Roy Oswalt can sleep a little easier this week knowing that his wallet won’t be lighter following his ejection during a game against the Nationals on Monday night. According to the Houston Chronicle, the Astros’ ace won’t face further disciplinary action.

“I felt that Roy Oswalt had been punished enough by his ejection (and) the Astros had been punished enough by his ejection,” said Major League Baseball vice president Bob Watson, who is in charge of discipline for the league. “That’s the bottom line.”

Home plate umpire Bill Hohn ejected Oswalt in the third inning Monday after a brief exchange with the pitcher.

Oswalt said he was expressing frustration after a throwing a ball, but Hohn, who has not commented on the situation, clearly believed otherwise. The two then exchanged words, with Oswalt saying he told Hohn “I’m not talking to you,” before getting tossed.

“I was hoping I wasn’t going to get fined for saying what I said,” Oswalt said. “I thought it was kind of quick on his part. Nothing I did towards him (warranted being) tossed out of the game.

“To be talking to myself on the mound and to get thrown out, I didn’t see the point of that.”

Assuming Oswalt wasn’t jawing with Hohn the entire night leading up to his ejection, Hohn comes off looking like just another power-hungry umpire. Some guys feel a sense of empowerment each night when they umpire a game and overreact when they feel a player has shown them up.

That said, umpires don’t have it easy. They get it from players, managers and fans on a nightly basis and I don’t blame them if they want to flex some of their power in order to get a situation under control. Still, it sounds as though Hohn overacted to what Oswalt said and it’s good to see that the pitcher won’t face any further punishment.

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A source tells Tony Jackson of ESPNLosAngeles.com that the Astros aren’t looking to trade Roy Oswalt despite his request to be dealt to a contender.

A source with knowledge of the situation, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Tuesday that despite Oswalt’s request, the Astros aren’t looking to trade the right-hander and three-time All-Star at this point. But that could change as the summer moves along and the July trade deadline nears, especially if the Astros continue to languish in the National League Central cellar.

While the Astros are not shopping their ace, Fox Houston reported on Tuesday that Rangers president Nolan Ryan reached out to Houston to express interest in Oswalt.

It’s interesting that the article mentioned that the Rangers have interest, because I detailed over the weekend why Texas would be a great landing spot for Oswalt if the Astros decided to trade him. You can read it here.

It would be rather ridiculous if the Stros didn’t trade Oswalt at some point this year. Their farm system is dried up and Oswalt isn’t going to be around when the club eventually starts competing again. To not get something for him now would be unwise, especially when he still has plenty of value to a contender.

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Roy Oswalt realizes that his window to win a World Series is closing fast. That’s why he recently told his agent to ask the Astros, the organization he has spent his entire pro career with, for a trade.

But Oswalt doesn’t want to play for just anyone. He wants to go to a contender.

“I’m not going to go to a team that’s not in contention of playing in the playoffs,” Oswalt said. “I’ve got two years left. In those two years, I’m trying to get back to the playoffs. I haven’t been there since ’05.”

Oswalt declined to tell the Houston Chronicle what teams he would like to play for, but I’ve got one: the Texas Rangers.

Let’s go down the checklist, shall we?

Are they a contender? Check. They’re currently in first place in the AL West.

Do they need pitching? Check. While they have some nice young arms in Neftali Feliz and Derek Holland, their starting staff is average at best and if they want to seriously contend, then they’ll need a strong presence at the front of their rotation.

Do they have the farm pieces in order to swing a trade? Check. Outside of maybe the Rays, the Rangers have the best farm system in baseball. Thanks to sound trades and a true commitment to scouting over the years, they have a bevy of power arms and bats in the minors. Surely they could put an attractive enough package together to entice the Astros to part with Oswalt.

Of course, this is just speculation on my part but the Rangers seem like a great fit. They’re off to an outstanding start this season and adding a piece like Oswalt would give them yet another weapon to keep the Angels at bay in the West. Of course, the team is currently seeking bankruptcy, so who knows if it will be willing to take on Oswalt’s salary.

As for the Astros, the club isn’t going anywhere this year and they’re incredibly depleted at the farm level. They need to rebuild and trading Oswalt (who deserves the opportunity to play for a contender) would be a good start.

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When it comes to speaking his mind about the differences between how MLB and NFL players are treated when it comes to steroids, Astros’ first baseman Lance Berkman hits the nail on the head.

From the Houston Chronicle:

“I will say that what will be interesting will be the reaction, because generally when that happens to a football player, it’s kind of ho-hum,” Berkman said. “They’ll write a story and he’ll serve his four games and nobody will ever say anything else about it.

