Penny Likely Here For A While

Don't expect the Red Sox to trade Brad Penny anytime soon. Why? How about this:

• Penny has pitched very well his last few starts, making him one of the best back-of-the-rotation starters in the game right now.
• Daisuke Matsuzaka is on the DL, and by all accounts he will be out for quite some time, freeing a spot in the rotation that is Penny's to lose at this point.
• The Red Sox currently have 2 pitchers who are 40+ years old in their rotation (Tim Wakefield, John Smoltz). One of them (Smoltz) just came back from an injury. The chances of one of them getting hurt at some point are unfortunately high. The Red Sox would hate to see that happen right after they trade Brad Penny, as that would create two wholes in the rotation instead of one (or none if they hang onto Penny).
• The Sox see no immediate need to get Clay Buchholz to the big leagues. True, Buchholz is utterly dominating the International League (AAA), but he has not proven that he can pitch well consistently at the major league level. Brad Penny is doing that right now, so the Red Sox are not about to hand his spot in the rotation to Buchholz.
• There does not seem to be much interest in him from other teams right now. This could change as the trading deadline gets closer and teams get more desperate, but for now the Red Sox will sit tight until that happens and his value on the trade market goes up.
• The Red Sox have no immediate need to address. Both their bullpen and their starting rotation are among the best in baseball. Offensively Ortiz has started to pound the ball again, eliminating the need to import another bat. Nick Green has been more than adequate at shortstop, plus Jed Lowrie is getting closer to returning. So with no major wholes to fill, the Red Sox are under no pressure to swap Penny.
• Brad Penny is a gritty, hardworking dirtdog who doesn't take crap from anyone. (Just ask Joe Girardi.) That is exactly the type of player the Red Sox love.

Yeah, Penny isn't going anywhere for a while.