Roy Oswalt has recently expressed to the Houston Astros owner that he wants to be traded. He has come out and said that he would wave his no-trade clause.
He is 32 years old and has never won a championship. This year he finds himself on the team with the worst record in the National League and no signs of competing in the near future.
The Boston Red Sox are currently fourth in their division posting a 22-21 record mainly because of how inconsistent their pitching has been. Their hitting is in the top-five in most major categories this season, which is a surprise to most people.
Currently, they are sixth in average, third in runs, fourth in OBP, second in slugging, and second in OPS in the American League hitter-friendly league.
Their pitching rankings are, however, horrible for the American League. They are 13th in ERA, ninth in BAA, 10th in OPS, and 10th in WHIP. This coming from the team that was built around pitching and defense.
Oswalt is having possibly the best year of his career although his record of 2-6 does not reflect that with how bad of a team he is on.
Brandon Lyon has had a pretty good year as a reliever posting a 4.15 ERA and a BAA of .235. If you look at his numbers, he strangely had better numbers last year in the American League. He also pitched for the Red Sox posting around a 4.00 ERA.
Jonathan Papelbon has been the Red Sox closer for a while now and has just about been as good as it gets. He has 10 saves this year while allowing hitters to just hit .194 against him. He is still young and currently in the prime of his career.
Dice-K has had his ups and downs with the Red Sox. Two years ago he looked awesome, and then was injured last year and going into this year. In his last four starts last year, his ERA was around 2.00, and when he’s healthy can be very good.
My proposed trade is Roy Oswalt and Brandon Lyon to the Red Sox for Jonathan Papelbon and Dice-K.
Why this makes sense for the Red Sox:
The Red Sox are in desperate need of getting a staff together that actually works. They would lose Pap, but he has built a rep around Boston to where people do not like him, also David Bard has been lights-out this year and is ready for the big role.
Adding Oswalt would add another ace to the list and Lyon would put a stable pitcher in the bullpen that is struggling right now.
Why this makes sense for Houston:
It makes Oswalt happy by sending him to a team that can compete for a championship. It also brings in a star in Papelbon who would instantly make an impact in the closers role. It also gives the team a younger player who they can build around.
Dice-K can be a great pitcher when healthy and when he gets healthy soon he will find it easier to pitch in the National League. He could have the potential of winning 18 games again and be a star.
Maybe they can work something out with draft picks in there too or something to seal the deal, but I think this is a deal that both teams would benefit from.
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com