Reds jump into the Oswalt derby

The Cincinnati Reds have jumped into the Roy Oswalt derby, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports. On Saturday, it was rumored that the Reds had kicked the tires on Oswalt but it now appears their interest is more than just tire kicking.

For the Reds to make the deal work though, they would have to move some salary with the likely trade candidate being Homer Bailey and his $2.425mm deal.

Oswalt has received interest from the Cardinals, Rangers, Red Sox and Tigers, with the Cardinals and Rangers being viewed as the favorites.

In 2011, Oswalt went 9-10 while posting a 3.69 era in 139 innings with the Phillies. He did average a career low with 6.0 strike outs per 9 innings and is coming off a series of injuries. Oswalt earned $16mm last season and made $1,777,777.78 for every win or $172,043,01 for every strikeout.

Image taken by Matthew Straubmuller and used under the Creative Common License Agreement.