Brad Penny has found a new home in the U.S. after being cut by his Japanese team, but it isn’t with one of the team’s desperate for pitching; he took a minor league pact from the Giants.
Penny does qualify as rotation depth for a Giants team without much of it behind its five starters, but depending on how he performs, he could also be called up to the majors for the first time as a reliever later this season. 315 of Penny’s 319 major league appearances have been starts.
The plan is for Penny to report to extended spring training initially. He’ll likely be placed on a minor league team early next month.
Penny pitched for the Giants briefly in 2009 after being let go by the Red Sox and was a big success, finishing 4-1 with a 2.59 ERA in six starts. The 33-year-old right-hander was 11-11 with a 5.30 ERA for the Tigers last season.
