Roy Oswalt

The Cardinals have been unofficially trying to sign Roy Oswalt for a few weeks now. But until the Cardinals can find the right suitor for Kyle McClellan and Roy Oswalt raises down his asking price of $10 million for one year, then nothing is going to transpire. Here are some pro's and con's to signing Oswalt.

Pro's: He would obviously be a significant upgrade from Jake Westbrook as the fifth starter, but Roy would probably be the third starter.

Con's: The Cardinals would be letting go of a great versatile pitcher that they have control of for another two years. Westbrook would obviously not be as near a good reliever as McClellan is. For one thing, Westbrook is an innings eater; that's something he can't do as a reliever. He is a ground ball pitcher who doesn't get a lot of strikeouts. McClellan has been a sturdy reliever for three years now. I think that the reason that he wasn't very effective as a reliever last year was the he conditioned himself as a starter ever since Adam went down.

On the other hand, he is very specific about only wanting a one year deal. Which means he will be a free agent next offseason. The same time that Kyle Lohse and Jake Westbrook are free agents. So if they don't sign him this year, there is a good possibility that they could next season. Lohse and Westbrook combine for make $20 million this year. That is more than enough to sign Oswalt next offseason. Shelby Miller will probably fill the other spot in the rotation.

So, to me, signing him this year isn't worth it. We would have to lose a valuable reliever and our bullpen would be weakened both this year and next year. Stats show that Jake Westbrook should be a lot better than he was last year, So I'm pretty confident he can bounce back this season and have a solid year.