since finishing second or better for 12 of 13 seasons, the team has dropped out of contention, with fourth, third, and fifth place rankings over the last three full seasons. This year they’re living in the basement of the NL Central.
Oswalt is still taking the ball every fifth day, and pitching as well as ever, but rest assured he’s not singing “Proud To Be an Astro” in the back of the team bus.
Despite a 2.66 ERA and 1.07 WHIP, numbers that rival the best of his career, Oswalt owns a 2-6 record after nine starts. The Astros have scored a total of six runs in his six losses, being shut out twice, including a 1-0 setback against Arizona earlier this month.
The frustration led the righthander to request a trade last week, though he later backed off and told team owner Drayton McLane he would love to finish his career as an Astro. Of course, he still feels it might be in the best interest of everyone concerned if he were moved.
He’s right.
If the team can find a taker for his sizable salary ($15 million this year, $16 million in 2011, $16 million in 2012 if his option is picked up) and can turn him into a prospect or three, they’d be wise to do so. With little to no support from a fading Lance Berkman and an unmotivated Carlos “The Albatross” Lee, Oswalt can’t lead the Astros to victory on his own. So from the team’s perspective, it makes sense to move his contract and fuel their rebuilding project.
And from Oswalt’s perspective, it’s time for a fresh start on a club where he has a chance at a victory if he holds the opposition to two runs or less. At 32, he’s still got an outside shot at 300 wins, should he pitch another 10 years. But that dream will be derailed by another year or two in Minute Maid Park. Last year he managed just eight wins, in his worst season as a pro. That’s roughly the pace he’s on this year, as we’ve already passed the quarter-season mark.
Should he remain on the team for the life of his contract it could cost him 25-30 wins and shave his career winning percentage from the elite class down to the merely good. It’s .647 now, though it stood at .680 after that tremendous 2005 season. Ask Bert Blyleven how important those numbers are to a pitcher’s legacy.
So while it’s romantic to imagine a player of Oswalt’s caliber finishing his career where it started, this story will have a better ending if he’s set free to pitch elsewhere. There’s still a 20-win season or two in that arm, but it won’t come without a little run support.
