Take A Penny, Leave A Penny by Jared Carrabis
Red Sox grant Penny's wish of being released


Late Wednesday night, the Boston Herald reported that the Red Sox granted right-hand pitcher Brad Penny his outright release from the club.

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

With the return of Tim Wakefield on Wednesday night (7 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 3 SO, ND) and Junichi Tazawa proving his worth after shutting out the Yankees, Penny soon found himself to be the odd man out in Boston's starting rotation. When word had leaked that the Red Sox had designated Penny for assignment, I immediately assumed that there was something fishy about that considering that the rosters expand next week.

As it turns out, Penny wasn't a fan of the idea that the plan moving forward was for him to join Boston's bullpen, so instead, the Red Sox released the burly right-hander at his request in order to create a roster spot for newly acquired left-handed, Billy Wagner, who joins the team in Boston in Thursday night.

As Penny prepared to exit Boston, his kind words sounded strangely similar to the ones that former teammate Julio Lugo shared before his exit from Boston, "I enjoyed playing with all of the guys," he said. "I played for a great manager on a great team. I had a great time. I enjoyed it. I wish things had worked out better, but that happens."

Penny hopes that a team will take a gamble with him before the month of August comes to a close. One would assume that Penny is headed back to the National League, but a potential American League contender might find his 97 MPH fastball appealing out of the fifth spot in the rotation.

The last straw for Penny came against the Yankees on Friday night when the right-hander lasted just four innings and coughed up eight earned runs, sparking a 20-11 rout of the Sox.

Before asking for his release, Penny had struggles of epic proportions, winning just one of his last eleven starts. In his previous five starts prior to being yanked from the rotation, Penny was 0-4 with a gruesome 9.11 ERA.

"I had some bad breaks and made some bad pitches," he said. "But I’m healthy, and that’s what I’m happy about. This isn’t last year, when I was hurt. If that had been the case, I’d be upset."

Penny might draw some interest from a select amount of AL clubs, but my best advice to him would be to take a look at what happened to John Smoltz and Julio Lugo when they got cut loose from the Sox. They trotted back to the National League and just like magic, they were superstars. It was like Charles Barkley and the gang from Space Jam touching Michael Jordan's magic basketball to get their talent back. Poof!

So, what I'm trying to say here is, Brad, touch the ball (go to the National League) and get your talent back (pitch against weaker lineups).

-Jared Carrabis





Published on August 27, 2009

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