White Sox Now After Roy Oswalt

Last Thursday White Sox fans across the city woke up to hear the news that the Sox had worked out a deal that would bring Jake Peavy to the south side.  No doubt this caused many a smile to break across many a face, but before the day was down the Sox lost to the Twins 20-1 and Jake Peavy rejected the trade.

Those smiles quickly faded.

Well, just because on deal fell through doesn't mean that Kenny Williams is going to stop trying to improve his team.  That's just now Kenny's style, and he did improve his team on Friday night when the Sox traded Lance Broadway to the Mets for Ramon Castro.

Kenny is also not shying away from his pursuit of National League aces on bad teams.  So Peavy spurned him, big deal, he's got his eyes on another starting pitcher now, Houston's Roy Oswalt.

The White Sox's interest in Houston Astros players, and more directly pitcher Roy Oswalt, is real due to circumstances surrounding ownership and management in Houston. According to baseball sources, Astros players and the coaching staff seem to be at odds these days.

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Moving the popular Oswalt, the face of the Astros, is another matter. Houston, like San Diego with Jake Peavy, will move Oswalt and his $72 million contract if they can get three or four top young prospects from somebody's farm system.

The article also says that the White Sox are testing the waters with San Francisco's Matt Cain as well, though it appears that Oswalt is their top choice.  Oswalt is a lot like Jake Peavy when it comes to his pitching style, with the main difference being their age as Oswalt is 31 and Peavy 27.  Peavy also has better numbers this season, but it's important to realize that the Padres play in one of the largest ballparks in baseball while Oswalt and the Astros play in a field that's only fractionally larger than a Little League field.

While Oswalt is only 1-2 with a 4.62 ERA this season, he is on a bad team, and he does have a career record of 130-66 with a 3.19 ERA.  Not too shabby, is it?

Oswalt was also a member of the 2005 Astros team that the White Sox swept in the World Series, and adding a pitcher of his caliber to the White Sox rotation would make them a serious threat to not only win the AL Central, but get deep into the playoffs.

Of course, much like Peavy, Oswalt also has a full no-trade clause and would have to accept any deal before it can be completed.  So if the Sox do get a deal done with the Astros they better not go and do something stupid and lose by 19 while he's mulling it over.

Along with writing for NBCCHICAGO.com, Tom Fornelli can also be found contributing at FanHouse, SPORTSbyBROOKS, and his own Chicago sports blog Foul Balls.

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