Phillies on Verge of Trading Werth, Acquiring Oswalt

This Phillies season has officially blown up.

They have lost five of six games, sent Kyle Kendrick to the minors, watched Jamie Moyer possibly pitch his last game, and there are now reports that they are going to trade Jayson Werth for Roy Oswalt. 

All of that in less than a week.

Jayson Stark is reporting that the Phillies are on the verge of trading Werth as part of a three-team deal that would land Roy Oswalt in Philadelphia.  Oswalt is under contract through 2011 and has an option for 2012.

Werth on the other hand, will be a free agent at the end of the year and the Phillies would likely be unable to resign him.

The Tampa Bay Rays appear to be the favorite to receive Werth.  They would in turn send prospects to Houston (and possibly Philadelphia), while the Astros and GM Ed Wade would send Oswalt to Philly.

Werth would certainly help put Tampa over the edge in the AL East- they are currently 2 1/2 games back of the Yankees.  It should also be noted that Tampa, who just acquired Simon Gagne, would be netting two men of great beard in the same week.  Impressive.

Ruben Amaro has said all along that he wants pitching, and now that the Phillies have sent Kyle Kendrick to the minors and Moyer is hurt, it's even more likely he makes a deal.  We are told that Moyer has an injury "like Happ's", which took Happ, who is much younger than Moyer, three months to recover from.

I wonder if the conversation among GMs is anything like the below debate between fans about Werth.

Video after the jump.

H/T to TheFightins.com for this.

Comments

[Mike]

With our luck this season Oswalt will injure himself right after we get him by slipping on water in the Philly airport bathroom and Jayson goes to Tampa, produces huge numbers and wins the WS with the Rays. At the parade he will tell us (Phillies fans) to suck his dick.

I can see this happening.

[Mike]

OR this trade happens & the Phils actually turn this shit season around and make it the World Series with the Rays as their opponent. We all know what Jayson does in the postseason and we all know the damage he has done to his former teams (Dodgers,Jays). He will absolutley tear our pitching staff apart,help the Rays win in 5 ,and then go on to win the World Series MVP trophy at CBP.

I could see this happening also.

[DAN]

RUBEN AMARO NEEDS TO BE FIRED HE DON'T KNOW HIS ASS FROM A HOLE IN THE GROUND HE IS DESTROYING A GOOD TEAM

[PHLSportsFan]

Shesh, why are fans all over RAJ. I understand he traded away Cliff Lee...get over it. Trading away Jayson Werth is the ONLY option. We won't resign him, so get something in return. This also brings up Domonic Brown. If we get Oswalt/Haren, rotaion is Doc, Hollywood, Oswalt/Haren, Happ, Blanton. Not too shabby.

[DFS]

Getting Oswalt through '11 with an option for '12 for Werth? I would take that in a heartbeat!! Hate losing his bat but it's going away at the end of the season anyway. Also, this "good team" mentioned above is playing like crap. A shakeup like this is their best option for getting to the playoffs. Adding in Oswalt makes this a great (and much needed after Moyer's injury) trade.

[DFS]

Side note to Mike.....If your last scenario comes true (which it won't) game 5 would be in Tampa. The NL has home field advantage so games 1 & 2 along with 6 & 7 would be scheduled for Philly. Just sayin'......

[Flyerdj]

DFS, good point. I didn't see fault in Mike's statement the first time around until you pointed it out. I guess whats what the NL gets for falling so short so many times during the all-star game for so many years....

[Carl]

The Phillies aren't on the "verge" of anything, yet.

[mkw12679]

That video hurt my brain. And my ears.

[Emily]

I don't see why everyone's so upset with Ruben Amaro. Clearly if he was hired as GM he knows a bit about baseball and what needs to be done. And even if the decision he makes doesn't work out right away, atleast he didn't just sit around waiting things out. The season is only so long, you want to make moves before you've lost all chances of making the playoffs. Sure, it's not looking too good right now for the Phils... but this is Philadelphia. Weird things happen. Maybe with these moves and with Chase coming back in August/September the Phils will surge forward... who knows?
If this year doesn't work out there's always next year. I really think that a longer offseason will do the players good. It's like that extra 2 hours of sleep you get on the weekend. Yeah it's only two hours, but you can't deny that extra pep in your step. Just look at the late 70's Phillies: three consecutive appearances in the NLCS from '76 to '78. They did lose all three, but that's still a longer and tiring season. Then '79 they missed the playoffs. A longer offseason followed and everyone knows what happened in '80.
As for Werth, if he goes to Tampa and wins the World Series with them... good for him. A World Series is a World Series. You'd love to win one whether you're in red or blue. If anything I'd love for Tampa to kick New York's ass in the ALCS.

[Jake]

I just think what Ruben Amaro has done so far has had some terrible luck come with it.. And if the Phils were tearing shit up right now, no one would be complaining about what Ruben did last offseason.

[Iron Balls McGinty]

"Ruben Amaro has said all along that he wants pitching..." So why the fuck did he give up Cliff Lee for prospects?... PROSPECTS!

OK, label me a hater and tell me I need to stop obsessing over Cliff Lee. But it's not only that. This douche of a GM was also singlehandedly responsible for the toilet of a bullpen the Phillies have right now, especially Baez. I also thought it was foolish to give Moyer a 2 year contract, when one would have been enough at his age. Now we're seeing the consequences of this decision. The Cliff Lee fiasco is just the straw that broke the camel's back.

In my opinion, the only way the Phillies season could get better at this point is if they shitcan Ruben.

[Mike]

My mistake dude....alright so the Rays win in 6 at CBP. With the Phillies luck this season it'll happen and as a fan it will be painful to watch.

[no werth trade]

I dislike losing Werth so much that I can openly say I HATE THIS. We'll regret it. I promise you by the middle of next season all the same ppl who wanted to trade him will be screaming to get him back. Btw, they were likely the same ppl hailing THE BEARD! back in April. I hope for Werth's sake he'll be happily installed in another city where the fans treat him well and the owners pay him the boatload of bucks he hasn't been paid in all his previous yrs of baseball. I don't care how well Domonic Brown plays & I don't care who this trade nets us. Werth's our only right-handed bat. Brown's left. Werth's been Utley's best friend & just what the 'doctor ordered' for 3 yrs. He was clutch when we needed him. He hit 1 less HR than Utley in the '09 WS. He was practically the only reason we had runs in a couple of those games. But for 2 mos this guy has suffered hell in this city as the whipping boy du jour. It's been hideous and embarrassing to witness. Face facts, if this trade happens it's being done as an extension of lingering RAJ issues: 1) b/c of the contract signed with Ibanez that includes a 'no trade' clause; and 2) b/c we shouldn't have traded Lee. But also b/c the fans have played in to the media circus of 'blame Werth' for a whole team that's playing bad. Phillies fans should feel shame, not happiness. You've acted like petty ranting juveniles ganging up on 1 guy.