The Phillies traded lefthander J.A. Happ and two prospects - outfielder Anthony Gose and infielder Jonathan Villar - to Houston for Oswalt.
Oswalt flew to Washington and spent Thursday night in a hotel room waiting for his new teammates to arrive for a weekend series against the Nationals. He will start Friday's opener for the Phillies.
"We think we acquired one of the premier starting pitchers in baseball," Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said.
Incredibly, Amaro has been able to say that three times in the last calendar year. Exactly a year ago Thursday, the Phillies acquired Cliff Lee from the Indians for a package of four prospects. In the off-season, Amaro traded for Roy Halladay and dealt Lee away to Seattle. Now, he has Oswalt.
The Phillies were able to avoid dealing their best hitting prospect (now that Domonic Brown is in the majors), single-A first baseman Jonathan Singleton. Gose and Villar are likely to be three to four years away from the majors. Happ, the runner-up for National League rookie of the year in 2009, was difficult to part with, Amaro said.
The general manager said the reason the Phils ended up with Halladay and Oswalt instead of keeping Lee is because they can keep their two current aces beyond 2010. Halladay signed a three-year contract extension through 2013. Oswalt is under control through 2011 and has a mutual option for 2012.
As a part of the deal, the Astros also sent $11 million to the Phillies. That will help subsidize the approximate $23 million Oswalt is guaranteed over the next year and a half.
The Phillies also sweetened the buyout to $2 million for Oswalt's 2012 option.
