Astros trade ace Oswalt to Phillies

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - There's a new Roy in town - and he's an ace,

too.

Three-time All-Star Roy Oswalt gave his OK to a trade from

Houston to Philadelphia on Thursday, becoming the latest star

pitcher to join the hard-charging Phillies.

After getting Roy Halladay in the offseason, the two-time

defending NL champions got Oswalt and a sizable amount of cash from

the Astros for pitcher J.A. Happ and two speedy prospects,

outfielder Anthony Gose and shortstop Jonathan Villar. Houston then

traded Gose to Toronto.

Oswalt joins a rotation that includes Halladay, acquired from

Toronto in the offseason, and Cole Hamels, the 2008 World Series

MVP. Oswalt is scheduled to make his debut for the Phillies on

Friday night, starting at Washington.

"We're trying to do what we can to get back to the World Series

and win it," Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said. "To

have Roy Oswalt, Roy Halladay and additionally Cole Hamels, Joe

Blanton and Kyle Kendrick, we stack ourselves up as one of the best

rotations in baseball."

This was the second straight year the Phillies made a major

trade for a pitcher in the days leading up to the July 31 deadline.

Last season, they got Cliff Lee and he boosted them to another NL

pennant - Lee was then sent to Seattle in a separate deal on the

same day the Phillies acquired Halladay.

"I'm excited," Halladay said. "It says a lot that this team

is dedicated to winning."

The Phillies took a seven-game winning streak into Thursday

night's game against Arizona. Philadelphia began the day 3½ games

behind Atlanta in the NL East.

St. Louis also had been bargaining for Oswalt. He had a no-trade

clause in his contract and could decide whether to accept any deal.

"He's pretty excited about coming here," Amaro said. "The

fact that Roy came to Philadelphia with really no great demand,

that says something about the guy."

Oswalt, who spent his entire career with Houston, requested a

trade in May.

"We salute what Roy did for the organization and the

contributions that he made here over the course of his career in an

Astros uniform and his profile here is significant," Astros

general manager Ed Wade said. "At the end of the day, we have to

do what's best for the Houston Astros. You can't make a deal like

this as a favor to a player. In this case I think we served

everybody's purposes with what we did."

Phillies closer Brad Lidge, who played with Oswalt in Houston,

spoke to his former teammate for about 20 minutes on Wednesday

night.

"He wanted to know about Philadelphia and the city," Lidge

said. "I told him it's been great. Since I've been here, it's been

one of the more unbelievable things I've ever seen. I don't think

he needed a lot of selling on the idea. He wanted to play for a

winner.

"It was probably going to happen anyway. Philly sells itself

right now. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what we're doing

and what we've done. This is where you want to be if you want to

get a ring."

The 32-year-old Oswalt was 6-12 despite a 3.24 ERA for Houston.

The Astros were shut out in five of his 20 starts.

The righty helped the Astros get to the 2005 World Series, but

they are far out of playoff contention this year. Oswalt is 4-0 in

the postseason.

Oswalt is 143-82 with a 3.24 ERA in 10 seasons with the Astros.

He is due about $5.33 million the rest of this season from his $15

million salary and is owed $16 million in 2011. Oswalt's contract

has a $16 million mutual option for 2012 with a $2 million buyout.

Amaro said the team sweetened the buyout, but wouldn't consider it

a "significant" amount.

The Astros seemed set to send about $11 million to the Phillies

as part of the deal. Amaro declined to specify the amount.

"That was an important part of this," Amaro said. "We wanted

to keep some level of flexibility so we can continue to field a

championship-caliber team. Yes, the money did make a difference."

Happ has made one start after missing three months with an elbow

injury. The 27-year-old lefty went 12-4 with a 2.93 ERA and

finished runner-up for the NL Rookie of the Year award last season.

"This is all I've ever known," Happ said. "I had an idea

driving to the ballpark it might be the last time. It was

emotional."

The 19-year-old Gose is fast, stealing 36 bases and hitting .263

for advanced Class A Clearwater. The Astros then traded Gose to

Toronto for Triple-A first baseman Brett Wallace - a 23-year-old

who hit .301 with 18 home runs and 61 RBIs at Las Vegas.

Wade said Lance Berkman remains Houston's starting first baseman

and he's "not anointing" Wallace as the future starter.

"We had a chance to go out and get a guy who's a really solid

hitter, who has got a chance to be a really good big league

player," Wade said. "But Lance is our first baseman."

Villar, also 19, stole 38 bases and batted .272 for Class A

Lakewood.

The Phillies and Astros are not strange trading partners. Wade

was Philadelphia's GM from 1998-2005, and Amaro served as an

assistant under him. In the 2007 offseason, Wade dealt Lidge to

Philadelphia. Lidge was a perfect 48 for 48 in save opportunities

and helped the Phillies win the World Series in '08.

"We obviously have a very good friendship and he's obviously

been a pretty important person in my life," Amaro said of Wade.

"I will tell you this was by no means easy."

By ROB MAADDI-AP Sports Writer

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)