Everybody wants Penny now?

so much for the phils wanting a top of the rotation guy...

Penny has gotten his fastball back and could benifit from a return to the national league. Even if the Redsox get a mid level prospect with good potential it is a win win. Boston needs to build its postional prospect depth and especailly at Catcher and middle infield.

Penny has gotten his fastball back and could benifit from a return to the national league. Even if the Redsox get a mid level prospect with good potential it is a win win. Boston needs to build its postional prospect depth and especailly at Catcher and middle infield.

QUOTE(#5):

Originally posted 10:18 AM ET  06.06 by jb12bb

Penny has gotten his fastball back and could benifit from a return to the national league. Even if the Redsox get a mid level prospect with good potential it is a win win. Boston needs to build its postional prospect depth and especailly at Catcher and middle infield.

I mean don't the Sox NEED him starting ?
- dice has shown he's a bottom of the rotation guy,
lester has been mediocre this year, clay - though doing well in
the minors was beaten up last time he was up,
and are we so confident a 375 year old smoltz will hold up ?

as a Yankee fan- I'd be HAPPY to see him go

Well, he's would basically replace what we had in Myers plus. An all star pitcher who is playoff proven.

QUOTE(#7):

Originally posted 10:34 AM ET  06.06 by jgb

I mean don't the Sox NEED him starting ?- dice has shown he's a bottom of the rotation guy,lester has been mediocre this year, clay - though doing well in the minors was beaten up last time he was up, and are we so confident a 375 year old smoltz will hold up ?as a Yankee fan- I'd be HAPPY to see him go

If the Sox move him, look for Buchholz to be called up. Lester was dominant last time out and I think he will calm down and start to win consistently.

I think you might be a little quick to write off Dice-K as a bottom of the rotation guy. Christ, he was 18-3 with a an era of 2.90 last year. That's an Ace on some teams and definitely # 2 starter stuff everywhere else. Yes, he has struggled so far this year, but his last start against the first place Tigers was pretty good. He also has been the victim of some horrible play at SS.
When Jed Lowrie returns, the middle infield defense improves dramatically and Matsuzaka as well as all the Sox pitchers will know they are not playing with only 7 defensive players.

FYI, Smoltz is only 284 dog years old and is only going to be asked to fill out the bottom of the rotation and help the youngster learn how to be professionals.

QUOTE(#3):

Originally posted 09:26 AM ET  06.06 by jctoo, cult elitist

Everybody wants Penny now?

Not me. I want a strip steak, a bloody mary and a nice fatty of some chronic.

who is jason donald?

The Phillies were on the phone with the Red Sox last night when he gave up 5 runs to the Rangers in 5 innings, they abruptly hung up.

QUOTE(#9):

Originally posted 11:25 AM ET  06.06 by Rex Racer

If the Sox move him, look for Buchholz to be called up. Lester was dominant last time out and I think he will calm down and start to win consistently.I think you might be a little quick to write off Dice-K as a bottom of the rotation guy. Christ, he was 18-3 with a an era of 2.90 last year. That's an Ace on some teams and definitely # 2 starter stuff everywhere else. Yes, he has struggled so far this year, but his last start against the first place Tigers was pretty good. He also has been the victim of some horrible play at SS. When Jed Lowrie returns, the middle infield defense improves dramatically and Matsuzaka as well as all the Sox pitchers will know they are not playing with only 7 defensive players.FYI, Smoltz is only 284 dog years old and is only going to be asked to fill out the bottom of the rotation and help the youngster learn how to be professionals.

objectively speaking-

Dice goes 5 innings a night and has so many wins cause the Sox
offense scores a ton of runs for him....
As for Clay- GREAT stuff- no argument- but his MLB track record ain't
so great (no hitter aside of course) ....point is are you confident that
you can REALLY depend on him? for the rest of the season ?
- same holds true for lester- he had an AMAZING year last year
but has been not more than average at best this year

The sox are obviously a good team regardless- but other than Beckett I really wouldn't be too overconfident about the rest

QUOTE(#3):

Originally posted 09:26 AM ET  06.06 by jctoo, cult elitist

Everybody wants Penny now?