“If that happens to a baseball player, they’d want to strike him from the record book. It’s just a totally, totally different reaction, and I don’t know why that is.”

Here’s my theory: Football is just more popular than baseball is, so people have a tendency to give NFL players more leniency.

Fantasy baseball isn’t as popular as fantasy football and the NFL has a clear advantage over MLB when it comes to gambling.

There are only 16 games in football, so fans live and die on every play. There are 162 games in baseball, so fans could essentially miss an entire week of action and it still might not even matter in the grand scheme of things.

People love football. They crave it. They want to see their favorite players in uniform and if one of them screws up, all they usually care about is how many games he’ll miss before he’s back on the field. When a baseball player screws up, the games he misses won’t necessarily have a barring on how the team does (look at Manny Ramirez’s suspension last year), so fans are more likely to get their moral handbooks out when passing judgment.

It’s not fair, but that’s just the way it is.

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Starter Roy Oswalt recently said that he’d be willing to waive his no-trade clause if the Astros want to deal him. But given that he’s making $15 million this season, he’s not likely to wind up a Met says Mike Puma of the New York Post.

Roy Oswalt’s name is out there as a potential reinforcement for a team in need of pitching help, but don’t expect the Mets to inquire.

The team is reluctant to eat the $1.8 million remaining on Gary Matthews Jr., contract, making it unlikely that GM Omar Minaya would inquire about Oswalt – especially with Citi Field attendance down 6,852 fans from last season.

The Astros may have to eat part of Oswalt’s salary if they expect to get anything of value in return for him in a trade. It might be worth it for them, seeing as how they’re so depleted offensively.

It’s hard to imagine Oswalt and Lance Berkman in anything but Astro uniforms, but it’s a possibility that they could each be dealt if the club decides to hold a fire sale this year. We’ll see.

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Long-time Astros first baseman Lance Berkman told the Houston Chronicle that he would be open to waiving his no-trade clause.

“As a player, if they came to me and said, ‘Hey, we’ve got a deal to go to a contender,’ I’d take it. Heck, it’s only a three- or four-month deal. It’s not like I’m signing on for 10 years with another team.”

“I would say yeah,” Berkman said. “I think it would benefit the organization, and in the end, it would be a benefit for whoever it is — whether it’s me, or Roy (Oswalt) or Carlos. I’m not saying we’re at the point where they should start pulling the plug on us, but they need to start thinking forward. If this thing keeps going like this, they’ve gotta do something.

“If you’re running a team, you don’t want to get caught in baseball purgatory — where you’re not really getting young and you’re not really (competing). Where you’re in this deal where every year you’re signing a marginal veteran and you just never get in the mix.”

Berkman is in the final year of his contract, but the Astros hold a $15 million option for 2011. He has stated that he wants to retire a Stro, but you can’t fault him for wanting to have a shot to contend elsewhere. He’s at the end of his career and while his numbers are declining, he’s still a productive player – one that would benefit from being surrounded by better talent around him.

I wonder if a team like the Rangers would be a good fit. Justin Smoak isn’t even hitting his own weight right now, while Ryan Garko isn’t hitting Calista Flockhart’s weight. I won’t even begin to speculate what kind of a package Texas could put together in a trade for Berkman, but again, it would appear to be a nice fit for both parties.

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Giants 5, Braves 4
Quick, name the team with the best record in baseball. The Yankees? Sorry – they’re currently only .500. The answer would be the Giants, who have begun the year 4-0 after coming from behind to the beat the Braves 5-4 in 13 innings on Friday. Quick, name the hottest hitter in the league right now. If you said Albert Pujols, then punch yourself in the ear because you’re wrong. If you said Edgar Renteria, you’re right, but you probably only said that to be a wiseass – so the jokes on you. Renteria is batting an astonishing .688 to start the year after going 3-for-5 with a game-tying two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth, which helped San Fran erase a 4-2 deficit. I don’t know how Pablo Sandoval slimmed down and stole Renteria’s jersey without anyone seeing, but there’s no way that’s the real Edgar Renteria.

Rangers 6, Mariners 2
Nelson Cruz abused the Mariners on Friday, going 3-for-4 with a solo homer, two RBI and two runs scored in the Rangers’ 6-2 victory. Seattle is hitting .199 as a team and was 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position. It was the club’s fourth straight loss and making matters worse, it was revealed that Cliff Lee might not come off the disabled list until May now.

