Penny could have value to Angels
Brad Penny clearly would have value to the Angels if he clears waivers on Saturday when the 72-hour window for released players closes. The veteran right-hander was handed his release by the Red Sox on Thursday to open roster space for reliever Billy Wagner, acquired from the Mets in a waiver deal.
Penny, 31, signed a $5 million free-agent deal with the Red Sox, but he will not reach any of the bonus incentives for innings pitched. He was 7-8 in 24 starts and 131 2/3 innings for Boston with a 5.61 ERA. His bonuses in $500,000 increments were to kick in with 160 innings pitched.
Penny’s performance this season was a far cry from the back-to-back 16-win seasons he delivered for the Dodgers in 2006 and 2007. He started the ’06 All-Star Game for the National League in Pittsburgh – yielding a mammoth homer to Vladimir Guerrero – and was third in the ’07 NL Cy Young Award balloting after going 16-4 with a 3.03 ERA.
Eleven American League clubs would have a shot at claiming Penny before the Angels, whose record is surpassed only by the Yankees. With less than a quarter of the season remaining, he’d amount to a bargain-basement pickup at less than $100,000 with the Major League minimum at $400,000.
With the Angels going with young Trevor Bell in the fifth spot in the rotation, Penny would be a natural fit for the estimated six starts remaining. He’d have to sign by Monday to be eligible for a postseason roster spot, unless an injury opens space.
Penny certainly showed in 2003 with the Marlins that he didn’t mind postseason pressure, twice beating the Yankees in the World Series with a 2.13 ERA in his two outings.
Penny requested his release on Wednesday night.
“Because we ended up letting him go, our feelings don’t change about him personally,” Boston manager Terry Francona said. “We really appreciated the way Brad went about his business. He was a good teammate, and he worked hard. We’re always pretty honest about the fact that we do what’s in the best interest of the organization and the team, and we try to tell the players that.”
rallymonkeys 
Trevor Hoffman, Brad Penny , and Rich Harden are all up for grabs come on ANGELS bring in some new blood! It’s time to face the facts with the pitching we have now we couldn’t beat a little league team much less The Great Empire The New York Yankees! The ANGELS need to be on the biggest stage of them all and beat the dodgers in their house! If and should the dodgers make the post season! Please Tony Reagans do us all a favor , cuz’ vlad , abreu, and tori are just not hitting right now!
Trevor Hoffman, Brad Penny , and Rich Harden are all up for grabs come on ANGELS bring in some new blood! It’s time to face the facts with the pitching we have now we couldn’t beat a little league team much less The Great Empire The New York Yankees! The ANGELS need to be on the biggest stage of them all and beat the dodgers in their house! If and should the dodgers make the post season! Please Tony Reagans do us all a favor , cuz’ vlad , abreu, and tori are just not hitting right now!
I’ve been a Angel fan Since 1995 and as far as our starter is concern i don’t think we can pass the first round of the play offs specially if we’re relying on our offensive side only. First of all three of our starter our not reliable enough to stay longer in the game, even our best starter sometimes got knock even before 4th inning. Second our set up reliever is unpredictable too, sometimes good and sometimes really bad. We need atleast one or two more pitcher available in the waiver zone. I don’t want to see the Angels to be eliminated in the first round….Again…so Tony Reagans do everything to get another starter…….
Thanks,
Leo M.
I’ve been a Angel fan Since 1995 and as far as our starter is concern i don’t think we can pass the first round of the play offs specially if we’re relying on our offensive side only. First of all three of our starter our not reliable enough to stay longer in the game, even our best starter sometimes got knock even before 4th inning. Second our set up reliever is unpredictable too, sometimes good and sometimes really bad. We need atleast one or two more pitcher available in the waiver zone. I don’t want to see the Angels to be eliminated in the first round….Again…so Tony Reagans do everything to get another starter…….
Thanks,
Leo M.
So, Mr. Spencer…are you working on a story with the words “Kazmir” and “Angel” in it? Curious minds want to know! 😉
Lori
http://luckylori.mlblogs.com
Sometimes I wonder if the people posting arent paying attention or just dont know baseball.
Truth is come post season you only need and use 4 starting pitchers… and for that matter with all the days off your #4 often gets skipped.
So the 5th starter would only be used for 5 or 6 starts, just to get through the rest of the regular season.
While the Angels have been spuddering the past week plus, they have gotten some great pitching news. Saunders and Santana are both back from injury and pitching great. So if Lackey and Weaver get it back together after a couple weak starts we are looking at a solid 1-4.
In the bullpen, Jepsin and Bulger along with Palmer have emerged as reliable arms to go with Fuentes and Oliver. So the question isnt whether we have the arms, its how will they be pitching come playoff time.
The trade was just confirmed, 2 minor leaguers and a player to be named later for Kazmir. Should be a good trade if he is healthy. Also, it will give the Angels a little more piece of mind if they lose Lackey over the off-season.
Pitching and defense is what wins in the playoffs. You need 3 hot starting pitchers to get it done in the post-season. Lets hope the Angels can get from their staft this post-season.
Kazmir is a great pick up, especially since we did not have to disrupt the current roster. I have been posting all year that this team has great chemistry. And I agree that we really only need like 3 solid starters come playoff time. But the Kazmir move definitely helps us get there first, because the race to the playoffs is not over. Texas is still hanging around and we still need to play them 7 more times. Not to mention 3 with Boston and 3 with the Yanks. Oh and 3 with the White Sox, which always seem to give us some trouble. It’s going to be a tough September. If we can add Penny, that would definitely help us get there. Go Angels!