After months of speculation, Roy Oswalt has finally been traded.

The winners of the disgruntled player sweepstakes were the Philadelphia Phillies. The Phillies, not the Cardinals, as had been rumored. As an aside, I’m not sure whether to be happy or sad about that for reasons Amanda stated here. It kind of would’ve been nice seeing the Cardinals raid an already weak farm system for this year. It sure would have set up the Reds nicely for the next few years.

But back to the trade. The Houston Astros sent Roy Oswalt, who waived his no-trade clause, to the Phillies for lefthander J.A. Happ, shortstop Jonathan Villar, and Anthony Gose, who was flipped to the Toronto Blue Jays for minor league first baseman Brett Wallace.

J. A. Happ was a runner-up in the rookie of the year voting last year, and looks to be a solid 3 or 4 starter in the Houston rotation. He’s no Oswalt, but he’ll be serviceable. According to the Crawfish Boxes, Jonathan Villar “has plus-plus speed coupled with a great arm. He has all of the tools to stick at shortstop and be a plus defender there, but needs to work on the skills aspect of his defense.” And Brett Wallace is one of the top first base prospects in the league. Which will be good for the NL Central, which is known for its shortage of awesome first basemen.

For the Reds, this trade means they will not face Roy Oswalt during the regular season again this year. The only way they would face him is if they made the playoffs. And with a first place lead 2 days shy of August, I’m feeling optimistic about the Reds’ chances.

Boxscore

Going into Thursday, the Cincinnati Reds were tied with the St. Louis Cardinals for first place of the National League Central. Thanks to the New York Mets and a great outing by knuckle-baller R.A. Dickey, the Reds are back in first.

A day after their extra-inning affair, the Cardinals’ offense played tired. They managed 4 hits and no runs. Albert Pujols played, despite being gimpy, and contributed nothing in what is shaping up to be the worst year of his career. (Of course, the vast majority of players would kill to have a year as “crappy” as Pujols is having. It’s nice having Joey Votto on the Reds.)

Blake Hawksworth wasn’t very good again in his start for St. Louis, getting his 7th loss. Over 6 innings, he allowed 4 runs on 7 hits, 3 walks, and 3 strikeouts.

After storming out of the break with a 7-game winning streak, the Cardinals have now lost 2 series in a row.