If you're a Roy Oswalt owner, this is the reprieve for which you've been waiting.

If you're a bitter Indians fan, this is almost as bad as the guy who showed up at Progressive Field on Wednesday night wearing a LeBron James Heat jersey.

Oswalt has been traded to the Phillies, and the Astros received 27-year-old pitcher J.A. Happ -- the 2009 runner-up for the National League Rookie of the Year -- and two prospects. What that says about the Indians' haul in the 2009 Cliff Lee trade to Philly, we'll leave to Indians beat writer Jim Ingraham (a guess: It makes the Lee deal look much worse than trading Jhonny Peralta for a lineup card and a large container of sunflower seeds).

From a fantasy perspective, this is a big boost to Oswalt's value.

The 32-year-old righty is 6-12 with a 3.42 ERA and 1.11 WHIP. Both his ERA and WHIP are slightly better than his numbers from 2008 (3.54 and 1.18, respectively), when he was 17-10 with the Astros.

Oswalt, though, has lost twice as much as he's won this season because the Astros have been shut out in five of his 20 starts and scored a total of 17 runs in his 12 defeats.

In May, he had a 2.82 ERA and was 1-4. This month, his ERA is 2.88, and his record is 1-2.

Now, he'll be pitching for the Phillies, who enter Thursday night's game against the Diamondbacks at 55-46 and riding a seven-game winning streak.

Philly ranks third in the National League with 478 runs scored in 101 games. Houston, meanwhile, is 15th in the 16-team league with 364 runs in 101 games, and the Astros have the worst batting average in the league at .240.

If Oswalt continues to pitch as he has this season, he could be among the top 10 starters in the next two months.

The same certainly can't be said for Happ, who was 12-4 with a 2.93 ERA with the Phillies last year.

This season, the lefty started twice, then missed more than three months because of an elbow injury. He returned Sunday and received a no-decision for Philly, allowing three runs in five innings.

He'll spend the rest of the season pitching for the 42-59 Astros, reducing his value strictly to NL-only and very deep mixed leagues.

Next week, we're going to start concentrating heavily on football, but first we need to empty the baseball notebook.

-- Not so fast: Fausto Carmona, who was banished to the bottom of the Tribe's minor-league system in June, has a 2.45 ERA in two starts since returning to the Indians. Look a little further, though, and you see these stats: Carmona has four more strikeouts (seven) than walks (three) in 11 innings, and he's thrown 197 pitches (17.9 per inning) with a WHIP of 1.55 in that span.

The latter numbers are reminiscent of his prior struggles -- a two-year run in which Carmona has 21 more walks (118) than strikeouts (97) since winning 19 games in 2007. He's still owned in 53 percent of the leagues on ESPN.com, but I wouldn't rush to put him in my lineup.

-- Not so fast II: Friday's trade of Carl Pavano to Minnesota does make the right-hander slightly more intriguing from a fantasy perspective. Pavano led the Tribe in wins and is going to a team that is contending in a Central Division that's weaker than the ailing Grady Sizemore's throws from center field.

Then there's this: Since finishing 5-1 in May, Pavano has started 10 games. In that span, he's 4-4 with a 5.46 ERA. He's allowed 77 hits in 62 2/3 innings, with a WHIP of 1.39. Pavano has struck out four batters or fewer in seven of the 10 starts.

He's owned in only 6.2 percent of the ESPN leagues, a number that should rise after the trade. But, like Carmona, I wouldn't start him.

Start 'em

-- Roy Oswalt, SP, Astros: Assuming he returns Monday or Tuesday from a back injury that has sidelined him since July 28, I would reinsert him into my lineup. Since June 24, Oswalt is 3-0 with a 1.93 ERA and 39 strikeouts in 46 2/3 innings. He's allowed only 29 hits in that span, a seven-game run in which he has yet to yield more than three runs.

-- Jose Lopez, 2B, Mariners: He's owned in more than 83 percent of the ESPN leagues, but he's often used as backup. If you need power from your second baseman and aren't worried about OPS, runs scored or steals, Lopez is your guy.

