According to a report from Buster Olney of ESPN, the Tigers have agreed to a one-year, $3 million deal with Brad Penny. The veteran right-hander posted a 3-4 record with a 3.23 ERA for the Cardinals in nine starts in 2010. He missed four months of the 2010 season with a right shoulder strain.

This is a return to the American League for Penny, who struggled for the Red Sox in 2009, recording an ERA of 5.61 in 24 starts before being released by the club in August.

There may be three teams in the AL East that figure to be in the thick of things for the entire season, but when it comes to the offseason, the Red Sox and Yankees rule the headlines and transactions log. This past winter was no different, and it was understood from the get-go. The Yankees were going to throw a truckload of money at CC Sabathia and the Red Sox were going to do the same with Mark Teixeira. Both things happened, but the Yankees outdid themselves and the rest of the league by also adding A.J. Burnett and topping Boston’s offer to Texeira with an eight-year, $180 million pact.

In an offseason in which $88.5 million came off the books for the Bronx Bombers, a combined $423.5 million was invested in Sabathia, Burnett, and Teixeria. Meanwhile, the Red Sox, rather than throwing the money they had planned to spend on Teixeira at another free agent, went the low-cost route. They traded fourth outfielder Coco Crisp, set to make $6,083,333 in ’09, to Kansas City for reliever Ramon Ramirez, who is only costing them $441,000. To replace Crisp, they gave former first-round pick Rocco Baldelli a one-year deal worth half a million.

To solidify a rotation that a year earlier couldn’t depend on Clay Buchholz as much as initially assumed, the Sox brought in future Hall-of-Famer John Smoltz and two-time NL All-Star Brad Penny. Both players came to Boston on one-year deals– Smoltz for $5.5 plus incentives and Penny for $5 plus incentives. To improve a bullpen that had already seen the addition of Ramirez, 39-year-old Takashi Saito was given a one year, $1.5 million deal that included both incentives and a club option for the ’10 season. At the time, the signings of the three pitchers were applauded as great moves that cost the club very little and wouldn’t tie up their payroll in the future.

Hindsight’s 20-20, but at the time, who disagreed? In 20 seasons and 3395 innings, Smoltz had a career ERA of 3.26 to go with 210 winds and 154 saves. Of course, he was coming off shoulder surgery, but if anyone could come back in a big way, why not one of the game’s greatest pitchers?

Penny also was viewed as a reclamation project worth the money. When people think of the 2003 World Series, Josh Beckett is the first name that comes up, but a closer look could might surprise some. Though Beckett dominated in the series-clinching Game 6 for the Marlins, it was Penny who went 2-0 in the series while Beckett actually lost Game 3. Additionally, Penny had finished third in NL Cy Young voting in 2007.

Rounding out the trio of big names picked up on the cheap, Saito was the guy who stepped in for Eric Gagne when injuries and ineffectiveness took over for the ’03 NL Cy Young winner. The Japanese-born Saito figured to fit in wonderfully with a pitching staff that already had Hideki Okajima and Daisuke Matsuzaka.

Playing up the chemistry angle, Dan Barbarisi of the Providence Journal wrote this spring of the unlikely friends and karaoke-mates that Penny and Saito have become since their years together in LA. Read it and you’re promised to be bummed that the two no longer share the same clubhouse.

This piece from Over the Monster is just one of the many expressions of approval of the inexpensive-but-potentially brilliant offseason. Posted in March, the piece contained the following praise of each of the signings:

On Smoltz: “If he can contribute on the level Braves fans had become accustomed to seeing over the last couple decades, the Red Sox may have found themselves one of the best bargain signings in all of baseball heading into 2009.”

On Penny: “With his veteran presence, Penny could be invaluable to the Red Sox pitching staff. It would be hard to find another back-end starter as efficient as Penny if he can regain the form that saw him go 16-4 in 2007 with a 3.03 ERA (Finished 3rd in Cy Young voting, voted to All-Star team). This could be a tremendous value signing for the Sox in 2009.”

On Saito:  “If Saito can return to his All-Star form, he should be an essential part of what is already considered one of the best bullpens in all of baseball.”

The reason I chose this post as an example of the positive reception given to these signings is because of the use of three words that were perhaps overlooked by fans and writers everywhere. The three words? “If,” “may,” and “could.”

Those three words have proven to sum up the 2009 Red Sox perfectly. If Smoltz and Penny were anything close to what they used to be, the Sox could be leading the division rather than being six games behind the Yankees. If the rotation had more stability for the entire season, Boston may not have had to call upon Junichi Tazawa so soon. Catch my drift?

