It's easy to forget with the Yankees spending close to half a billion dollars this winter, but there are actually two teams in the American League East that were much better than the Yankees were in 2008. In fact, both the Red Sox and Rays are still very good baseball teams and they're still making moves, even if they don't grab headlines the way their division rivals do. Tonight, Ken Rosenthal is reporting that the Red Sox are close to signing Brad Penny to round out their rotation for 2009. Penny was pretty bad with the Dodgers in 2008, putting up a 6.27 ERA, and 1.63 WHIP to go with a seriously diminished strikeout rate. All that was likely due to his struggle with shoulder problems and Rosenthal is reporting that the deal is still pending a physical, so the Red Sox likely believe he's healthy if they're willing to sign him.
What Penny really does at this point for the Sox is add some insurance to the rotation. When Clay Buchholz struggled last year and the Sox decided they preferred Justin Masterson in the bullpen, the Red Sox were stuck giving starts to Tim Wakefield and Paul Byrd in the playoffs. The addition of a healthy Penny helps them avoid that situation next year, even if Buchholz has another disappointing year.
