The busy times for the Boston Red Sox continued yesterday as they made the Brad Penny signing official. And Penny will have some familiarity with a few of the Red Sox players as he played with Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell in Florida with the Marlins.

Penny is ready for the chance in Boston to prove himself after an injury-riddled 2008 season in which he said he rushed himself back.

Penny feels this can serve as vindication for last year, when he rushed back from a shoulder injury. While on the disabled list, he played catch when he shouldn’t have. Each time he returned, he knew it was too soon. He hated watching his teammates play without him.

“To me, going out there and doing that is embarrassing,” Penny said. “That’s not the Brad Penny last year. I do feel I have something to prove.”

Which is why Reinhold’s program, Penny said, was “a huge factor in my decision.” He had been familiar with it before visiting Boston, and Beckett helped convince him it would help return him to the form that made him one of the NL’s best starters. Penny expects his shoulder will not affect his preparation once spring training begins.

“It’s going good,” he said. “I’ve had no problems so far” this offseason.

Besides the Penny signing becoming official, the Red Sox announced that minor league pitchers Dewon Day and Virgil Vasquez had picked up off waivers by the Tampa Bay Rays and San Diego Padres respectively. They also announced that Charlie Zink had been outrighted to Pawtucket after clearing waivers.

Peter Gammons held an impromptu chat over at Boston.com yesterday and said the Red Sox are very interested in the Diamondbacks catcher Miguel Montero.

Bishop Hendricken High School is beaming with pride about Rocco Baldelli returning home to the Red Sox.

Chipper Jones is upset about the Atlanta Braves letting John Smoltz go to the Red Sox.

Red Sox bench coach Brad Mills spent the winter in Visalia, CA.

Justin Masterson was the guest of honor at the Portland Sea Dogs Hot Stove Dinner.

It’s game day for the UConn Huskies men’s basketball team and the women’s basketball team. The UConn men are in Cincinnati to take on the Bearcats at 4:30 PM on MyTV9. The UConn women are in beautiful Morgantown, West Virginia to take on the Mountaineers at 7 PM on CPTV.

Don’t forget to ask former UConn Husky Mel Thomas a question for a chance to win her book. I am planning on closing out the questions tonight so that I can prepare to send them along.

Jim Fuller of the New Haven Register, John Altavilla of the Hartford Courant and Rich Elliott of the Connecticut Post all have notes on the UConn women’s basketball team.

Geno Auriemma still wants Maya Moore to do more on the court.

Kalana Greene is flashing hints of her old form.

The UConn women aren’t overlooking the little things.

Renee Montgomery is happy to be home again.

The UConn women have added defense to their arsenal of weapons.

Kalana Greene is starting to find her touch again.

Matt Stout of the Norwich Bulletin, Mike Anthony of the Hartford Courant, Neill Ostrout of the Connecticut Post and David Borges of the New Haven Register all have notes on the UConn men’s basketball team.

Jerome Dyson has made up for his offensive struggles with his defense.

Jerome Dyson’s challenge this afternoon will be to slow down Deonta Vaughn.

The UConn men are ready for game 2 of a 3-game road trip.

The UConn men need to shoot the ball better from the outside this afternoon.

The Huskies frontcourt is ready for a battle with Cincinnati this afternoon.

After a tough win against West Virginia, the UConn men will try to build some momentum this afternoon.

Jim Calhoun wants his Huskies to stay in the moment.

Scottie Haralson and Charles Okwandu didn’t accompany the team to Cincinnati.

The UConn men’s hockey team fell 5-3 to RIT.

The UConn women’s softball team signed 5 players to letters of intent.

Many charitable events for the Red Sox this weekend: Alex Speier takes a look at the charitable events the Boston Red Sox players and officials will be taking place in over the weekend. The events include today’s rookie development program signing, the New Stars For Young Stars, the Hot Stove, Cool Music Roundtable and the Hot Stove, Cool Music concert taking place tomorrow night. [WEEI.com]

A big thank you to everyone who has left questions for former UConn Huskies women’s basketball player Mel Thomas. The questions have been great so far. I do plan to close out the questions either today or tomorrow so keep your questions coming.

John Altavilla of the Hartford Courant has some notes from yesterday’s Big East women’s coaches conference call

The UConn women’s perfect record doesn’t mean perfection in the eyes of Geno Auriemma.

Renee Montgomery should be an early pick in this year’s WNBA Draft.

Renee Montgomery has become one of the UConn women’s top names.

Matt Stout of the Norwich Bulletin has some notes from yesterday’s Big East coaches conference call.

Jim Calhoun is happy that several Huskies are stepping up their play.

In case you missed it, Donald Brown was named ECAC Player of the Year and Moe Petrus was named to the AON Insurance FWAA All-American Freshman Team.

Brian Bennett of ESPN.com takes a look at the recruiting classes of some of the Big East schools including UConn.

It was a busy day yesterday for the Boston Red Sox as they made the Rocco Baldelli deal official and had John Smoltz sign an offer sheet. Then just after midnight this morning, we found out that the Red Sox re-signed Mark Kotsay to a 1-year deal.

The way I see things now is the Red Sox still have two things to take care of. The number 1 priority is finding another catcher. The second is finding a backup infielder although it’s quite possible that whoever loses the battle between Jed Lowrie and Julio Lugo could be the backup.

Red Sox GM Theo Epstein spoke yesterday about Jason Varitek saying that the Red Sox are still considering signing him.

“There’s still some unfinished business,” Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein said. “Jason is still out there. As I said at the beginning of the offseason, he’s been a really important guy here to this organization and by no means have we shut the door on him. There’s still some unfinished business there. And also, in the pursuit of a younger catcher.”

My feelings are that if Varitek isn’t back, the pitching staff may struggle a little bit because of the way Varitek handles them calling the game and almost acting like a psychologist to keep them calm. His bat may not be what it used to be but no one will ever question his abilities behind the plate. And with the lineup the Red Sox have, the production can come from other places.

Of course is Boras doesn’t come down on his demands for him, we could Varitek sporting a different uniform next season because the Red Sox aren’t going to overpay him at all.

Jon Lester will be busy tonight as he will be getting married.

Rob Bradford of WEEI.com has some notes that include Daisuke Matsuzaka being the only Red Sox to particpate in the WBC,  Brad Penny’s physical going well and that John Smoltz will have his physical sometime next week.

The news about Smoltz signing with the Red Sox has hit fans hard down in Atlanta.

Dustin Pedroia took a few moments to talk about his new teammates.

Pedroia also picked up his 2008 AL MVP Trophy at last night’s Boston Baseball Writers’ dinner.

Mike Lowell will be ready for spring training according to Theo Epstein.

Cliff Corcoran of SI.com says the Red Sox can afford to gamble on their 4 recent signings.

The new signings are showing Theo Epstein’s strategy.

Former Red Sox pitcher Mike Torrez has no regrets about his place in baseball history.

The Fenway Sports Group has added another venture to their stable, the Professional Bull Riders.

Alex Speier of WEEI.com talks with Red Sox prospect Michael Bowden.

Jim Rice says he will be watching the Young and the Restless until 1:30 on the day the Baseball Hall of Fame could call.

Mike Petraliga of WEEI.com has some audio clips from last night’s press conferences at the Boston Baseball Writers’ Dinner.

Former Red Sox and current Cincinnati Reds pitcher Bronson Arroyo stopped by the NECN studios to talk about life in Cincinnati and his concert at Patriot Place tonight. He closed out by performing a song to close out the Sports Late-Night Show.