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Right around the start of May 2013, the Colorado Rockies made a somewhat risky move by signing veteran pitcher Roy Oswalt. At the time I considered it a really good gamble by a team that had spent a lot of time in first place back then. That seems like forever ago but in reality it isn’t so many days ago as much as it is a ton of losses ago. The Rockies now sit out of the running for the 2013 MLB Postseason and can honestly say that the Oswalt experiment was a failure during 2013.
So was it a bad move? No, it wasn’t. They only signed him to a minor league deal so it isn’t like it took a ton of money. He is still well before retirement age at around 35 so he could even make a run with the team next year. To do that he would have to come back this year and show the Rockies something better than what he has shown so far. Not only was the amount of time spent with the MLB team not a payoff but also he bombed before he got hurt.
He had four starts and looked pretty bad with a 0 – 4 record and an ERA well over 7. If he returns from his leg injury in time to show Walt Weiss and the Rockies that he can still pitch at the MLB level, he very well might ease into a spot on the staff next year. I don’t think they really will need him so he had better get his stuff working or chances are the Rockies will just cut and run. Either way it was a good gamble because it actually cost the team nothing. Good try all around, it just didn’t work.
David Miller is a Senior Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @davidmillerrant, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google