In his last eight games prior to Friday, he had three home runs and 13 RBI in 31 at-bats. For the season, he's batting .278 with 15 homers and 65 RBI. The negative: His on-base percentage (.306), steals (two) and runs (45), all of which are very low for his position. Power or speed? You make the call.

-- Gavin Floyd, SP, White Sox: I've seen some goofy ESPN ownership percentages this season, but Floyd's might be Manny Ramirez on the bizarre scale. How is a 26-year-old who won 17 games last season and has been great since June owned in only 48.2 percent of the ESPN.com leagues?

If that's the case in your league, acquire Floyd and start him. Since June 1, he's 6-1 with a 2.34 ERA in 12 starts. He's averaged more than seven innings per start, and he's struck out 71 in 84 2/3 innings and has an outstanding 0.96 WHIP.

Sit 'em

-- Francisco Liriano, SP, Twins: This has nothing to do with the addition of Pavano and everything to do with the former wonderkid's spiraling stats. Liriano is in danger of losing his spot in the Twins' rotation, has been bothered by a forearm injury and will have his next start skipped as he attends to a family matter. When he does return, I'd keep him and his 4-11 record and 5.63 ERA on my bench. Since winning two straight starts at the end of June, Liriano is 0-3 with a 5.65 ERA and 1.60 WHIP in five starts.

-- Brad Penny, SP, Red Sox: John Smoltz was cut by Boston on Friday, securing Penny's spot in the rotation for the time being. Still, since beginning the season 5-1, Penny has been brutal. In his last 12 starts, he is 2-5 with a 4.66 ERA and 1.40 WHIP.

The opening day of the baseball season brings with it a special feeling. It's a sign of spring, a reminder that sunshine will be here soon enough (except here), and it's so soon in the season the Washington Nationals have a chance and we've yet to be annoyed by Joe Buck and Tim McCarver.

It's also the beginning of a less-than-cheery ritual -- fantasy owners panicking because of one bad day by their ace. Or, in the case of Monday, one very bad day by seven aces (OK, six if you deduct Justin Verlander).

Verlander, Roy Oswalt, Cliff Lee, CC Sabathia, Brandon Webb, Francisco Liriano and Jake Peavy combined to go 0-6 with an 8.76 ERA on Monday. The only one to get a no-decision was Webb, who allowed six runs on six hits, lasted only four innings and complained of shoulder stiffness after the game. Other than that, it was a great day.

The seven pitchers threw only 38 innings, with just Oswalt, Liriano and Peavy lasting more than five innings. The only ones who were halfway decent were Oswalt (three runs in seven innings), Liriano (four runs on four hits in seven) and Peavy (four runs on seven hits in seven). Lee, Sabathia, Webb and Verlander allowed a combined 27 runs in 17 innings.

Before you contemplate trading one of the seven, consider the following:

-- Last season, Liriano was 0-3 with an 11.32 ERA in April, was banished to the minor leagues until August, then finished the season by winning six of seven decisions and compiling a 2.74 ERA in his last 11 starts.

-- Sabathia was 1-4 with a 7.76 ERA with the Tribe in April 2008, then won 16 of his last 22 decisions. After the All-Star break, the big lefty was 9-2 with a 1.56 ERA in 15 starts.

-- Oswalt was a combined 4-4 with a 5.48 ERA in April and May last season, then went 13-6 with a 2.54 ERA in the next four months.

Again, it's one game. The only one you should worry about at this point is Verlander, who was awful last season (11-17, 4.84 ERA).

The 2006 and 2007 fantasy standout (a combined 35-15 record) struck out 20 fewer batters last season than he did the year before, despite pitching only two fewer outs. He had only one month with more than two wins in 2008.

Still, he's 26 and you won't be able to get much for him if you were to try and make a deal.

All you can do is -- begin Eric Wedge impersonation -- stay the course. And watch the snow fall.