ARLINGTON, Texas — The Roy Oswalt sweepstakes ended with the winner being the team a lot of people expected to win from the start.
Texas agreed to terms with the 34-year-old right-hander Tuesday. Oswalt is set to make his organizational debut Saturday pitching for Triple-A Round Rock. That puts him on a timeline to be contributing to the Rangers next month.
The club can't wait to add a pitcher with Oswalt's makeup to a rotation that's still searching for a starter in the wake of an arm injury to Neftali Feliz.
"When Neftali got hurt we were looking at all our options and felt this was a pretty attractive one," Texas general manager Jon Daniels said. "I don't think you can have too much pitching and with his pedigree and what he's accomplished in the game, I think he's a nice addition to the club."
Oswalt, who will take a physical Thursday before signing his minor league deal, will head to Round Rock on Friday. The club doesn't have a Texas debut set for Oswalt but Daniels said he's in good shape and has been throwing.
Oswalt started just 23 games last year with Philadelphia and was on the disabled list twice because of back problems. His back doctor – Drew Dossett – is the same one the Rangers use. The club is also confident he can stay healthy because he's only going to have to pitch half a season.
The Rangers were attractive to Oswalt for several reasons. They are one of the closest clubs to his home in Mississippi. He already has relationships with team president Nolan Ryan, bench coach Jackie Moore and pitching coach Mike Maddux from his time with the Houston organization.
But the most important thing to Oswalt is that he's joining a team that has a chance to win a World Series this year.
"He feels good about where he is," Ryan said. "He's been away long enough he's excited about coming in with the Rangers and getting back to pitching on a regular basis."
When he's ready, Ryan expects Oswalt to be a starter who can pitch deep into games and be a solid fit in the rotation.
The rotation has been in flux since Feliz went on the disabled list May 21 with a sprained right UCL. He'll be re-examined at the end of June and there's a chance he can begin a throwing program then, but there are no guarantees. Texas has used Scott Feldman to fill that spot the past two times through the rotation, but he hasn't pitched more than 4 2/3 innings, including his start Tuesday against Seattle in which he allowed four runs (two earned).
"I'm not sure we have that answer right now," Daniels said. "The focus is on getting Neftali healthy right now. The reality in this game is you don't know what's going to happen. We were an inch or two from (Alexi) Ogando having a bigger issue (a bruised right hand). I just think that served as a reminder you don't know in this game. You need a lot of depth and a lot of talent to win, and that's our goal."
Daniels also said the move wasn't made to keep Oswalt from signing with another potential suitor. Both the Los Angeles Angels (Jered Weaver) and Philadelphia Phillies (Roy Halladay) put their aces on the DL the same day the agreement was announced. But Daniels said terms of the agreement were reached Sunday.
The terms include $4 million in guaranteed money and other possible bonuses.
That could end up being a bargain for a pitcher who's won 159 games and that has finished in the top six in Cy Young voting six times.
The Rangers are eager to see for themselves.
"He's been around a long time, he's had a good career and obviously it's still going on," said Texas outfielder Josh Hamilton, who hit his 21st homer in the sixth inning Tuesday night. "I'm sure just like anybody else, he'll come into the clubhouse and fit right in just like anybody else would. We'll make sure he does. It should be exciting."
