Sox close to signing Penny

[BSN07]

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/8997354/Source:-Red-Sox-close-to-adding-Penny-to-rotation

 

 

Free-agent right-hander Brad Penny and the Boston Red Sox are close to agreeing on a one-year deal, according to a major-league source.

 

Penny, who would be in the Red Sox's starting rotation, will have to take a physical and the two sides are still working out the language of the contract.

Penny, 29, struggled last season with the Dodgers, going 6-9 with a 6.27 in 17 starts and two relief appearances. He was shut down in September and placed on the 60-day disabled list with a sore right shoulder.

 

Penny posted a career year in 2007 by throwing 208 innings with 16 wins and a career-low 3.03 ERA.

 

The move would give the Red Sox the ability to keep Justin Masterson in the bullpen and be patient with Clay Buchholz.

 

Adding Penny would be Boston's first big move of the offseason after it lost out on slugger Mark Teixeira earlier this month. Penny would join an already formidable rotation that includes Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, Daisuke Matsuzaka and Tim Wakefield.

[BSN07]

I like the move. Especially if it's 1 year deal on the cheap with incentives.

 

If Penny can pitch 170 innings+, .500 W%, and a 4.5ish ERA, he's worth it.

[Cocos Disciples]

Meh. He really doesn't excite me. From 2004-08, in the NL West and a pitcher's park (Dodgers), he posted a:

 

46-33, 4.07 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, 2.14 K/BB, 6.13 K/9.

 

If he can get back to 06-07 form then he's a good back end starter, but that's a big if.

[redsoxrules]

brad Penny?

[The Dustball]

I like the move. If he finds his old form he could be a valueable back end starter and if not it's only a 1 year deal.

[diony]

There's not much upside on this move. But, he makes the team a little better I guess. I rather have Sheets or Lowe. If this is the only move Theo is going to make regarding the rotation, then is a s***** move imo. But as a depth move is fine.

 

I don't expect much from him in the AL East, but we never know.

[BSN07]

I'd say he could equal what Byrd gave the team. Maybe with more upside, but bigger health risk. I like it as a depth move. I also like Buchholz can fine tune himself in AAA, and Masterson can stay in the BP.

[Cocos Disciples]

There's not much upside on this move.

 

The upside is that he is a good middle of the rotation starter. If he can do that, fantastic. But in the ALE, he probably can't.

[diony]

The answer to Sidney Ponson?

[Cocos Disciples]

The answer to Sidney Ponson?

 

Sidney Ponson is not on your team?

[BSN07]

There's not much upside on this move. But, he makes the team a little better I guess. I rather have Sheets or Lowe. If this is the only move Theo is going to make regarding the rotation, then is a s***** move imo. But as a depth move is fine.

 

I don't expect much from him in the AL East, but we never know.

 

I actually see it as having high upside. For the Sox it's a depth move. If he wins some games it has value, like Colon did last season. If he doesn't give them much, it's no big deal. The $ shouldn't hand cuff the team in anyway.

[Cocos Disciples]

I actually see it as having high upside. For the Sox it's a depth move. If he wins some games it has value' date=' like Colon did last season. If he doesn't give them much, it's no big deal. The $ shouldn't hand cuff the team in anyway.[/quote']

 

Unless we get someone else, then Penny is starting the year in the rotation.

[BSN07]

I think Penny has been a decent pitcher over his career, and has had dominating stuff at certain points. Put him with Farrell, and the outcome could be nice. The fact he will be pitching for a long term deal for next offseason, is a nice little carrot that's dangling as incentive to pitch well this season.

[diony]

Sidney Ponson is not on your team?

 

A late answer then.

[BSN07]

Unless we get someone else' date=' then Penny is starting the year in the rotation.[/quote']

 

I know. I say depth move because it let's the team leave Buchholz in AAA and Masterson in the BP. I like Penny as a #5 SP. I'm interested to see what he has to offer.

[diony]

Unless we get someone else' date=' then Penny is starting the year in the rotation.[/quote']

 

That would be a mistake, Penny will be good as a 6th starter until he proves he's healthy and his stuff is back. Giving him a rotation spot would be just plain stupid.

 

Since Lowe is going to the Mets, and the Sox haven't show much interest in Sheets so far. I see a competition between Bucholz/Bowden/Penny at ST.

