Red Sox release Brad Penny [Latest: Will Join Giants]

[Invader3K]

http://www.bostonherald.c...-making-room-for-wagner/

 

"Veteran right-hander Brad Penny requested and received his release tonight in a move that clears a roster spot for reliever Billy Wagner and gives Penny time to join a new team before postseason rosters are set.

 

"I asked for my release and I got it," Penny said.

 

...

 

He has won just once since June 18 and was removed from the rotation after allowing eight runs in four innings of Friday's 20-11 loss to the Yankees. He finished his Red Sox career 7-8 with a 5.61 ERA."

 

 

I'm glad we didn't get this guy, like some were clamoring for. It was also funny how a couple months ago, some Red Sox fans were on places like MLB Trade Rumors trying to talk him up for a possible trade elsewhere. "He's a power pitcher!"

[CheezWizHed]

Without following Penny this season (velocity, control, etc...), I'm curious about him for next year. It seems that sometimes players need an injury return year to come back (strength, endurance, control, etc...).

 

Anyone have any incites as to why he had a 5.61 ERA this year? Seems like he started strong...

[MessiahRp]

I think we should still pick him up for this year. He's still a higher upside warm body than Vargas and when Smoltz left Boston he was lights out in his first outing in St. Louis. The NL Central is much easier to pitch against than the AL East.

 

Rp

[Hate those Rodents]

Put a fork in us. We are done for the year. And why would he want to come here when he could go back to the Dodgers or to St. Louis or to Colorado and pitch in the playoffs?

[MarquesJohnson2000]

Yeah, if he's trying to go somewhere before postseason rosters are set, Milwaukee would not seem like a desired destination.

[MessiahRp]

I don't know that there will be a lot of interest in him from those teams to be honest. And besides we're going to be in the same boat next year pitching wise so he'd be playing for a rotation spot for 2010 as well, which I doubt a contender could offer him.

[Buckylovesbeer]

He still throws in the mid 90's......but he has really struggled with his off speed pitches, which he has not been able to throw for strikes. Watching part of the Yankees-Sox over the weekend, they discussed how no matter how hard a pitcher throws, a pro hitter can hit anyone who can only throw heat.

 

I wonder if this guy could be gotten cheaper now, but I highly doubt it.

[crewcrazy]

Knowing some Red Sox fans and reading about him in Boston this year, it does seem like he still has his velocity, but has had next to no movement and seemed reluctant to throw any kind of breaking pitch (I've seen blog posts noting how he was throwing his fastball nearly 75% of the time -- obviously the kind of thing that can become predictable in the AL East). He's only worked into the 7th inning 4 times this year, and has never completed 7 innings in a start.

 

In short, the Red Sox probably got tired of him completely falling apart whenever he got to the second or third time through the opposing lineup, and want to see what they have in their younger pitchers. Kind of funny how a couple months ago Boston was asking for the moon for him, though, only to ultimately get nothing for him.

[JohnBriggs12]

You wouldn't think a contender would want him, but Smoltz and Padilla have been picked up in recent days by contenders, so it would be no surprise if a Colorado which just put Cook on the DL were to pick him up.

 

I think the Brewers who need to explore every available method of adding pitching will probably wait for the offseason and look at the discount bin of one time high priced veterans now available cheap as a result of injuries and diminished recent performance. That list is pretty long.

[crewcrazy]

Buster Olney says that three NL clubs are seemingly very interested, and not-so-coincidentally, they're the top 3 teams in the NL wildcard race -- Colorado, San Francisco, and Florida. No one seems eager to claim him off waivers and pay him the $1 million or so he's still owed this year, though. Olney seems to think Colorado is the best fit for him, too.

[Diskono]

From his stats, it looks to me like the biggest difference between Penny now and a few years ago is that he's having trouble keeping the ball down, thus giving up a lot more flyballs. If fangraphs' pitch values are any indication, I'd guess that he's hanging a ton of curveballs...if he ends up having to drop that pitch from his arsenal, he's probably going to lose a lot of his effectiveness as a starter.

[Funketown]

I wouldn't mind taking a flyer on him, although I guess he might not be inclined to sign with Milwaukee if a few teams in contention still have interest.

