[Ksyrup]

I don't see what Oswalt's doing as anything other than a very rich athlete who has different priorities at this point in his life. I don't see this as some game-changing decision that could alter the concept of FA forever. I think practically speaking, Shaq did this the last few years of his career - didn't he go from contender to contender (I can think of Miami, Boston, Phoenix, and Cleveland), playing 40-60 games a year, skipping practices, pacing himself for the playoffs, AND drawing a big salary? What's different?

I don't know... Oswalt seems to be doing exactly what Pedro Martinez did with the Phillies a couple of years ago. Sure, he probably has more career left than Pedro or Clemens did, but (a) he's been injured quite a lot the last few years, and (b) he has always come off as the type of guy who would be more likely to retire 2 years earlier than you'd expect rather than stick around a couple of years past his prime.