[Cocos Disciples]

Since Lowe is going to the Mets, and the Sox haven't show much interest in Sheets so far. I see a competition between Bucholz/Bowden/Penny at ST.

 

I imagine Bowden will be traded for a catcher and Buchholz will start the year in AAA unless he excels in ST.

[example1]

From what I can see, Penny is an unrestricted free agent who doesn't lose the Sox a draft pick. Can anyone else varify that? If so I think he's a better pickup than someone like Sheets who would have cost them a pick. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/features/freeagents

 

I think they will keep Bowden and Buchholz and will try to move lower-level guys if they're going to get a catcher.

 

NYY fans may dis this move, as it isn't who the Yankees got. However, this guy was an all star in 06 and 07, and finished third in the Cy Young voting in 07. Not bad for a randon 1-year pickup. Perhaps he will be a bust, but there's reason to think he's a good starter.

[Cocos Disciples]

From what I can see' date=' Penny is an unrestricted free agent who doesn't lose the Sox a draft pick. Can anyone else varify that? If so I think he's a better pickup than someone like Sheets who would have cost them a pick. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/features/freeagents[/quote']

 

Right, he was not offered arbitration, so no pick lost.

 

I think they will keep Bowden and Buchholz and will try to move lower-level guys if they're going to get a catcher.

 

They will likely have to deal at least a Bowden to get the kind of catcher they're looking for, IMO.

[CrespoBlows]

DONT EVEN KNO HIS LAST NAME! DONT EVEN NO MY LAST NAME!

[jacksonianmarch]

Brad Penny. Interesting. Lets look at Penny in depth. And I am going into this thing thinking he's a pretty good pitcher when he is healthy.

 

Starting with durability:

Penny is coming off an injury filled season, with the most concerning injury. He was down with shoulder trouble. No word on how serious, but if he is working out for teams, then he must have enough to get the ball into the 90s again. In terms of his workloads, lets go in depth

He's been a full time MLBer since mid 2000. Thats 8.5 seasons. He's surpassed 180IP 4 times. Not great. He's taken the bump 25 or more times in 5 seasons. Not so great. So he isnt durable, not surprising, and he is coming off his worst career yr AND has a worrisome injury

 

Baserunners:

Penny has a solid arsenal when healthy. Mid 90s heat, power bender, passable change. But for some reason, he gets hit HARD. He's allowed more H than IP in 5 of his 9 seasons. And over his career, he has allowed 9.1H per 9IP. He has always had good control, though, averaging 2.9BB/9IP. That being said, he has a career WHIP of 1.34. Funny thing is, he gained a solid rep in LA, a pitchers park in one of the worst divisions in baseball and he GOT WORSE. Don't really understand that.

 

Power:

Penny is an enigma. Reminds me of some of the yankee minor league prospects (notably Ivan Nova who was selected this yr by SD in the Rule V). Mid 90s heat with movement, plus breaking ball, MLB average change. He should K people. But he doesnt. His career high K/9IP is 7.2. His career average is 6.4. Well, is that because he's a groundball guy? Kinda. His career high is 1.77 (from 2008), but his career avg is 1.34. So he's an above average GB inducing pitcher who has no power.

 

So overall, I thought Penny was better. He's not the bulldog I thought he was. I remember seeing him throw and being very impressed with his lightning arm. But he doesnt generate a ton of K's. And he doesnt get a lot of groundballs as one would assume from his stuff and his low K rates. He might be a good back end of the rotation guy, but he also has the possibility of absolutely imploding on the sox. If I were them, I'd consider him like the sox considered Colon last yr. Great if he's there, but dont plan on him being there all the time. If the sox are okay with Buchholz putting in a lot of big league work next yr, then this is a good move. If they want him to get his confidence back for a full yr, then this might not be the right guy

[naptownsoxfan]

Penny=depth....can never have enough

[CrespoBlows]

Brad Penny. Interesting. Lets look at Penny in depth. And I am going into this thing thinking he's a pretty good pitcher when he is healthy.

