Sons of Sam Horn > Red Sox to "monitor" Brad Penny

Full Version: Red Sox to "monitor" Brad Penny

Sons of Sam Horn > Baseball Discussion > Red Sox Forum

Corsi Combover

Oct 22 2008, 12:52 AM

QUOTE

That’s why the Red Sox [team stats]at least will explore the starting market this offseason, whether it’s inquiring about a trade for Padres ace Jake Peavy, checking out 2007 AL Cy Young winner CC Sabathia, or monitoring former Dodgers All-Star Brad Penny, a two-time 16-game winner whose $8.75 option may not get exercised because of a shoulder injury.

Source: http://news.bostonherald.com/sports/baseba...vc=next_article

Other outlets have the option at $9.25M. The Dodgers hold a $2M buyout. Two days after being placed on the 60-day DL with a soure shoulder, Penny cleaned out his locker and up and left without saying a word. This was the same day LAD clinched the division. Safe to say his days as a Dodgers are probably over.

He's never pitched in the AL and is coming off of a disastrous season. His injury is kind of vague. Torre implied that he could have come out of the bullpen, but refused to.

If he comes cheaply, he's definitely a good depth guy.

TheGoldenGreek33

Oct 22 2008, 01:16 AM

QUOTE(Corsi Combover @ Oct 22 2008, 12:52 AM)

If he comes cheaply, he's definitely a good depth guy.

Definitely. I remember him pitching in the ASG in 07 when he really let it go for a couple innings and he blew everyone away, dialing it up to 98-99 consistently. Two big IF's though, if he's healthy and if he comes cheaply.

He did have two appearances coming out of the bullpen this year, both in September, where he struggled mightily:

9/10 (@ SD): 0 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 K
9/15 (@ PIT): 1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER (1 HR), 0 BB, 0 K

SSS and obviously irrelevant as he was clearly not healthy.

knucklecup

Oct 22 2008, 01:17 AM

I've always been a Penny fan.

Similar to Tom's stance on Ben Sheets, if you can get him on the cheap, I'd do it in a second.

E5 Yaz

Oct 22 2008, 01:21 AM

A couple of things come to mind:

John Henry sure has a thing for those 03 Marlins pitchers. There's already been some suggestion of Burnett, should he become available; makes you wonder whether that Lugo-for-Willis talk might have some validity.

Second, so Penny cleans out his locker, refuses to work out of the pen and stops contact with the team. And why exactly would the Red Sox want to take a guy such as that on? If he were, say, an outfielder, who developed an attitude problem, refused to run out ground balls and blasted the front office in the media, they'd trade him away, not want him back

PedroSpecialK

Oct 22 2008, 01:23 AM

QUOTE(E5 Yaz @ Oct 22 2008, 02:21 AM)

Second, so Penny cleans out his locker, refuses to work out of the pen and stops contact with the team. And why exactly would the Red Sox want to take a guy such as that on?

Agreed. I don't want the Sox to have to rely on a starter to convert to relief at the end of a one year, incentive-laden deal when he's already flipped his lid at being asked to do so. I mean, didn't we learn from Colon?

rembrat

Oct 22 2008, 01:58 AM

QUOTE(E5 Yaz @ Oct 22 2008, 02:21 AM)

Second, so Penny cleans out his locker, refuses to work out of the pen and stops contact with the team. And why exactly would the Red Sox want to take a guy such as that on?

Because if the Sox do acquire Brad Penny, it won't be for relief, and it won't be to pitch in Pawtucket. He would take over, I'm guessing, either the vacant spot in the rotation or Wakefield's (should the Sox go in another direction or Wake has simply had enough.)

The guy has good stuff, is a strike thrower, gets GB at a good rate, and you wouldn't have to commit the kind of $/years CC, Sheets, and AJ will get.

Very interesting.

Corsi Combover

Nov 5 2008, 05:16 PM

QUOTE

The Dodgers declined their $8.75 million club option on pitcher Brad Penny, making him a free agent.

General manager Ned Colletti said Tuesday that the team would consider picking up the option and trading Penny, but ultimately the Dodgers decided against it.

Penny will receive a $2 million buyout.

Source: http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/8761152...62&ATT=3498

Corsi Combover

Nov 15 2008, 10:51 AM

QUOTE

Brad Penny had the sort of season which instills recurring nightmares in prospective free agents. He got hurt and got out of whack and after he finished 6-9 with a 6.27 ERA, the Dodgers turned down his one-year option for 2009.

Now Penny is 30 years old. The economy is a mess, club executives are fearful of budget problems to come. Penny is going to have trouble finding a job, right?

Uh, no.

He probably is drawing more interest now than CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Derek Lowe combined. Randy Johnson figures to be in the same situation, with lots of suitors, and if John Smoltz ever cared to consider teams outside of Atlanta, his phone would ring repeatedly. The representative for Carl Pavano might receive a higher volume of calls than the agents for Sabathia, and so long as Andy Pettitte doesn't begin to look like he's going to sign with the Yankees, he'll get a lot of play.

All of the baseball world is looking for a bargain, so Penny, Johnson and Pettitte could have a wide range of choices. The perception among executives is that because Penny is coming off a down year, he will not command the kind of big-money deal that it will take to sign a Sabathia, Burnett or Lowe. And all you have to do is look at the back of Penny's baseball card to know that he's fully capable of throwing out a 15-18 win season in 2009, if he stays healthy and focused. So the Red Sox and many other teams are taking a serious look at Penny -- with their interest shaped, of course, by the presumption that it will take only a one- or two-year deal to sign him.

Source: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?...me=olney_buster

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