Sox Fans: Penny for your thoughts...

The Bottom Line

December 29, 2008

Sox Fans: Penny for your thoughts...

11 Comments

By bottomlinesox

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Brad Penny - Malingering

The Red Sox signed Brad Penny to a one year, $5 million deal this weekend. Sean McAdam says Penny could add $3M to that total by meeting bonus incentives like pitching 160 innings.

With Beckett, Matsuzaka and Lester already on the roster, the Red Sox watched the Yankees spend over $400 million on Sabathia and Burnett. They also passed on Derek Lowe, presumably because of the "Barry Zito" price tag.

Penny came "cheap" due to an injury plagued career. In 2008 he pitched just 94 innings due to a shoulder injury, going 6-9 with a 6.27 ERA. But Penny won 16 games in '07 and '06 and the Sox think they've found themselves a bargain.

That may be true, but Penny will have a lot to prove in 2009. At 30, Penny already has eight years in the majors, but he's constantly struggled with injuries and has only won 10+ games in four of those eight seasons.

He's also been a National Leaguer his entire career and owns a 5.08 ERA over 136.1 Interleague innings.

Bottom Line: Penny was the most economic choice on the market, but do the Red Sox really need to be so thrifty? Lowe and Sheets are probably just as risky (and more costly), so I guess I can live with the decision to buy low and hope for the best... plus this move appears to mean that Justin Masterson will remain in the bullpen - and that's a good thing.

Here are few early reaction to the Penny signing... but leave a comment and tell me what you think of this move:

Fenway West via MLB Trade Rumors notes that the Sox have plenty of experience with shoulder injuries... but he's not sure if that's good or bad.

Joy of Sox found some disturbing info on the Sons of Sam Horn message boards:

"...there are notes that back in August, the Dodgers "questioned the severity" of Penny's shoulder problems, blaming his dismal performance on "a poor work ethic". An MRI later revealed increased scar tissue in Penny's shoulder, which appeared to be impinging on the rotator-cuff tendon."

There's plenty of optimisim in the comments section on FBAL... they remind us that Penny is still fairly young and that he's just one year removed from back to back All-Star seasons.

The guys at Surviving Grady think that Penny is well worth the $5M because possible Eliza Dushku or Alyssa Milano sightings are just as important as 10-15 wins.

Tags: Boston Red Sox, Brad Penny

Discussion

11 Comments on "Sox Fans: Penny for your thoughts..."

Posted by Gerry, December 29, 2008 4:09 PM

Penny understands that this is even more than a contract year. The rest of his career as a pitcher, and long term income, depends upon his success in 2009, so we can assume max effort, which realistically should translate to an Ace-like season Those concerns aside, Brad Penny is a great pitcher who is being given a chance to prove his true value. We both win.

On the other hand one reason that, in the face of high priced/ risky/ long term FA, Masterson was discussed as the #5 starter was to give Buchholz and Bowden the prescribed time in AAA to succeed at Fenway. Penny should, even if his shoulder acts up, get the Sox into June. This allows Masterson to fortify a very strong Pen, and gets Buccholz/Bowden ready for Fenway. Everyone wins.

Posted by bottomlinesox, December 29, 2008 4:31 PM

Gerry - I def. agree with your thoughts on the big picture. I was worried that the Sox might not sign another starter and push Bucky back into the mix too early... or hurt the bullpen by pulling Masty out to start.

Bottom Line: We just have to hope that all the starters, but specifically Penny and Wake, remain healthy.

Posted by Ryne Crabb, December 29, 2008 4:36 PM

I doubt we'll have to hope for health to keep Monsterson in the bench and Buchholz/Bowden in MiLB where they belong. I would be shocked if this is the extent of the Sox FA activity in the starting pitcher market.

I look at Brad Penny like the 2009 version of Bartolo Colon's signing. I still think they will go after a solid, veteran starter; if not the Derek Lowe mold, maybe Oliver Perez or someone of that ilk.

Either way, I think this was a great signing if it is a Colon-type signing. If we are hoping for an entire season with 10+ wins from Penny, let's stay optomistic and only downgrade the signing to "good."

Posted by Evan, December 30, 2008 2:51 AM

I'll be extremely interested to find out if we start the year with Masterson as the starter, keep Penny on the DL until May and then bring him in.

The Sox love to give their starters plenty of rest, so at some point, someone's gonna go on the DL, whether they have to or not. Dice-K said last year he didn't have to go on but he did for the team.

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