If the Sox won’t move Dice-K out of his starter’s job, another possibility is Bard getting sent down to Pawtucket while Penny moves to the bullpen, with Smoltz taking his place in the starting rotation. This theory is not too far-fetched, as Penny is well aware that in addition to the $5 million he is guaranteed to make in 2009, he could receive $3 million more in incentives, including $500,000 for appearing in 55 games or $1 million for 50 games finished – and you certainly don’t accomplish those feats as a starter.
Regardless of who gets the boot out of the rotation or the bullpen, there’s going to be a lot of pressure now for Smoltz, who’s set to make $5.5 million in ’09 (and possibly $5 million more in incentives), to pitch well and be at least as solid as Penny has been for most of the year. But the 41-year-old is coming off shoulder surgery and will soon be pitching in the offensive beast that is the AL East. He is surely ready for any challenge however, and also ready to prove to the front office in Atlanta, his home of 20+ years before 2009 that it was a mistake to let him go.
Conveniently, Smoltz’s first outings for Boston will be against familiar NL East foes, either Florida or Washington, and as fate could have it, possibly Atlanta as well, who will face the Sox six times in the next two weeks.
For Red Sox fans, watching a Cooperstown-bound pitcher like John Smoltz come in almost mid-season and join an already star-studded starting rotation is a rare sight. Will he be successful here? This is the week we could begin to find out, at long last.
Article comments
1 - Tony
Wow, you want the great Asian-import Dice K in the bullpen. I, of course, agree but what a far cry from the Sox rooster like preening when they "snatched" him away from the Yankees.
2 - Matthew T. Sussman
Ha. Tony, I think you and Charlie are gonna get along juust fine.
3 - Tony
I think he's a great writer but it just wouldn't be natural for us to not spar a little bit. It would a disservice to the site and our respective loyalties.
4 - Tony
By the way "Dead" red; great name for the feature.
5 - Charlie D
Thanks for the compliments Tony! BTW, let the "spar[ring]" begin (joking). Seriously though, about Dice-K coming to Boston, it was one of the RARE instances where Boston outbid Cashman and the Yanks for a big-time free agent. I don't see it happening again anytime soon.
Also, it now looks like Smoltz will make his debut next week after all (Thursday vs. Washington). But no one's getting dropped from the starting rotation...yet.
Starting next Tuesay, the Sox have 19 games in 20 days leading to the All-Star break, so a 6-man rotation is likely to happen for a week or two after all. I'm surprised Francona and the Sox embraced this option, even if it's temporary. But I guess this will buy Epstein more time to consider which two out of the three (Dice-K, Smoltz, Penny) will have a permanent place in the starting rotation.