What to do, What to do.

Come next week, the Red Sox will be faced with a very unique problem in this new era of major league baseball: an abundance of quality pitching. John Smoltz made presumably his final rehab start for Pawtucket last night, giving up four runs on six hits and a walk while fanning six through six innings. The grizzled veteran will most likely see a start sometime next week, whether the Sox' brass had figured out what to do with the remainder of the rotation or not. Josh Beckett, John Lester and Tim Wakefield have solidified themselves as dependable starters (at least for now) and will almost certainly stay in the rotation. Now, for the remaining two spots, the boys of summer have basically four options. They could keep things the way they are with the struggling Daisuke Matsuzaka and consistent (albeit erratic) Brad Penny, or shakeup the rotation and go with new acquisition John Smoltz and young stud Clay Buchholz.

My guess, they put Dice-K on the 15-day DL, (possibly longer) and let him figure out his stuff. By now, Sox fans know what Dice-K is; he's the best 5 2/3 inning pitcher in all of baseball. He won't dominate, he'll throw a lot of pitches, give up plenty of walks and hits, but get out of jams when need be. The World Baseball Classic has taken quite a toll on him; if you include the innings he threw for Japan this winter he's probably at the 100+ mark already. If Matsuzaka can find his form from last season, the Red Sox would have a lot less to worry about.

Now, as for Brad Penny, I feel the Sox will trade him. He is what he is, a hired gun looking to prove himself, and proven himself he has. Not every team has as much depth as the Red Sox, and Brad Penny would be quite attractive as a third or fourth starter for a National League team in the midst of a pennant race. Theo will most likely be looking for a shortstop if they decide to deal Penny, a name that has been mentioned is Jason Donald of the Phillies. Donald, 24, is a young star in the Phillies minor league organization, but is finding it tough to break into the show because he is buried under the all-star middle infield of Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins. The Sox are waiting to see what they can get from shortstop Jed Lowrie, recovering from a recent wrist surgery. If Lowrie is not up to par, the Red Sox will be forced to make a deal for a shortstop.

With Penny gone, the rotation should look something like this come later this summer: Beckett, Lester, Wakefield, Smoltz, Dice-K/Buchholz. Well, on that staff alone you have two pitchers who have thrown no-hitters (Lester and Buchholz), a world series MVP (Beckett), a pitcher who was 18-3 with a 2.90 era a year ago and two-time WBC MVP (Dice-K), one of the most consistent older pitchers in the game (Wake), and an eight time all-star and one-time Cy Young winner (Smoltz). Not bad at all.