Red Sox in hot pursuit of Roy Oswalt

Mere hours after the Marco Scutaro deal was finalized that sent the Red Sox shortstop to Colorado, the Red Sox have reportedly intensified their interest in Roy Oswalt.  While a deal isn’t close according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports, the talks with the free-agent have picked up and the Red Sox are a lot more serious in trying to sign Oswalt.

The Scutaro deal was made to shore up payroll that would allow Ben Cherington to pursue a free-agent pitcher and at $8 million for one-year the reported asking price for Oswalt, it comes as no surprise that he’s the Sox target.

But Boston isn’t the only team who is said to be interested.  According to Morosi, the Detroit Tigers are also said to be talking to the Oswalt camp, but it’s said the Tigers are on the “fringe” of the sweepstakes and the talks are fluid.

It’s hard to imagine Cherington getting into a bidding war with the Tigers with the Scutaro move only freeing up $6 million.  Cherington has said all along that he plans on staying as close to the luxury tax threshold as possible and this was reinforced by the trade with the Rockies.  Paying Oswalt the $8 million would make sense, but anything more than that doesn’t appear to be realistic.  Of course there is the options of building in performance bonuses, but the Sox have to sign him first.

Last season with the Phillies, Oswalt pitched to a 3.69 ERA in 139 innings with a strikeout ratio of 6.0/9 innings while walking an average of 2.1/9 innings.  His woeful back forced him to the DL last season forcing the former Houston Astros ace to miss a fair amount of time.

Oswalt lowered his asking price from $10-$11 million along with a three-year deal in hopes of staying healthy this season allowing him cash in during next year’s off season.  For now, he’d be a substantial upgrade for the Red Sox starting rotation that currently has many questions.

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