A great day for the Cardinals!

[Sports Collector]

Whitey Herzog is going to the Hall of Fame AND The Redbirds just signed Brad Penny to a 1yr/1.75m deal!

I'm stoked to get a fourth starter (that's actually pretty good) for that cheap...

I'm pretty confident that Dave Duncan can restore him to atleast 75% percent of his form when he was in his prime.

Curious as to what people around baseball are thinking...

[Mister_Ed]

im thinking the herzog decision was a good one, and the brad penny decision is a mediocre one...

[tom_murdock]

I'm glad Whitey Herzog made it into the Hall. Not to sure on the Brad Penny deal, to be truthful I never heard of him. I hope it turns out good for us, now lets see if we can sign Holliday.

[Sports Collector]

I think that Dave Duncan is THE BEST pitching coach in the league and can turn around just about anyone...

Brad Penny is still a great pitcher that's just had some injury problems...

I acutally think he will end up our third starter ahead of Piniero...

Tim K. also talked like the Cardinals would also sign one more starter before the Winter Meetings were over...

Cardinal to-do-list

1. sign one more quality starter
2. sign Matt Holliday
3. sign Mark DeRosa

If the fail to sign 2 or 3, they must sign replacements that would be to much of a drop off...

[gasmaster02]

Penny is an ok middle of the rotation guy. I just wish the Cards would take on the projects of restoring Mark Prior and Ben Sheets to what they once were.

[Sports Collector]

I don't think Mark Prior was every anything special in the league ( a top prospect but he was a bust due to injuries) but I would love to see Ben Sheets in a Cardinal uniform...

[pistonsfan9826]

i think penny was a good pick up for the cardinals. i hope they can get him back to where he was and make him better.

[JesRey]

I think that Dave Duncan is THE BEST pitching coach in the league and can turn around just about anyone...

Brad Penny is still a great pitcher that's just had some injury problems...

I acutally think he will end up our third starter ahead of Piniero...

Tim K. also talked like the Cardinals would also sign one more starter before the Winter Meetings were over...

Cardinal to-do-list

1. sign one more quality starter
2. sign Matt Holliday
3. sign Mark DeRosa

If the fail to sign 2 or 3, they must sign replacements that would be to much of a drop off...

Penny hasn't been great for the past 4 seasons. He's nothing special. He's a good end of the rotation pitcher, nothing more

[Sports Collector]

You just described the last few players that Dave Duncan has turned into decent starters (Kyle Loshe, Joel Piniero, and Jeff Weaver for a while)

[Mister_Ed]

you got the contract wrong- its 7.5 million, not 1.75 million, making the signing downright stupid
Ed

[Sports Collector]

Really? Could have sworn espn said that it was 1.75.

Yeah, I'm beggining to miss Walt Jocketty A LOT...with that contact, no way we can resign Holliday and it's looking grim for DeRosa...

Luckily, I don't think that the Cardinals will have to much competition in the Central unless the Cubs go out and make big move...

[JesRey]

You just described the last few players that Dave Duncan has turned into decent starters (Kyle Loshe, Joel Piniero, and Jeff Weaver for a while)

You said Penny is great and what does him being a back-end rotation have to do w/ Loshe, Piniero, and Weaver? Nothing

Dave Duncan turned them into DECENT, and your saying he's going to make Penny great again?

[Sports Collector]

Sorry, I don't have an answer.

only 2 people that can "out argue" me on any given day and it's you and Dan lol

Duncan will still turn him into a Decent pitcher but he won't be what he once was

that's the best I got lol

[redbirdsfan]

I don't know. I actually like the Brad Penny signing. Obviously he had injury problems in 2008 and the first half of 2009 but when he was traded over to the Giants he was 4-1 with a 2.59 ERA. To me it seems like he was getting over his injuries in the second half of the season and was getting back to his pre2008 form when he had back to back 16 win seasons.

If he reverts to even close to that we're talking about pretty good production.
A few things to keep in mind:

1. One year contracts for even decent pitchers are rare (let's not forget that Suppan, Marquis, and Looper all signed three to four year deals at anywhere from 7-10 million a year and mostly sucked for it.) Sadly, 7.5 mil on one year is a good deal for a starter with any track record.

2. He's only the 4th starter. If he's even 75% of what he was pre injury we're talking about 13 or 14 wins, which would make him one of the better 4th starters in the league.

3. He's only 31 years old, can pitch in the mid90's, and will be working with Duncan who, while you guys were ripping on him does have an undeniable track record of rebuilding older pitchers careers.

It's not a slam dunk signing by any means but calling it terrible or stupid seems inaccurate. It seems like a normal short term deal for a free agent pitcher with risk but upside.

[JesRey]

Sorry, I don't have an answer.

only 2 people that can "out argue" me on any given day and it's you and Dan lol

Duncan will still turn him into a Decent pitcher but he won't be what he once was

that's the best I got lol

lol, okay that's what i wanted to know. I thought you said he was going to be great again.

1. One year contracts for even decent pitchers are rare (let's not forget that Suppan, Marquis, and Looper all signed three to four year deals at anywhere from 7-10 million a year and mostly sucked for it.) Sadly, 7.5 mil on one year is a good deal for a starter with any track record.

I don't know about that 7.5 million in this economy for a 4th starter.

The Dodgers got Padilla last year for less than a million for the last half of the season. Your 3rd starter should be making like 6-8 mil.