[TooLiveBrew]

I'm sure the Red Sox feel great about cutting Smoltz loose after this... turns out the Cards noticed he was tipping his pitches, and his first start for STL was 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 9 K (75 pitches)

[crewcrazy]

I'm sure the Red Sox feel great about cutting Smoltz loose after this... turns out the Cards noticed he was tipping his pitches, and his first start for STL was 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 9 K (75 pitches)

I got a kick out of Deadspin's commentary on Smoltz's first start with the Cards: Cardinals Bullpen Fixes John Smoltz in Five Minutes (August 24).

 

Smoltz's tenure with the Red Sox could not have gone much worse than it did. He gave up 25 runs in his last four starts before Boston pulled the plug, signaling what looked like the end of his career. So St. Louis rolled the dice on him and then quickly solved his pitching difficulties with a revolutionary training technique known as watching him pitch.

...

In an interview with Dan Patrick today, Smoltz graciously did not blame the Red Sox for his sucking, nor did he point out that the Cardinals are eight games in front of their division while the Red Sox are 7.5 games down in theirs. I'm sure these many things are not related.

[MJLiverock]

I like how he has 5 good innings against the worst offense in baseball and everyone is ready to proclaim him fixed or back to his hold self. C'mon, he shut down the Padres for 5 whole innings. I'm just waiting to see him get lit up by a decent team and then the excuse train for what happened.

[TooLiveBrew]

9 K's over 5 innings is nothing to sneeze at. The Pads are still a big-league club, like it or not. Most importantly, a 9 K, 0 BB game looks very familiar from Smoltz (great command, & good stuff).

[hawing]

Every time I see this thread title, I think of the phrase, "turn up like a bad penny." Not saying Brad is a bad penny; it's just how I keep reading the title.

[TooLiveBrew]

I like how he has 5 good innings against the worst offense in baseball and everyone is ready to proclaim him fixed or back to his hold self. C'mon, he shut down the Padres for 5 whole innings. I'm just waiting to see him get lit up by a decent team and then the excuse train for what happened.

Smoltz went 6 innings with one BB & 6 K's on Friday in St. Louis against the Nationals (5th in NL in R/G). He surrendered just one run on four hits & threw 93 pitches. At this point, I'd kinda be surprised if he wasn't 'back', & I had as much doubt as anyone after that horrific outing at Yankee Stadium. Sounds like he might have just been tipping his pitches, as crazy as that seems.

[endaround]

Or he had a bad game coming off injury rehab against a buzzsaw offense in a stadium that caters to home runs.

[TooLiveBrew]

His three before that one in NY were bad, too, as were two of his other (first) four starts. Not that he should have been expected to be lights-out or anything, but it wasn't just that last start against the Yanks.

[trwi7]

Smoltz said that the Cardinals found something in his delivery that was making him tip his pitches for the Red Sox. Seems like so far, the Cardinals staff might have been on to something.

[SeriesFinale]

Word on KNBR out here is that the Giants just signed him; he'll take Joe Martinez' place in the rotation.

[dadofandrew]

I'd just like to add that many said Penny wasn't good enough when we were trotting Burns and CV out there, yet he's good enough for SF, who is right in the hunt.

 

5ish ERA guys have value, it's very tough to find that on the street. While I'm the first to admit a guy like Suppan is overpaid, every single team, even a great pitching team like SF, has a placed for a guy projected to have an ERA in the 4.75-5 range. The idea of a team running out 5 guys who will have an ERA of 4.50 or less is pure fiction. If they do, they are one heckuva staff.

[MJLiverock]

The Brewers are also demonstating that running our 4 or 5 guys with ERA's over 5 doesn't get you anywhere either.

[endaround]

I'd just like to add that many said Penny wasn't good enough when we were trotting Burns and CV out there, yet he's good enough for SF, who is right in the hunt.

 

5ish ERA guys have value, it's very tough to find that on the street. While I'm the first to admit a guy like Suppan is overpaid, every single team, even a great pitching team like SF, has a placed for a guy projected to have an ERA in the 4.75-5 range. The idea of a team running out 5 guys who will have an ERA of 4.50 or less is pure fiction. If they do, they are one heckuva staff.

 

Doesn't the fact that Penny was on the street pretty much invalidate your point?