The Sommer Frieze

In the battle of the rotations, Boston puts a few penn(ies) into the pot and ups the ante. Brad Penny that is. Penny apparently will be signing a one-year deal with the Red Sox for $5M and can get another $3M if certain incentives are met.

Penny had shoulder trouble and a horrific 2008 season for the Dodgers, going 6-9, 6.27 (ERA+ 68). This was after a superb 16-4, 3.03 (ERA+ 151) 2007 for LA. After June 14th of 2008, Penny only pitched in four games–two in August and two in September.

Penny pitched for the Marlins from 2000-2004, and the Dodgers 2004-2008. He is 94-75, 4.06 (ERA+ 106) for his career. He won a WS with the Marlins in 2003, and beat the Yanks twice (Games 1 and 5) in that WS.

If healthy, Penny could slot in at #4 in the Red Sox rotation behind ex- and now current again teammate Josh Beckett, Jon Lester and Daisuke Matsuzaka, with Tim Wakefield once again in the #5 slot. The question is, what Penny do the Red Sox get? A lucky penny or a bad one? The Sox tried their luck with Bartolo Colon last year, and Colon went 4-2 in 7 games (ERA 3.92, ERA+ 118). Next spring Penny turns 31. Colon 36.

Boston also is close to signing C Josh Bard as a backup C. Bard hit .202-1-16, OPS+ 53 for the Padres in 2008 and will be 31 next spring. The switch-hitter is a .265 career hitter with an OPS+ of 96. Besides the Padres, Bard has played on the Indians and once briefly with Boston before—spending seven games with the Red Sox in 2006.

The NFL playoff scenario is now set, and there are some surprises. I was celebrating the holidays and a certain special day yesterday with family. Some family members were happy and others….well,

As a Steelers fan, I was happy they won yesterday but was a little (ok, a lot) worried when I heard about Big Ben’s concussion and that he had to be carted off the field. As for the rest of the AFC, the Dolphins gained the AFC East title by defeating the Jets. This made one of my brothers and one nephew very happy. From 1-15 to 11-5 and the playoffs. I was glad to see Belicheat knocked out despite an 11-5 mark. I’ll give the Pats credit for going 11-5 without Brady, however.

As for Tom Brady, word is that he’s now engaged to his supermodel girlfriend, Giselle Bundchen. Other news for him isn’t good as reports are that he is far behind on his rehab due to various complications and after missing almost all of the 2008 season could miss all of 2009. I got an interesting e-mail from a friend this week. The one-time Pats fan isn’t any longer. The reasons? The Belicheat spygate incident and the Tom-catting of Mr. Brady. My friend lost a lot of respect for Brady when he dumped his pregnant ex-girlfriend for Bundchen, and he also doesn’t care much for Bundchen.

SD blasted Denver last night to gain the last playoff spot. Between the Jets, Broncos, Bucs, and Bears, it seemed like no one wanted to get into the postseason.

So the AFC stacks up as Indy at SD, and Baltimore at Miami. I haven’t seen the odds, but I’ll take both of the ROAD teams. Come to think of it, I think that there is an excellent chance ALL FOUR road teams win next weekend. As a Steelers fan, I see a rematch at Heinz Field with the Colts. In a great game earlier this year, the Colts beat the Steelers 24-20 in Pittsburgh.

As for the NFC, the Bears lost, the Vikings won, and the Vikes got the #3 seed. Bringing us to two of my brothers and their diehard rooting interest in….the Dallas Cowboys. Let’s just say they were NOT happy.

The Eagles needed a lot of karma to get into the playoffs. They needed the Bucs to lose, which they did…to a poor Raiders team. They needed either the Vikings or Bears to lose. So the Bears lost….to Houston. This set up a win and you are in game in Philly between the Cowboys and the Eagles and it was no contest. For the Cowboys, it was sheer embarrassment. 44-6 Eagles. Tony Romo’s December numbers got uglier.

So the Eagles travel to Minnesota, with Atlanta going to Arizona. As I wrote above, I wouldn’t be shocked to see all four ROAD teams win next weekend.

The hapless Lions, meanwhile, wrap up an 0-16 season. Reports are that coach Rod Marinelli will be out as head coach. The chopping block won’t only have his head today. Reports are also out that Browns (4-12) coach Romeo Crennell will be ousted today as well.

And one more….I don’t know if Tim the Wizard will be the one holding the axe, but it appears that Eric Mangini will also be gone. I’ve heard (and Tim will most likely comment) about problems between Mangini and Favre. As for Favre, it could have been his last game yesterday. While I acknowledge Favre has been a great QB, I don’t put him as high on my list as others do on theirs. Especially those who put Favre in the top 5 all-time (or even #1). Favre just made too many bad decisions and threw too many bad passes and interceptions to go to the top of my list. He won one Super Bowl, but lost another and probably should have reached the ultimate game more than twice (last year’s NFC title game is one that comes to mind, as well as a playoff loss to the Eagles a few years ago, and losses to Dallas in the playoffs). It’s ironic that the Dolphins—with Chad Pennington in charge—beat the Jets to a) win the AFC East b) cost Mangini his job and c) probably end Favre’s (Pennington’s replacement) career.

The $$$ will be dangled to Bill Cowher. The question is, does he accept it and from whom? Bill has a nice studio job but you never know. Bill Parcells had—and left—that situation a number of times. Speaking of Parcells, once Huizenga sells the Dolphins, what becomes of the “Big Tuna?” Does HE opt-out?