I want the Trillion Dollar handout stuff........

To heck with a penny....can't even get a piece of candy for that these days...

QUOTE(#14):

Originally posted 12:59 PM ET  06.06 by JFKJR

I want the Trillion Dollar handout stuff........To heck with a penny....can't even get a piece of candy for that these days...

candy costs extra ... just ask becca ...

QUOTE(#13):

Originally posted 11:48 AM ET  06.06 by jgb

objectively speaking- Dice goes 5 innings a night and has so many wins cause the Soxoffense scores a ton of runs for him....As for Clay- GREAT stuff- no argument- but his MLB track record ain'tso great (no hitter aside of course) ....point is are you confident thatyou can REALLY depend on him? for the rest of the season ?- same holds true for lester- he had an AMAZING year last year but has been not more than average at best this year The sox are obviously a good team regardless- but other than Beckett I really wouldn't be too overconfident about the rest

Objectively speaking, 18-3 with an ERA of 2.90 didn't require the Sox to score a ton of runs for him. I'm not denying that he drives most Sox fans crazy with his penchant for nibbling on the corners of the plate. I can see not giving the middle of the order guys anything too fat to hit, but when he's not going right after the bottom of the order it drives me nuts. Hard to argue with the results though.

I think you'll see Lester return to form. His last start was electrifying. Snapping off some vicious curves and then blowing hitters away with 95mph cheese or making them chase a pretty nasty slider. That's what I expect to see from this point on.

QUOTE(#7):

Originally posted 10:34 AM ET  06.06 by jgb

I mean don't the Sox NEED him starting ?- dice has shown he's a bottom of the rotation guy,lester has been mediocre this year, clay - though doing well in the minors was beaten up last time he was up, and are we so confident a 375 year old smoltz will hold up ?as a Yankee fan- I'd be HAPPY to see him go

DO you watch the games or just see the box scores? When you look at the box scores, do you see what they actually mean or just see a higher run total and discard a pitcher. Lester's Ks and velocity are up and his control is roughly even with last season. His flyball and line-drive ratios are also almost identical. His run totals will go back down. Dice-K a bottom of the rotation guy? He's only pitched 21 innings. Without Penny, you've still got Beckett, Lester, Dice-K, Wake, and Buchholz/Masterson/Smoltz to rotate into the 4/5 spots.

So trading Penny for Donald, who plays 2B/3B/SS would be a solid staff move. Then, you've got either a potential long-term solution at SS or the ability to spell Lowell at 3B for now, or trade him. It's likely seen as a potential solution to SS because you've got a situation where you could move Youk over to 3B once Lowell's out and call up Lars Anderson to man 1B. Or Lars could be the DH, who knows?

Either way, the Sox have massive depth in their farms at pitcher. If they acquired Donald, you could have an infield of Anderson, Pedroia, Donald and Youkilis, and if you kept that corps together, with Ellsbury and Bay in the outfield you have a very serious 5-6 year corps of guys to back up all that youth in pitching.

So, Boston has this formula, you see, where they mix in top-notch farm-level talent with a couple of big-money guys, they spend $80-$100M less than their biggest rivals, and can still win just as many games.

Sounds like their management knows what they're doing to me.

In addition, the Sox have run into a fairly big problem in the long-term. At some point, you have to really give your young prospect pitchers the chance to play. Otherwise, you will forever stunt their growth and potential. They have Buchholz and Masterson both waiting to play consistent time in the majors. So, they either have to trade them, which they've been heavily reluctant to do, or trade someone else to make room for them.

When you look at the potential Penny trade, you see a brilliant move really. Penny's paycheck is based largely on performance bonuses. So they took a cheap shot at a veteran pitcher who won some early-season games for them. Now, they've been able to drum up interest at a guy they signed on the cheap who will be able to yield a top-level prospect?

You have to admit. That's a pretty savvy move.

QUOTE(#10):

Originally posted 11:26 AM ET  06.06 by Rex Racer

Not me. I want a strip steak, a bloody mary and a nice fatty of some chronic.

lost me at the last part ... and give me a filet anytime ...