I had recently become a bit smitten with the idea of acquiring Roy Oswalt this offseason, but if this report from Wally Matthews is accurate, the Yankees are not so interested in him. The reason? His back is in really bad shape:

Oswalt, whose option was declined by the Phillies after a 9-10 (3.69 ERA) season, has had back problems dating to his days with the Houston Astros. He reportedly has two degenerative discs in his lower back and while he has never undergone back surgery, he has had numerous cortisone shots. As recently as June, when the recurrent pain sent him to the disabled list for six weeks, Oswalt talked about possibly having to retire because of the injury.

Those concerns prompted a baseball insider with knowledge of the Yankees’ thinking on the free-agent pitcher market to tell ESPNNewYork.com that the club was “very worried about his injury history. The guy’s falling apart from that back of his. That’s why Houston dumped him.”

Oswalt had a very good season in 2010, so Matthews’ source might be overstating things a bit, but if the Yankees aren’t comfortable with the condition of Oswalt’s back, I don’t expect them to pursue him that hard. On the other hand, if everyone else has the same concerns, Oswalt’s value takes a real hit, and the Yankees are better positioned than anyone to take a flyer on a guy like this at the right price, and until free agency opens no one but the Phillies will get a chance to actually look at Oswalt’s medicals. So I doubt that the Yankees have completely ruled out Oswalt yet, and this is probably mostly an attempt to influence the market.

Ain’t the Hot Stove season great?