Jerry Crasnick of ESPN is reporting that erstwhile Phillies Fourth Ace Roy Oswalt will not be signing anywhere for the time being, and may latch on somewhere mid-season, in the style of Roger Clemens or Pedro Martinez in 2009.
This may wrap up a very weird offseason for the right-hander, in which several teams, including contenders Boston, Detroit, Texas, and St. Louis, expressed varying levels of interest in Oswalt's services. But for whatever reason, nothing got done.
You can speculate all you want about his reasoning, but Oswalt's comments about "walking away" from the game last season are looking kind of ominous now. With his recent health problems, perhaps a longer off-season will keep him fresher for a stretch run performance for a contender who may spend more in desperation dollars in June than they're willing to pay now. Or maybe he's never coming back. At any rate, Oswalt has kind of acquired official "Odd Duck" status in my book, and that's not necessarily a bad thing.
Oswalt, 34, posted a 3.69 ERA for the Phillies in an injury-shortened 2011 season, with 93 strikeouts in 139 innings.