THURSDAY: Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that Penny will earn $1MM if he makes the Major League roster, and his deal has an additional $1.5MM of games started/innings pitched incentives included (Twitter link). Penny can opt out of the deal on April 2 if he is not on the Major League roster.
WEDNESDAY: The Royals have reached agreement with pitcher Brad Penny on a minor league deal that includes a Spring Training invite, reports Chris Cotillo of MLBDailyDish.com (Twitter links). He will go to camp as a starter, according to Cotillo.
Penny, 35, is represented by the Legacy Agency. After sitting out the 2013 campaign, he had reportedly been impressive in workouts over the winter. As Cotillo reported in late November, Penny said he felt refreshed after taking a season off.
Penny produced mediocre results in his last two MLB seasons. In 2011, his last run as a starter, Penny put up a 5.30 ERA in 181 2/3 innings. Transitioning to the bullpen in 2012, Penny struggled to a 6.11 ERA in 28 innings for the Giants. He mustered only 3.2 K/9, nearly half his career figure, against a 2.9 BB/9 rate that matches exactly his cumulative mark. In his best season as a pro, 2007, Penny put up a stellar 208-inning, 3.03 ERA campaign for the Dodgers in which he was worth 5.9 rWAR.
NICE MOVE!
I love this. I remember watching this guy pitch out here in LA with the Dodgers and he raked. I hope we can help coach him back to form. Welcome!
Back in the day he could bring it!
Looking back in hindsight, crazy to see that Penny was the NL Starter for the 2006 All-Star Game.
thats insane
I remember that. He was throwing so hard that you cold hear him grunting with every pitch. If I remember correct, he may have even hit triple digits.
Penny was horrible with Detroit last time he pitched in the MLB…
The plus is that this can’t hurt. The minus is that it can’t really help. Penny hasn’t had a decent year in a long long time.
Royals could really use a guy who could slot in as a 2 or 3. They’re fringe contenders in the weakest division in the AL. They’ve got some young guys who could really help, but that’s a lot to ask. 40% of their rotation is taken up by innings eaters, which bodes well for a team trying to finish above .500 but not necessarily the playoffs. Shields needs help.
Do you really think the Royals had to choose between signing Brad Penny and a “2 or 3”?
That’s not what I said. I said the could use one. Penny doesn’t really do them any good. Depth, maybe but if they get to the point where he’s in the rotation, they’re in trouble.
You were using the language of opportunity cost when that’s not the case.
Also, for the record, I think the Royals are more than fringe contenders. The Tigers and Indians both have had a net loss of talent this winter and the Royals have a net gain – even if they don’t re-sign Santana or someone similar.
I’m not. That’s why I differentiated the paragraphs from each other.
Yea I have major doubts about Penny being relevant. I do think that the Royals rotation is good enough to win the division though. But that may be because I have more confidence in Duffy than others. I’m excited to see what Ventura and/or Zimmer can do this year also.
Duffy would need to be pretty good in order to turn that rotation into one that could win the division. He was very good in a small sample size. I don’t like Vargas and Guthrie in the same rotation. That’s a big problem when they don’t have a proven 2 or 3.
If Ventura and Duffy can be the 2-3, and you have a rotation of Shields, Ventura, Duffy, Vargas and Guthrie – now the Royals are on to something. Add Zimmer to the mix too.
So basically Ventura needs to be ROY and then all is well? That’s a tall order.
Another reclaimation crap shoot for the Royals. I think this could be really good for us. Here is hoping that the initial good winter workouts yield a great season for the guy.
the year of the comebacks
Penny was proof positive that having a FB that sat in the 94-5 range and would touch 97-99 wasn’t good enough to get K’s.Decent 12-6 curve, hard fb (straight however, but just could never put people away with his heater and he had that superb velocity as late as ’08-09. Maybe lost a tad now, not followed him for awhile, but he was always an enigma.. All that raw talent and he was just..Blah…
Get ready for 4 hour games. Slowest worker in MLB.
I’ll bring a book…..
Good point.. Slow worker and slow getting ready, or warming up. Makes him not a relief option, unless using him in advance for a clean inning. This guy took forever to get “heated up”, just like while on the mound between pitches. Not sure if he learned that from Beckett, or if Beckett taught it to him, but Joe West should ump both of those guys games and stop watch between pitches, especially with runners on base when both would REALLY start dragging along.
He was always pretty… deliberate… in LA too. The Dodgers also tried him in relief for awhile. Wasn’t a fit.
I think this is awesome, I mean I don’t expect much to come from it, but ever since I saw this guy pitch the AS game on tv when I was a kid I’ve always thought he was cool.
Penny hadn’t retired yet?
Well, technically, he did, but then he came back. ;)
LOL, I guess I should’ve said something along the lines of “Penny still exists?”
Hope that Fox sports Kansas City does not have a female sideline reporter.
I first met Penny when he was 19 years old and pitching for the High Desert Mavericks of the California League. He dominated that league that year (a hitters league) and appeared to have a bright future in baseball. His success in the Big Leagues has been fairly well, but I had always hoped he would have a 20-win campaign there. Can he make a successful comeback this year ? I certainly hope so. Now that my good friend Irving Falu has moved on to the Brewers, I still am pulling for a winning season for the Royals in 2014 !
He was always a hard thrower. He could be a good bullpen piece if he figures it out again.
The problem with Penny is that he’s basically a one-pitch pitcher. He’s got nothing else of quality to mix in, so If his fastball isn’t working, he’s in trouble. We saw plenty of that in LA.
I’m with those saying the Royals need a 2 or 3 starter. I know that is easier said than done. I feel that as they stand now they are essentially the same team as 2013. In the central that might be good enough. The Royals are a tricky team…..they could conceivably go Oakland on the division…. but it just seems like they could use a Ubaldo Jimenez slotted behind Shields.
The same team??? They added arguably one of the best lead-off hitters in
OF Norichika Aoki. Then signed a clutch hitting 2nd baseman Omar Infante from their rival Detroit Tigers which weakened them. They signed an innings eater in Jason Vargas who’s always pitched well at the “K”. They also signed a good right handed bat
Danny Valencia to back-up “Moose” who struggles against left handed pitching. If they sign one more pitcher I’d say an argument could be made that they could be a favorite, with what Cleveland and Detroit lost in the off- season. I loved watching the “Magic Man” pitch last year, but he was not the same after the all-star break.
Danny Duffy,
Yordano Ventura, or even Luke Hochevar just need to step up and deliver and we could have the best pitching staff in the AL Central, throw in that bullpen and it could be the best in the American League. Go Royals!