Not even a sincere phone call from Justin Verlander, Mr. MVP himself, was enough to convince veteran righthander Roy Oswalt of his potential worth to Detroit baseball this spring. CBS Sports' Danny Knobler tweeted earlier today that Oswalt, for unspecified reasons, is not interested in coming to Motown this season.
The call from Verlander was obviously a nice touch, but it's clear that a rapidly-aging Oswalt is chasing a ring first and foremost, and believes a team like Boston offers the best opportunity.
General manager Dave Dombrowski has been eyeing Oswalt for a couple of years now, and after the Martinez injury, he probably figured a moderately-large splash on a veteran starter could scare away that black cloud hanging over the organization. Truth be told, it probably would have.
Verlander has played the role of Tigers PR man to prospective players before, but it really seems like Dombrowksi wanted to do everything possible to get this deal done and shore up the rotation. Plenty of other viable names are out there waiting by the phone, and judging by Detroit's level of aggressiveness post-Martinez, it might not be long before something goes down.