Earlier Friday evening, it seemed as if the Roy Oswalt sweepstakes were intensifying, as a report emerged that Oswalt was nearing an agreement with the St. Louis Cardinals. Well, now we're taking things one step further. According to Gordon Edes, Oswalt has reached an agreement with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Oswalt headed to the Cardinals, source says.

It's unconfirmed at this point, but Edes is reliable, and Joe Strauss tweeted earlier that the Cardinals were definitely interested and that a decision was expected soon. One figures that, as badly as Oswalt wants to stay around his home, this is probably true.

Assuming this is true, it means that one of Kyle Lohse or Jake Westbrook will presumably be booted from the starting rotation, and possibly from the organization. It's unlikely that the Cardinals would bring in Oswalt if they didn't have some kind of plan for how to make room.

And assuming this is true, hey, that puts Oswalt, Chris Carpenter, Adam Wainwright and Jaime Garcia on the same staff. That's a hell of a staff, and though it's a staff with question marks, the defending world champions won't head into the 2012 season short on talent.

Expect Oswalt to sign a one-year contract worth something like $5 or $6 or $7 or $8 million. It probably won't be as much money as a guy like Roy Oswalt should get, but Oswalt has his own issues, and besides, St. Louis is the kind of place for which he'd take a discount.

The 34-year-old made 23 starts last season with the Phillies, posting a 3.69 ERA and nearly three strikeouts for every walk. After returning from a back injury in August, he put up even better numbers down the stretch. There's good reason to believe the Cardinals will be getting Roy Oswalt as Roy Oswalt, or at least as an approximation thereof.

Oswalt had been pursued by the Red Sox, but now they'll probably turn their full attention to Edwin Jackson.