This isn’t to say that the Sox had an awful winter. The belief out there is that no matter what they did, Teixeira was Bronx-bound. Additionally, Baldelli has produced at or above the level the Sox could have expected from Crisp (and outlasted him, considering the former Boston centerfielder is out for the season with a labrum tear). However, while the one-year deals to the pitchers were seen as great moves for the future (they would eventually open rotation spots for Buchholz, Tazawa, and Michael Bowden), perhaps not enough emphasis was placed on how it would impact the ’09 club. What were considered “low-risk/high-reward” contracts have just proven to be low-reward. Too low for a division title.

Two of the three are already gone. Smoltz was designated for assignment on August 7 after eight starts, five losses, and an 8.32 ERA. Penny produced what a No. 5 starter should produce– seven wins and an ERA in the mid-to-upper-fours– through his first 19 starts, but since then, Penny has pitched like more of a No. 8ish starter. In his last five starts in a big and tall Red Sox uniform, Penny went 0-4 with a sky-high 9.11 ERA. When he asked for his release yesterday, it’s hard to think Sox GM Theo Epstein teared up.

Saito, on the other hand, has posted an 2.80 ERA that does nothing but reinforce the idea that looking at a reliever’s ERA as a barometer of effectiveness is like looking at Penny as a barometer of athletic builds. From watching the games you can tell that Terry Francona has little-to-no faith in the reliever. Here’s a stat that backs up the notion: In 45 appearances for Saito this season, he has entered only four tie games. Furthermore, he has been called into a one-run game just three times.

If that stat can prove how little he is trusted, let this one prove how ineffective he’s been. Saito– remember, the same guy who has a shiny 2.80 ERA– has allowed 67 percent of the runners he has inherited to score. Perhaps that can explain the lack of faith. Though Saito remains the only one of the three free agent pitchers signed to remain with the team, his performance to this point doesn’t justify a contract that was seen as wise at the time. Of course, the team won’t be hurt long-term by the fact that they gave $1.5 million to a reliever they’re unwilling to use in pressure situations, but it’s worth noting that the three seemingly smart signings have proven to be nothing but a very unsuccessful experiment.

If there is a bright side to the small contracts given out over the offseason, Alex Speier has found it. The lack of guaranteed money committed in the offseason made it possible for the Red Sox to add the salaries of Victor Martinez and Billy Wagner without thinking twice.

“And yet because of their offseason short-term deals that featured relatively modest guaranteed salaries, the Sox retained the financial flexibility to address their needs mid-year,” writes Speier. ”The incentive-laden structure of the deals to Smoltz and Penny also left the Sox in a position where, if the players did not perform up to expectations, the team’s financial commitments would be limited.”

As the team gears up for the final month-plus of the season, they do so having dealt with failed expirements and unanticipated contributions from both Buchholz and Tazawa. Long-term, last offseason won’t hurt the Red Sox. This season, however, is a different story.

Buster Olney reported today that in order for the Phillies to acquire Brad Penny, they would have to part with shortstop prospect Jason Donald. In case a deal comes to fruition, allow LEEInks to give you a head-start on who may be the Red Sox’ next middle infielder.

Donald enetered this season rated the fourth-best prospect in the Phillies organization according to Baseball America. Here’s an excerpt from their 2009 Prospect Handbook:

“Considered an underachiever in college, Donald has overachieved as a pro. Was one of Team USA’s top players in the Olympics. Donald is an offensive player with a feel for hitting. He’s patient but aggressive, pouncing in hitter’s counts and pounding mistakes. He has excellent hands and strong forearms that produce average power to all fields, and he’s developing more pop to his pull side. He’s a solid, smart runner with an average arm. He prepares well and has excellent work habits. A mechanical fielder, Donald grades out as a below-average shortstop and likely won’t be a regular at the position in the majors. He should be average at second base. Donald doesn’t fit the classic third-base profile and may fit better as a super utility player.”

Donald was chosen in the third round out of Arizona in 2006. In a 2008 interview with the Washington Post, Donald explained that he will use the stiff competition he faced in college to his advantage in the majors.

Offensively, Donald has struggled this season for Triple-A Lehigh Valley. As of Thursday he is hitting just .234 with an OPB of .299 and one home run. This comes after an impressive season in Double-A in which he hit .307 with 14 homers and .391 OBP for the Reading Phillies.

Should he be part of a deal to the Sox, Donald wouldn’t be new to Massachusetts baseball. A member of the Cape Cod League in 2004, Donald hit just .206 for the Cotuit Kettleers.

Donald has been a part of trade rumors multiple times since joining the Phillies organization. As recent as last December he was rumored to be headed to Minnesota in exchange for outfielder Delmon Young, who just a year earlier cost the Twins Matt Garza.