Climbing Tal's Hill
Fansided

Astros: Reviewing the 2010 Roy Oswalt trade with Phillies

By Andrew Gleinser

WASHINGTON - MAY 05: Roy Oswalt #44 of the Houston Astros pitches against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on May 5, 2009 in Washington, DC. (Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON - MAY 05: Roy Oswalt #44 of the Houston Astros pitches against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on May 5, 2009 in Washington, DC. (Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images) /
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ANAHEIM, CA – AUGUST 16: Brett Wallace #29 of the Houston Astros bats against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim during a game at Angel Stadium of Anaheim on August 16, 2013 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Jonathan Moore/Getty Images)
ANAHEIM, CA – AUGUST 16: Brett Wallace #29 of the Houston Astros bats against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim during a game at Angel Stadium of Anaheim on August 16, 2013 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Jonathan Moore/Getty Images) /

What the Astros Got

Happ, who at age 27 was no longer a prospect, nonetheless had some intrigue. The left-hander was 14-5 with a 3.11 ERA in 31 starts and 16 relief appearances in his major league career. He’d been worth 5.1 WAR to the Phillies in parts of four seasons.

He did not have the same success in Houston, however. He was solid after the trade in 2010, going 5-4 with a 3.75 ERA in 13 starts. But his 2011 season saw him work to a 5.35 ERA in 28 starts, and he posted a 4.83 ERA in 18 starts in 2012 before the club traded him to Toronto in the deal that brought Joe Musgrove to Houston.

Happ bounced around a while before ending up back in Toronto and putting together a 20-win season in 2016. He won 17 games in a 2018 split between the Blue Jays and Yankees, but pitched to a 4.91 ERA for New York in 2019. In his time with the Astros, Happ was worth -0.2 WAR.

Villar made his major league debut with the Astros in 2013 and played a part-time or backup role in parts of three seasons. He never quite put it all together, posting a .236/.300/.353 line in 198 games. Of course, once the club traded him to Milwaukee in Nov. 2015 for Cy Sneed, he broke out.

He discovered some solid power and hit .285/.369/.457 with 38 doubles, 19 homers and 62 steals for the Brewers in 2016. His next two seasons were less effective, but he broke out again as the Orioles’ second baseman in 2019, playing in all 162 games and hitting .274/.339/.453 with 33 doubles, 24 homers and 40 steals. He was worth 1.3 WAR for the Astros and 4.5 WAR for the Brewers.

Finally we get to Wallace, who was the first in a long line of prospect busts at the first base position for Houston. Jon Singleton and A.J. Reed would follow, but Wallace was the first. He was a former first-round pick but never could hit enough in the majors, compiling a .242/.313/.391 line with 29 homers in four seasons before the Astros released him. He caught on with the Padres for a couple of seasons but couldn’t stick there either. He was worth -0.2 WAR in Houston.

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