MLB Rumors: Roy Oswalt, St. Louis Cardinals Not Close

The St. Louis Cardinals were supposed to have signed Roy Oswalt already—now it looks like nobody's got a bead on the allegedly affordable right-handed Hall of Very Goodnik. The Cardinals are "looking to maintain their current payroll" per the omnipresent Derrick Goold, which means they still haven't managed to trade Kyle McClellan or Jake Westbrook. The Cincinnati Reds and Texas Rangers have maintained a similarly eerie silence, and the most dogged MLB Rumor Mill types still haven't managed to crack the Oswalt case.

With the Cardinals, at least, he has the opposite of leverage—if they don't sign him, then—well, they'll just go to Spring Training with the pitchers they've been trying to trade for the better part of a month. All of Oswalt's suitors, here in February, are similarly set-up; he might want $10 million, but it's hard to say whether he'll be able to get even that if the teams he's trying to get it from are all above replacement level.