Oswalt to Phillies a Done Deal

Houston ace OKs trade to Phillies

The defending National League champs have added a third ace to their pitching arsenal.

Roy-Cole-Roy at the top of the rotation.

The Phillies and Houston Astros agreed to a deal that sent pitcher Roy Oswalt to Philly for J.A. Happ and prospects and Oswalt gave the deal his blessing, said ESPN.com's Jayson Stark.

Oswalt had waived his no-trade clause Thursday.

The official announcement came later in the day.

The 32-year-old righty joins Roy Halladay and Cole Hamels as part of a 1-2-3 punch at the top of the Phils' rotation.

The final stumbling blocks for getting another Roy on the hill for the Phillies were Oswalt waiving his no-trade clause and what compensation he would get for doing so without demanding that his $16 million option for 2012 get picked up.

Fox 26 Sports in Houston was one of the first media outlets to report the deal. They reported late Wednesday night that the Phillies and Astros came to terms on the trade and the Astros have contacted Oswalt.

Since then the web was all a-Twitter with details about the potential move.

The Phillies sent 2009 Rookie-of-the-Year runner-up J.A. Happ, Single-A outfielder Anthony Gose and Single-A shortstop Jonathan Villar to Houston.

The deal remained in limbo as the sides wrangled over who would pay the remainder of the Oswalt's contract -- he is owed $23 million through 2011.

The Phils wanted the Astros to pay a significant portion of the contract and it seems that the Stros sent some Benjamins along with Oswalt.

Both Oswalt and Happ are scheduled to pitch for their on Friday -- it appears they will be wearing different colors when they take the hill.


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