Trade Penny?

By Brendan Hall
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

For those of you with the common sense not to have your car stereo's presets on Howie Carr and Dale & Holley, you're missing out on one of the city's biggest much-ado-bout-nothing controversies. And no, I'm not talking about the Rondo and Allen to the Pistons nonsense that has no substance to it.

Every time Brad Penny pitches and isn't brilliant, expect to hear a plethora of table-topped trade scenarios for the head-bopping, Marilyn Manson-loving, Watertown-dating, occasional TMZ casualty from Blackwell, Oklahoma.

With that in mind, take a look at tonight's pitching line: 5.2 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, 112 pitches, 68 strikes.

Solid stuff. Not fantastic, not terrible, but enough to get the job done in a no-decision tonight, an 11-3 Red Sox win over the godawful Nationals. That extends the Sox' AL East lead to five games, brings his ERA to a marginal 4.93 and his WHIP to a mundane 1.55.

Meanwhile, the Sox sport the league's best bullpen (a combined 2.84), and two starters waiting in the AAA wings -- John Smoltz and Clay Buccholz -- have made strong cases for a call-up. Smoltz will get the ball Thursday night, and there has been talk of going to a six-man rotation. To which I say...you people are out of your minds. This isn't Japan.

Every time you bring up Smoltz or Buccholz for starting duty, or if you choose to put Smoltz in the bullpen, you have to bring somebody down. Is it the flamethrowing Daniel Bard? Manny Delcarmen? Lefty assassin Takashi Saito? Hideki Okajima? Do you break up a good thing just to appease the wealth of pitching talent on the front end?

Or, do you field trade offers for Brad Penny, seeking out a shortstop more effective than Julio Lugo (which at the moment is a decent-sized pool)?

As long as there is an abundance of starting talent, and a menacing bullpen, Penny's name will continue to surface in trade rumors, no matter how little substance there is to back up the claims. Just know this: Penny, like most power pitchers these days, has a recent history of injuries. He is 31 years old, which means he is coming out of his peak years and must learn to adjust accordingly. Sure, Smoltz still has some heat, but now it's about where he's locating his low-90's fastball that's making all the difference for him.

There are alot worse guys you can have at the bottom of your rotation (this guy would be at the top of the Nats', don't you think?). But keep in mind that this is a guy that could end up on the Disabled List tomorrow, with no rhyme or reason. If and/or when Theo Epstein decides to act on a trade, he must do it swiftly. Don't drag it out, just push the button.

If you're going to do it, do it now before it's too late.