 

Starting with durability:

Penny is coming off an injury filled season, with the most concerning injury. He was down with shoulder trouble. No word on how serious, but if he is working out for teams, then he must have enough to get the ball into the 90s again. In terms of his workloads, lets go in depth

He's been a full time MLBer since mid 2000. Thats 8.5 seasons. He's surpassed 180IP 4 times. Not great. He's taken the bump 25 or more times in 5 seasons. Not so great. So he isnt durable, not surprising, and he is coming off his worst career yr AND has a worrisome injury

 

Baserunners:

Penny has a solid arsenal when healthy. Mid 90s heat, power bender, passable change. But for some reason, he gets hit HARD. He's allowed more H than IP in 5 of his 9 seasons. And over his career, he has allowed 9.1H per 9IP. He has always had good control, though, averaging 2.9BB/9IP. That being said, he has a career WHIP of 1.34. Funny thing is, he gained a solid rep in LA, a pitchers park in one of the worst divisions in baseball and he GOT WORSE. Don't really understand that.

 

Power:

Penny is an enigma. Reminds me of some of the yankee minor league prospects (notably Ivan Nova who was selected this yr by SD in the Rule V). Mid 90s heat with movement, plus breaking ball, MLB average change. He should K people. But he doesnt. His career high K/9IP is 7.2. His career average is 6.4. Well, is that because he's a groundball guy? Kinda. His career high is 1.77 (from 2008), but his career avg is 1.34. So he's an above average GB inducing pitcher who has no power.

 

So overall, I thought Penny was better. He's not the bulldog I thought he was. I remember seeing him throw and being very impressed with his lightning arm. But he doesnt generate a ton of K's. And he doesnt get a lot of groundballs as one would assume from his stuff and his low K rates. He might be a good back end of the rotation guy, but he also has the possibility of absolutely imploding on the sox. If I were them, I'd consider him like the sox considered Colon last yr. Great if he's there, but dont plan on him being there all the time. If the sox are okay with Buchholz putting in a lot of big league work next yr, then this is a good move. If they want him to get his confidence back for a full yr, then this might not be the right guy

 

How many Penny games have you watched?

[Cocos Disciples]

DONT EVEN KNO HIS LAST NAME! DONT EVEN NO MY LAST NAME!

 

:dunno:

[jacksonianmarch]

I subscribed to MLB.com in 2007 and Extra innings in 08. I saw a LOT of dodger games when on call in 2007. And Penny's stuff was always very good. I was just surprised by the end of the game that he'd only have 4Ks in 6 innings or so

[Jacoby_Ellsbury]

There's not much upside on this move. But' date=' he makes the team a little better I guess. [b']I rather have Sheets or Lowe.[/b] If this is the only move Theo is going to make regarding the rotation, then is a s***** move imo. But as a depth move is fine.

 

Yeah. Piss away a first round draft pick to fill out the end of the rotation. I like your style.

[diony]

Yeah. Piss away a first round draft pick to fill out the end of the rotation. I like your style.

 

Wow a draft pick. An unknown quantity taken at the end of 1st round that would take 2-3 years to make an impact in a major league team. Geees we need to protect those. Jason Place says hi.

 

For every Dustin Pedroia there's like 20 guys that didn't make it.

[Jacoby_Ellsbury]

Wow a draft pick. An unknown quantity taken at the end of 1st round that would take 2-3 years to make an impact in a major league team. Geees we need to protect those. Jason Place says hi.

 

For every Dustin Pedroia there's like 20 guys that didn't make it.

 

The Red Sox are a team that actually knows how to draft, so that pick is actually relatively valuable.

[Dipre]

Wow a draft pick. An unknown quantity taken at the end of 1st round that would take 2-3 years to make an impact in a major league team. Geees we need to protect those. Jason Place says hi.

 

For every Dustin Pedroia there's like 20 guys that didn't make it.

 

You're quite a hypocrite then, given how you always talk about the importance of developing young talent.

 

Besides, again, for the 100th time:

 

Penny = depth........and you can never have enough depth.

[jacksonianmarch]

Wow a draft pick. An unknown quantity taken at the end of 1st round that would take 2-3 years to make an impact in a major league team. Geees we need to protect those. Jason Place says hi.

 

For every Dustin Pedroia there's like 20 guys that didn't make it.

 

Not a good argument diony. The reason why we need to spend 423 million in an offseason is because we havent been as good at drafting as the sox had been. That being said, we have 2 picks in the first 2 rounds this upcoming draft, so I am happy. Hal better be ready to throw some f***ing money into this draft.