Having feared that there were simply no rumors today, Jayson Stark has a couple

Jayson Stark has some rumors for you today:

A source familiar with the Roy Oswalt talks tells Rumblings they're "going nowhere" at the moment. And there are increasing questions at this point as to whether Oswalt is going to get traded, period, unless the price drops considerably. As we reported yesterday, the Astros have asked teams for four players -- one front-line young player off the big league roster, two high-end prospects and one second-tier prospect. And at this point, said one source, "nobody is even close..."

One Club Official (who apparently checked on Roy, was farted on, and stopped being interested):
"The dynamics in Houston are different. Seattle was motivated to trade Cliff Lee. Arizona was motivated to trade Dan Haren. I don't really know how motivated Drayton is to move Roy Oswalt. I think he was trying to do this as a favor to Roy. But now he's got the agent [Bob Garber] trying to direct it and dictate terms. And I can promise you that ticks Drayton off to no end. So I just don't know how motivated he is to do it at this point."

So now the Dodgers are looking into Ted Lilly, but "seem to be waiting on pursuing Lilly hard until they determine first whether they can deal for Oswalt."

A new wrinkle in the rumor mill: The Padres have been linked, by Stark, to Jeff Keppinger.

With Tommy Manzella nearing - kind of - his return from the DL, hot-hitting Angel Sanchez could slide over to 2B. Sure, Sanchez has 737 minor-league starts at SS, but he has made 67 starts - not a lot, granted - at 2B.

Big Tal expects talks to heat up tomorrow

Captip to the Crawfish Boxes for linking to Nick Cafardo's Sunday column for the Boston Globe.

Cafardo, talking to Tal Smith:
Smith said he expects to make a deal because there is “considerable interest’’ in Oswalt, with “three or four’’ teams trying to make it happen. Smith felt by tomorrow things should begin to heat up.

Further proof that agent Bob Garber is trying to ensure himself a pretty sweet paycheck:
Those who know Oswalt well have been surprised he’s insisting on the option being picked up, because for their last few seasons he’s put himself in year-to-year mode, almost like Andy Pettitte, though Oswalt is still relatively young.

What about the Yankees?
They have not been linked with Oswalt, but the Yankees usually come out of the blue and make a bid, as they did with Cliff Lee. With Pettitte on the disabled list and Phil Hughes struggling, the Yankees could be a player...

...One Astros official indicated that New York might be too “big time’’ for the quiet Oswalt, and that he may not approve a deal there. But one of his best friends is Pettitte, and according to a baseball friend of Roger Clemens, the Rocket has told Oswalt that New York is a great place to play.

Roy: $16 million "no big deal"

Zach Levine may not be used to such a crowded clubhouse, because most media types aren't usually this interested in what the Astros are doing this late in the season. However, they're all interested in Roy, and that pesky little $16 million option.

Roy:
"The money part I can work out with anybody, that's no big deal. We can work on doing different things as far as restructuring whatever they want to do; That's not a big deal. I'm going to find a way to get it done if it works for both of us. I'm not going to go somewhere that's going to be bad for me."

There were lots of people not commenting. Ed Wade. Bob Garber (but hey, at least Levine got Garber on the phone.) How frequently are Roy and Garber in contact?

"He filled me in on some of the stuff I've seen on TV, but other than that, I've told him, 'Don't call me every day.'"

I love it. I imagine this:
(ring) Roy: Yeah?
Garber: Hey.
Roy: (sniff) What's...uh. What's up?
Garber: Did you see SportsCenter?
Roy: Yeah.
Garber: Alright, then.
Roy: Alright.
Garber: Talk to you Monday.
(bulldozer starts).

Wade, in a rare moment of candor:
"Obviously at this point in time, we're proably more in the sell mode, but that being said, we're not compelled to have to really do anything. If you're talking about deals that are prospect-driven, you're talking about hopefully players who are going to arrive faster than a draft pick would. We're open-minded to anything, whether it's a case of improving the club now or for the future. Obviously we would love to be in a situation where if we were to do something it presents both opportunities. We get players right now and players that would help us for a long period of time."

Aha! A plan! Open-minded until August 1.

Details emerging on the Cardinals' offer

So it seems that Jayson Stark knows what the Astros were offered for Roy:

According to one source, the Cardinals offered two young players off their major-league roster for Oswalt. Among the prospects the Astros are likely to press for: last year's No. 1 pick, 19-year-old right-hander Shelby Miller...

...The Phillies, meanwhile, are thought to have offered pitcher J.A. Happ and a list of younger prospects for the Astros to choose from. But Houston is looking for higher-ceiling young players, particularly a catcher and/or corner infielders, than the names on that list.

A catcher, huh? I get the corner infielder part, but a catcher?

What about that 2012 option, official of one AL team?
"In the end. I don't believe the guy is going to insist on getting that option picked up. He wants out. And if he really wants out, that's going to change."

And here's the shocker of the day:

Oswalt's agent, Bob Garber, has not returned multiple calls from ESPN.com in the last 48 hours.

Bob Garber doesn't have the cleanest track record

While I try to piece my mind back together after seeing Inception, let's focus on Roy's response.

First, Roy claims to not know what the heck is going on with his option for 2012:

"I don't handle that part of it."

I actually believe him here. I bet he doesn't know about what his agent - Bob Garber - is demanding right now. Because this wouldn't be Garber's first rodeo in this scenario.

Second, if we get back in the Wayback Machine, we can read about Garber's previous history, with pitcher Brian Boehringer. In this instance, at least, we read:

Coming off the 2002 season with Pittsburgh, Brian wanted to sign with St. Louis. He's from the area, wanted to live at home during the season and knew the Cardinals were always a competitive team. He instructed Bob to try to get a deal done.

Here's where it gets murky.

Mr. Garber told Brian the best he could get was an $850,000 deal with St. Louis. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh was the only other team that was interested, to the tune of 2 years and $3.5 million. Brian took his agent's word and signed with the Pirates. Today, Brian says the deal was best for Bob Garber, not him. The deal Brian signed earned the most money that Bob Garber could have gotten, so he pushed that one on Brian...

...He lost 2005 to injury, but felt great going into spring training, 2006. Brian asked his agent to call around and get him any deal possible. According to Brian, he didn't do it. How does Brian know? He said he personally called and was able to secure his own deal with the Cubs after a conversation with Dusty Baker. When he spoke with teams, they told him nobody had called them about Brian Boehringer.


Third, if you look at Roy's phrasing, it's eerily similar to the phrasing of another Bob Garber client, Russell Martin from 2008:
Early this offseason, his agent, Bob Garber, received a phone call from assistant general manager Kim Ng looking to discuss a possible multi-year contract extension for Martin, who won't turn 25 until next week. According to General Manager Ned Colletti, Garber declined, and no offer was ever extended.

"It's kind of a touchy thing," Martin said Tuesday at the Dodgers Community Caravan event at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles. "I told (Garber) if it wasn't going to be a good offer not to even bother, so that's the conversation that they had...

...I know how it works. It just hasn't entered my mind yet because this is a dream I'm living. It still hasn't sunk in yet. That's the business side of baseball I don't really worry about. Whenever the time will be to discuss that, I'll be ready."

Way to stick with the party line, fellas. I'm sure this happens more often than we ever hear about. But I'm leaning towards believing Roy. I don't like him any more than I did this afternoon, but I believe him.