Say Hello To… Brad Penny

They took Manny Ramirez off our hands, and this offseason the Sox have picked up two of their castoffs. Reliever Takashi Saito signed with the Sox last week. But more importantly, righty Brad Penny is packing up and moving to the Boston roster.

Brad signed a one-year deal, worth $5 million and up to $3 million extra in performance-based incentives – and after passing the mandatory physical, made his Soxiness official on Friday. Brad had a rough go of it last year, posting a spectacularly crappy 6.27 ERA and spending a chunk of time on the DL. But he’s aiming to make sure he’s back to ‘06-’07 form, when he posted a much prettier line and earned back-to-back All Star honors.

“For me, going out there and pitching like that [last year] was embarrassing,” Penny said in a conference call. “Like I said earlier to someone else, I was pushing through something I probably shouldn’t have, and rest would have helped me out and I would have been a lot better off.

That’s not the [real] Brad Penny last year, and I know that, and hopefully all the people know that, and Boston, apparently they think that, too. I’m going to go out there and work my butt off and do the best I can. I do feel like I have something to prove.”

Brad pointed to the training and rehab program in Boston as a reason he made the Sox his team of choice, but I have to think having ‘03 Marlin buddies Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell will also make the Fens a fun place for him.

“Oh, they were awesome teammates,” Penny said. “Me and Josh had a lot in common; we were both younger guys, we both liked to hunt. All three of us won a World Series together. We were really close. That’s probably the closest I’ve ever been to teammates — that whole Florida team. Mikey Lowell, you’re not going to meet a better person. Both those guys go out there and they’re fierce competitors, and I can’t wait to join them again.”

Also, he’s apparently tight with J.D. Drew – no surprise there, considering Brad owns a ranch back in his native Oklahoma (the only negative thing I can say about him is that he’s an Okie) and owns a racing horse.

The Dodger blogosphere seems to be divided on whether they’re sad or gleeful to watch Brad walk out the door – but seem to be universally disappointed they won’t see Brad’s former girlfriend Eliza Dushku in the stands anymore. Eliza is from the Boston area, and is a Sox fan… I’m sure that didn’t play any part in Brad’s decision at all.