Is the American League's Trash the National League's Treasure?

With Brad Penny’s outstanding performance Wednesday night for the San Francisco Giants, questions have yet again risen this season about the competition level in the National League. Penny, through 24 starts with the Boston Red Sox compiled a 7-8 record with a 5.61 ERA. Batters had hit .299 on the former Dodgers ace, and at the end of his tenure he was struggling to pitch out of the sixth inning. This of course shocked most of the sports-viewing world last night when Penny went 8 strong innings last night against the defending World Champion Philadelphia Phillies. The righty allowed five hits, no runs, and only one walk. Could it be that an American League team’s trash really is a National League team’s treasure? This of course is the second instance this season alone where a Red Sox starting pitcher was cut from Bean Town only to resurface in the National League as a game-changing contributor. On August 6th, future hall-of-famer John Smoltz got tattooed by the Ne...