Rumor: A Penny For A [Few] Win[s]?

[Swifty]

Brad Penny got released.

His numbers suck, but he's only 31 and he's always pitched well at Pro Player. I think it's worth a gamble.

[Fritz]

Yeah, I would be interested in Penny. A mid-5 ERA in the AL East is probably good for a mid-4 ERA in the NL East. He can't be owed that much money anymore anyway, maybe $1 million or so?

[FishFF]

I'm all for Penny in the back end of the rotation.

[Longview]

Do it.

[Party]

As Brad Penny, who was officially released by the Boston Red Sox on Thursday, is being moved through waivers, National League playoff contenders San Francisco and Florida have expressed interest in the veteran right-hander, sources said.

Those teams and any interested AL teams probably won't want to claim Penny off waivers, because the cost of Penny as a short-term hire would be enormous. Penny is still owed about $1 million in salary for the rest of this season, and he has $500,000 in bonuses as he reaches 160 innings, 170, 180 and then 190. Penny has thrown 131 2/3 innings this season, which means that if he were to accumulate 50 innings over eight starts, he would cost an additional $1.5 million.

But the interested teams would probably like to have him after he clears waivers, which could be on Monday. If Penny clears waivers, he would cost any team that acquired him only about $100,000 for the rest of the season.

The Colorado Rockies expressed interest in Penny initially but will not pursue him either through waivers or if he becomes a free agent at the end of the waiver process, sources said later Thursday.

Because Penny is being passed through release waivers, he has the right to decline any waiver claim, and essentially force his way into free agency. But in order to do that, he would have to walk away from incentives in his contract that could be worth as much as $1.5 million.

Reportedly, the the Minnesota Twins are considering claiming Penny on release waivers. When the pitcher passed through waivers earlier this month and was claimed, the team that claimed him was the Yankees.

Penny is healthy and could join a rotation immediately, after going 7-8 with a 5.61 ERA. He pitched in five different seasons for the Marlins earlier this decade and could benefit from the Giants' big ballpark.


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With the release of Penny on Thursday, the Red Sox activated reliever Billy Wagner, moves that come two days after Boston obtained Wagner in a trade with the New York Mets.

The best possible situation for Penny to showcase himself for another round of free agency this fall might be with the Rockies, who are currently leading the NL wild-card race. Penny has fared well in Coors Field, posting a record of 6-1 with a 3.92 ERA in 11 career starts. The Rockies have been looking for an alternative to Josh Fogg for their rotation, as they await the return of injured starter Aaron Cook, who may not return until mid-September at the earliest.

The Rockies and the Giants might find this fact about Penny intriguing as well: He left the Los Angeles Dodgers on very bad terms after last season and would undoubtedly compete against them with a significant competitive chip on his shoulder.

The Tampa Bay Rays and Texas Rangers are among the AL teams that might have interest in the right-hander, but it might make more sense for him at this point to go to the National League -- as it has seemingly helped Cliff Lee and John Smoltz, who both moved from the AL to the NL in the last month.

Buster Olney is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4426474

[Chewford]

Even with how Penny's been recently, I'd think I'd rather have him on the mound at any given moment that anybody we currently have not named Josh Johnson.

[Swifty]

As I said with Smoltz; if Penny is someone we seriously view as an upgrade and not just a depth move, we HAVE to make the move on waivers. There's no point in leaving this up to chance.

[Namaste]

FLA won't sign him

Makes too much sense

[Marlinsfan4lyfe]

This move make so much sense. Penny along with JJ and Ricky is a pretty good 1-2-3.

[Ramp]

Penny hasn't been good in two years now

I don't mind getting him, but he's shown nothing

[Big Z]

I heard buster olney on ESPN and he said Rich Harden was claimed off waivers and I believe he said the Marlins might be the ones that claimed him

[Ramp]

that would certainly be interesting

his contract is up as well

[Longview]

I think the Cubs would probably want more then the Marlins are willing to give, unfortunately...Unless they are just releasing him to save money?

Edit - Quick Google:

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports is reporting that Chicago Cubs pitchers Rich Harden and Aaron Heilman have been claim off of waivers by a National League team.

Placing players on waivers is not a strange occurrence in baseball, but it is interesting that both players might have been claimed by the same team.

Rich Harden has pitched very well as of late and would seemingly have very high value. Heilman, on the other hand, would seem to have little if any value to a contending team as he has been a blown save machine with the Cubs.

Teams who might have put in the claim for the pitchers are the San Francisco Giants, Florida Marlins, Atlanta Braves or the Colorado Rockies.

[jonathan2323]

someone on PSD on the Cubs board said that 1000 ESPN in Chicago said the Marlins claimed him.

[Big Z]

Any chance the Marlins are claiming Hoffman and Harden so teams on top of them don't get a chance to make a deal for them? Cause this seems like something we would do. Idk if that's how the waiver works though