Roy Oswalt Turned Down the Detroit Tigers

According to Danny Knobler, the Detroit Tigers have been spurned by former Phillies starter, Roy Oswalt.

Before the rejection, the Tigers apparently enlisted the services of Justin Verlander to recruit Oswalt, but to no avail–Oswalt wasn’t interested in coming to Detroit.  Seen as one of the few quality starters left on the market, Oswalt appears to be waiting for an offer from the Boston Red Sox.  With Oswalt not an option–unless Dave Dombrowski makes a deal–the Tigers will appear to be heading into Spring Training with a handful of young players battling it out for the final rotation spot.  Right hander Jacob Turner or lefties Drew Smyly, Andrew Oliver or Duane Below are the candidates for the final spot.  While Turner is the best prospect of the four, he presents the same issue that the Oswalt signing would–an all righty rotation.

Regardless of the Oswalt rejection, the Tigers will be heading into 2012 with a better rotation than 2011, thanks to Verlander’s ascension and the trade for Doug Fister.  With Oswalt not an option, it could mean the $8 Million or so that it would have cost to sign the starter could be spent on a much needed bat to replace Victor Martinez.

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