Not Off To A Good Start Here…
November 5, 2008 at 3:38 pm | In Brad Penny, Gary Bennett | 12 CommentsBecause I’m really not happy to hear this news…
LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers declined the 2009 option for backup catcher Gary Bennett, paying a $50,000 buyout instead of exercising a $900,000 option.
What? No, the hell with him. I’d basically forgotten he even existed. The chances of Gary Bennett getting $900,000 were so small that I’m surprised the Dodgers didn’t decline the option before the season even ended.
No, this is what I’m talking about:
The Dodgers declined the $9.25 million option for 2009 on pitcher Brad Penny and paid him a $2 million buyout, allowing the 30-year-old right-hander to become a free agent. After winning 16 games in both 2006 and 2007, Penny went 6-9 with a 6.27 ERA in 2008, spending three stints on the disabled list with shoulder tendinitis and he missed the postseason.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise to you that I’m not in favor of this move, since I already advocated picking up his option in my 2009 plan, but I still think this is a huge mistake. This is what I said in that post:
Let me first say, if it turns out that he’s more seriously injured than we know and he does need surgery, then forget it, buy him out. I’m going on the assumption that he’s not that seriously hurt, because as I detailed after his last appearance, dudes with bum shoulders don’t hit 96 on the gun. Nearly all of his problems seemed to be easily chalked up to rust, and I wouldn’t at all be surprised to find out for sure that placing him on the DL was simply because they needed the roster spot and didn’t think Penny would have a chance to pitch enough to work his way back into shape during a playoff push. So why am I picking this up? Two reasons, the first of which being, he was excellent as a Dodger before 2008. His ERA+ was better than league average in every year since he arrived in LA, and 2007 was fantastic at 16-4 with a 159 ERA+. I have a hard time believing that he’s just “lost it” – again, barring a more serious injury we don’t know about. The second reason is, it’s cheap. Since the $8.75m option has a $2m buyout, we’re only talking about $6.75m here. Do you really think you could go out and find a pitcher with his track record for one year, $6.75m? Of course not. This is exactly the kind of gamble a large-market team like the Dodgers should be taking.
My post said $8.75m because that’s what Cot’s Baseball Contracts said; I’m not sure why there’s a discrepancy between that and the other story). But regardless of which salary number is correct, you’re just not going to be able to get a pitcher with his pedigree at that salary number. It’s really easy to forget with how bad Penny was for most of the year, but he got off to a very good start – 2.89 ERA in April. Then he got injured and admittedly tried to pitch through it, instead of telling the team. Imagine if he’d shut it down sooner – instead of having an ugly 6.27 ERA next to his name, maybe it’d only have been around 4.00 had he not been on the mound pushing through while injured. By comparision, look at Rafael Furcal. All we heard all summer was how great he was early in the season because he was still hitting about .366 when he went down. What if he’d tried to play through it and was down to .240 by the time he finally hung it up? I’m quite sure no one would be looking at Furcal the same way they are this offseason. To say that Penny can’t perform any more after several very good seasons is, in my opinion, a big mistake.
Also, it’s certainly not like the Dodgers couldn’t use the starting pitching depth. Right now, your starting rotation consists of Chad Billingsley, Hiroki Kuroda, and Clayton Kershaw, and all three come with their own questions of age and workload. With Derek Lowe and Greg Maddux likely departing, Jason Schmidt an eternal unknown, and James McDonald an untested rookie, you don’t think you could use a guy who as recently as last year, I was looking into whether or not he was having the best non-Koufax LA Dodger starting pitching season ever? Because if you don’t think he’s going to be able to go elsewhere and get more years and bigger paychecks than one year and $7.25m (forget the $2m buyout, he gets it regardless), you’re absolutely wrong – assuming doctors clear his arm. Meanwhile, the Dodgers could be short on starters and paying much more than that for a lesser pitcher.
- Mike Scioscia’s tragic illness 
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if thats the case, looks like the blue is going to go for sabathia.
Comment by mike — November 5, 2008 #
They can go for him, but the Yanks are going to sign him. They’ll go for someone else plus Manny.
Comment by FRANK — November 5, 2008 #
I don’t really care who the Dodgers pick up per se, but please GOD no 4 year/$48 millions dollars for a Carlos Silva type pitcher.
Comment by FireCross — November 5, 2008 #
Maybe the Dodger brass knows something we don’t about Penny’s injury.
Comment by Shmolnick — November 5, 2008 #
I have to agree with Shmol, Mike. The fact that they didn’t exercise the option tells me that there is something not being said. Maybe he is more hurt than we are being told, but I wonder if it is something else?
Who’s to say that he doesn’t get along with Torre? I mean, the fact that he wasn’t at any of the celebrations didn’t help his cause. Of course, neither was .158, but I am guessing if they could get someone to eat a third of his salary, he would be gone, also.
Comment by grabarkewitz — November 5, 2008 #
I think he’s hurt still. He came back looking horrible, and looked horrible the last time we saw him.
Comment by LAFord — November 6, 2008 #
The problem is that his ERA in 2007 was smoke and mirrors, largely.
Comment by kensai — November 6, 2008 #
If he’s hurt, then fine, but I’d be surprised by that because he was still hitting 96 in September.
I agree that his 2007 ERA was a bit misleading based on his peripherals, but he was still an above-average starting pitcher. I don’t see any way you replace that for 1 year and $7 million.
Comment by Mike Scioscia's tragic illness — November 6, 2008 #
I find myself wondering (and don’t send out the hounds) that if he stopped steriods and this is how he’s really pitching.
Comment by Dodger fan — November 6, 2008 #
Interesting note from Tony Jackson regarding Penny. Seems Penny was not attending pitcher’s meetings and was more about his horses and the wimmenfolk.
Seeing as how there is much egg on the Brand and Ned’s face regarding .158, maybe this is their way of avoiding another problem. Mind you, it is a bit late to be worrying about a player making baseball the most important thing, but it does show that the combined brains of McCourt and Colletti can learn, albeit at a slower rate than most.
Comment by grabarkewitz — November 6, 2008 #
[...] all year, and if the team really wanted Penny back, they’d have just picked up his option. (Which I still believe they should have). The one question I do have is on Joe Beimel. It’s rare that a non-closer reliever is able [...]
Pingback by Mike Scioscia’s tragic illness — December 1, 2008 #
[...] all year, and if the team really wanted Penny back, they’d have just picked up his option. (Which I still believe they should have). The one question I do have is on Joe Beimel. It’s rare that a non-closer reliever is able [...]
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