Royals 4, Red Sox 3
It’s early, but you know things are bad in Boston when they’re losing to Kansas City. Rick Ankiel (yes, that Rick Ankiel) hit a go-ahead two-run single off Daniel Bard in the eighth inning of the Royals’ 4-3 win over the BoSox on Friday night. It was the fourth hit of the night for Ankiel, who also hit a solo home run and drove in three runs. Not a bad night for the newcomer, who helped sent Boston spiraling to a 1-3 start.

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Yankees 3, Red Sox 1
It’s only been three games, but new addition Curtis Granderson is already making a huge impact for the Yankees. After homering in his first at bat of the season on Sunday night, Granderson delivered the go-ahead solo home run in the top of the 10th inning Wednesday as the Bombers beat the Red Sox 3-1. With Granderson’s help, New York was able to take two of three games in Boston. (I wonder what people are going to complain about seeing as how the Yankees didn’t “buy” Granderson – they traded for him.)

Pirates 4, Dodgers 3
Do the Bucs have a star in the making in Garrett Jones or what? The 28-year-old hit his third homer in two games with a three-run shot off of Clayton Kershaw to help the Pirates down the Dodgers 4-3 on Wednesday. Roger Cedeno played the hero in the 10th inning when he singled home Lastings Milledge for the winning run, as Pittsburgh is surprisingly in position to sweep L.A. to start the season.

Giants 10, Astros 4
The Giants might as well petition the league to play the Astros every night, because they own Houston. The G-Men completed a three-game sweep of the Stros on Wednesday night, as Edgar Renteria went 5-for-5 in a 10-4 San Francisco victory. (Stop laughing – I’m seriously…yes…it really was that Edgar Renteria.) With their pitching, if the Giants can continue to swing the bats as well as they have, they’re going to be serious contenders in the NL West.

Blue Jays 7, Rangers 4
Is that Vernon Wells up in Toronto or did the Blue Jays make a move for Albert Pujols and didn’t tell anybody? Wells went 2-for-3 with two dingers and three RBI on Wednesday night as the Jays beat the Rangers 7-4. Wells now has three homers in two games and while it’s a little early for Toronto fans to be doing back flips about his production, he’s certainly off to a great start.

Phillies 8, Nationals 4
Plenty of Philadelphia fans were on board Wednesday in Washington, D.C. to see Ryan Howard go 2-for-5 with a home run and three RBI in the Phillies’ 8-4 win over the Nationals. Apparently the Nationals’ front office didn’t restrict the number of tickets that the well-organized Philadelphia faithful could buy and Phillie fans traveled down to D.C. in buses in order to invade Washington. It was essentially a home series for the Phillies, so nice work, Washington front office.

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Yankees 6, Red Sox 4
Newcomer Marco Scutaro didn’t endear himself to many Red Sox fans on Tuesday night when he botched a routine ground ball in the eighth inning of a 4-4 game. Reliever Hideki Ojajima then walked Nick Johnson with the bases loaded to give the Yankees a 5-4 lead and the Mariano Rivera closed out the ninth. Considering the BoSox signed Scutaro for his defense, it wasn’t a good start for the former Blue Jay. The error made Boston fans pine for the days of Julio Lugo, who…all right sorry, I couldn’t continue with that joke. Red Sox fans would rather see Scutaro botch nine more throws than ever see Lugo in a Boston uniform again.

Giants 3, Astros 0
The Astros probably figured that they caught a break when Bruce Bochy decided to throw Barry Zito in between starts by Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain in Houston’s opening three-game series with the Giants. But the joke was on the Stros, as Zito completely shut them down for six innings. He allowed no runs on three hits while striking out five, proving that he was indeed worth the seven-year, $126 million contract he signed in December in ’06. No? Ah well – it was still a nice outing for the former Cy Young pitcher. Now Houston gets to deal with Cain tomorrow – good luck with that.

Rays 4, Orioles 3
Carl Crawford played the hero for the Rays on Tuesday night, knocking in the game-winning two-run single off Orioles’ closer Mike Gonzalez. It was Crawford’s only hit of the game, but it came at a crucial time. When asked about his dramatic hit afterwards, Crawford replied: “I know, right? Maybe the Rays should pony up for that new contract now – hahahaha…ahhh. Just kidding. But for realsies – where’s my contract?”

Padres 6, Diamondbacks 3
Chris Young managed to deliver his best Jake Peavy impression on Tuesday night, allowing no runs on one hit over six innings of work in San Diego’s win over Arizona. Young also struck out five to earn his first victory of the year. If Young’s shoulder is completely repaired, there’s no reason he can’t post similar numbers to the ones he produced in 2006 (11-5, 3.46 ERA). He’s really, really good…for a max of about six innings. But still – he’s good.

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