Roy Oswalt

We all knew it would come. Now it's that time.

Like a man on death row, you just sit and wait—you wait on your sentence and hope, something, somehow, could change your fate.

Then the inevitable day comes, and all of a sudden...you've lost first place.

Those Phightin's, I don't know how they do it, but, they live up to that name of theirs year after year.

Admit it, even though you were kind of giddy when Ruben Amaro picked Roy Oswalt from Ed Wade’s pocket at the trade deadline, you still weren’t sure that the Phillies new No. 2 starter belonged in any discussions of the league’s top pitchers. After all, discussions of baseball’s top arms usually includes names like Sabathia, Halladay, Wainwright, and of course, Lee.

Some of the biggest difference makers come the playoffs did not start the year with that team. Just think about last years World Series when Cliff Lee mowed down the Yankees in game one. 

In 2010, with many teams on the brink of the playoffs, everyone was looking to improve their team.

Here are the top five deals made at the trade deadline.

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Everyone knows what it means: your team is flush with money and run by talentless slobs, who can make up for an inability to develop high quality talent within the farm system by simply buying other team's high quality talent.  

You are the evil empire, pricing every other team in baseball out of the market for the best players in the game.  

Not everyone can be a winner.

These ten pitchers have found this out the hard way this season. Despite pitching very well for their teams this season they each have a losing record.

These ten pitchers have suffered from a lack of run support, poor defense behind them, and a case of bad luck.

Three of the pitchers on this list pitch for teams that are last place in their divisions, two play for teams that are still in the playoff hunt, and one pitcher on this list is actually on a first place team.

Right about now, it’s not easy being Lance Berkman or Roy Oswalt.

Talk about a lost puppy in a big city.

Both former Houston Astros icons are in new cities and with new teams, and both appear to be having a difficult time adjusting to their new surroundings.

Oswalt was rocked in his first start with the Phillies, while Berkman has notched a mere two hits and one RBI since donning pinstripes with the Yankees.

With baseball's trading deadline in the rearview mirror, it's time for fantasy owners to move on to more pressing matters; mainly, to focus on their own league's cut-off date for trades and transaction.

Commonly, fantasy deadlines are situated somewhere in the second or third week of August. (Although if your league bares any resemblance to mine, the REAL trade deadline has triggered an abundance of swaps in the past week.)

Houston Astros fans should not feign felicity.

They should not dance in the streets surrounding Minute Maid Park, host vivacious celebrations, or cheer as if the August rain will soon turn to gold. They should feel disillusioned, upset, and hungry for change. If the 2005 World Series qualifies as the franchise's peak, last week was its ultimate valley.

The Astros fell into a state of such disrepair that management needed to trade two icons to give the team a chance to compete.

(Coral Gables, FL) - After a disappointing 1-2 in a three game set with the Washington Nationals the Philadelphia Phillies are heading on the road for a three game set with the Florida Marlins.

For the Phillies a three game set with the NL East third ranked Florida Marlins is coming at the worst time. The Phillies are 25-31 on the road this season and with the Marlins only four games back of the Phillies for second place in the division the Fightin's will need to gain ground in Florida if they want to catch up to the Atlanta Braves.

Another year and another trade deadline dominated by the Philadelphia Phillies quest to acquire a starting pitcher. Last year the Phillies acquired Cliff Lee near the trade deadline, and this year they have acquired another front-line starter.

The Phillies acquired Roy Oswalt from the Houston Astros for JA Happ and minor leaguers Anthony Gose and Jonathan Villar. The Astros will pick up $11 million on Oswalt’s contract and the Phillies will not pick up Oswalt’s 2012 option, which was a sticking point for a while.