Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
The Colorado Rockies made a surprising move on Thursday by inking veteran starting pitcher Roy Oswalt to a minor league deal. Oswalt will be sent to extended spring training to get into baseball shape before making the rounds in the minors.
Oswalt has a dozen major league seasons under his belt, pitching with the Texas Rangers in 2012. He had the highest earned run average of his career at 5.80 in 59 innings of work. For his career he has a record of 163-96 with an ERA of 3.28. He has finished in the top five of Cy Young Award voting five times.
The right-hander’s best days are certainly behind him, but he is only 35 years old and may have something left in the tank. He could be a great veteran presence on a team that has surprised many in the first month of the season.
I love the move by the Rockies because it shows that they believe they can stay on top of the National League West. Although all the so called experts think the Rockies are a fluke, that is no reason for the team to just surrender and say they can’t keep up with the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers. Plus this move is the low risk, high reward kind. If Oswalt can’t get minor league hitters out then you wave goodbye to him and move on to Plan B. If he shows glimmers of the Oswalt of old, it will be a great boost on to team where pitching is always a key.
Finally, I may be reading into Oswalt’s signing a bit too much, but I think he is basically saying he isn’t scared to pitch in the thin air of Denver. A fired up Roy Oswalt is a dangerous Roy Oswalt, so the rest of the division should be on notice.
Darren Pare is a MLB writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter at dpare71, like him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
