Roy Oswalt : 7 Reasons Diamondbacks Must Swoop in and Steal Him

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Roy Oswalt is one of the premier free agents left on the market and would be a great fit for the young Arizona Diamondbacks. Oswalt is a proven commodity with some gas left in the tank and will help whatever team he signs with.

The Diamondbacks don't really need pitching long-term as they have five solid starters as well as a couple of solid prospects in the minors. With that said, after last year's solid performance, the Diamondbacks could contend for a World Series title with a few acquisitions. Let's look at seven reasons the Arizona Diamondbacks should swoop in and steal him.

Postseason Experience

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Roy is a career 5-2 pitcher in the postseason with a 3.73 ERA in 11 career starts. He's reached the World Series once with the Astros in 2005 and been in the postseason the last two years with the Phillies. The Diamondbacks could use his calming influence in the playoffs and not have to risk burning out the young arms.

Mentor to the Youth

Every young pitcher needs a mentor and Oswalt would be a great teacher to the youthful Diamondbacks. Coming from a staff with studs like Cliff Lee, Roy Halladay, and Cole Hamels could provide some tremendous insight and teaching possibilities.

Clubhouse Influence

The baseball season is a long and grueling seven months and players like Roy Oswalt keep the players loose. His sense of humor (as shown in the picture above) would be great to keep the team in good spirits when the inevitable tough times hit.

He Pitches Quickly

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Anyone who has watched a Red Sox/Yankees game can tell you how brutal it can be when the pitchers take too much time and throw too many pitches. For the Diamondbacks and a player like Justin Upton, who has gone through periods of attention lapses, a pitcher who throws lots of strikes (2.1 BB/9) is a godsend.

A Seamless Transition

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Roy has pitched exclusively in the National League and the move to Arizona would be an easy transition for him and the team. He has 296 starts against the National League with almost 2000 innings thrown. He knows who he's dealing with and has been down this road before when he moved to Philadelphia and finished 6th in the Cy Young voting.

Inexpensive and Short-Term

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Oswalt is 34 and by the time this baseball season is finished he will be 35. No team will be interested in giving Roy a long-term contract, which means even if things don't work out as planned it won't have long lasting negative effects on the payroll. Although Roy made $16M last year I would be shocked if he commanded that kind of salary this year.

He Can Handle Himself at the Plate

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Nobody expects Oswalt to hit for a high average or have a solid on base percentage. In the National League it's important for the pitcher to be able to move the runner and that's about it, and Oswalt led the league in 2006 with 20 sacrifices and has 105 for his career. One problem the Diamondbacks had last year was moving runners over and Roy can do just that.

Not to Mention Depth

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Roy Oswalt to the Diamondbacks makes sense if they can get him at a relatively inexpensive price. I didn't even mention the fact that the depth Roy would provide is key to any team with championship aspirations like the Diamondbacks.

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