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Friday, January 20, 2012
Big time rush…to sign him!
The Tampa Bay Rays have re-signed first baseman Carlos Pena, the Tampa Bay Times has confirmed.
Pena has seemed a good fit to return to the Rays throughout the off-season, as we’ve written and talked about repeatedly.
Pena played for the Rays from 2007-10, then moved to the Cubs last season. Agent Scott Boras told the Tampa Bay Times last week that Pena was open to a return to the Rays, where he had success and enjoyed the experience, and Pena told MLB Network Radio last week he was considering several options. He made $10-million last season with the Cubs.
Repoz
Posted: January 20, 2012 at 12:30 PM | 51 comment(s)
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1. trtaylor6886 Posted: January 20, 2012 at 12:52 PM (#4041246)Now let's see if Boston wants to eat half of Crawford's salary for Wade Davis!
For those not aware there were rumors that Doug Melvin might be looking to reduce perceived risk at first base by signing someone not named Prince Fielder
I've got that beat. I not only got the reference, but TE, Jr. has told me he likes Big Time Rush... based solely on seeing them on commercials on Nickelodeon... The horror! The horror!
.196/.325/.407 158 Ks
That's what he did for them in his last year there. Rays REALLY couldn't find anyone better as a FA or in their system? Really? Negative DWAR (is DWAR broke? i thought he was a good defender) 4 out of his last five years. I thought they were well rid of him when he left.
In 2010 out of 11 1B with 450 PA's, Pena was 9th in OPS...$7.5 mill on a limited budget for that?
I'm not saying he's amazing or anything, but if he still puts up an OBP around .350 and slugs around .450-.480, that's not terrible.
For those not aware there were rumors that Doug Melvin might be looking to reduce perceived risk at first base by signing someone not named Prince Fielder
What do you think about Gamel? Is he ready for the majors? Will he hit?
Scott is a career .240/.318/.469 hitter against LHP. Not great obviously but I expect him to be in the lineup towards the bottom when a lefty is starting. Resting Joyce and Pena against most lefties is desirable though. I expect Brandon Guyer to be a reserve on the team so he could replace Joyce easily enough but getting Pena out at the same time will be pretty difficult unless the Rays decide to toss Brignac overboard and get a RHB backup infielder that would allow Rodriguez to shift to 1B against LHP.
It would be, but I predicted his decline in 2009 and was really hoping the Rays would trade him* at the deadline.
Also...I'm SABR-inclined, but feel the scale has tipped TOO far when a guy fails to bat over .227 in his last three years. I'm also not a big fan of the 'Strike-outs aint no big thing' meme.
*Intellectually, I'm a fan of the Rays because of their underdog status. I enjoy seeing them succeed...until they do some dumb #### like play 'Sweet Caroline' after beating the Sox, or their announcers say something dumb.
edit: ALSO, as a 'fan-fave' and prodigal son...when/if he does fail..he's going to have a very long leash (Like Upton did when he batted lead-off forever with a .300 OBP for awhile) and in the AL East there's little room for error.
I think Gamel will be a solid hitter and adequate defensively at first base. I am hard pressed that he would be WORSE with the glove than Prince. He will run the bases better though not nearly as entertaining.
Is he ready for the majors?
Yes
Will he hit?
Yes. The guy has 3210 plate appearances and has a line of .304/.376/.498. he has slugged over .500 at both AA and AAA. He has a good stroke. I would be VERY surprised if he doesn't generate an above average line for a first baseman in the NL.
?
What is the standard statistical method for adjusting for pus drainage again? Multiply by 1.2, right? Thats a standard part of statistical forecasting I believe.
Shouldn't you be happy that the Cubs aren't throwing money down the drain on someone who won't be part of the next good Cubs team?
If you've got the money, having Keppinger on the bench is never a bad thing.
Gack!
If nothing else, it gives a whole new meaning to the term "seeing-eye single."
Yeah, spending $7.5 on Carlos Pena would've been a great idea right after they traded for Anthony Rizzo. Not that Rizzo's a lock to outperform Pena this year (though it wouldn't shock me if he did, either).
Your dreams were your ticket out.
Is Boston going to respond at any point to the upgrades LAA, NY, TB, and Tex have made? Because they're looking like the 5th horse in the race right now.
Anyone know definitively if it's one or two wildcards for 2012?
Yeah, spending $7.5 on Carlos Pena would've been a great idea right after they traded for Anthony Rizzo. Not that Rizzo's a lock to outperform Pena this year (though it wouldn't shock me if he did, either).
Yes it would be a great idea.
The projections are not particularly illuminating for this team, b/c we have no idea how Bard and Aceves will convert to starting, and projections don't tell you if Buchholz back is healthy, whether Crawford's wrist will lead to another lost season, or Youkilis can stay healthy as a 3B at this point in his career.
The "roll the dice" approach to the rotation seems like asking for a disaster.
I'm not really excited to get into another fight with you, but didn't you say just last week that signing Albert Pujols to a one-year deal for the league minimum would be "pointless", on the grounds that 2011 is a wasted year anyway? I'm having trouble reconciling these two statements.
The problem is that if a Pena signing would do this, so would a Maholm signing, but you're strongly in favor of the one and strongly against the other. It's a very strange philosophical inconsistency.
In fairness to him, IIRC he was willing to have the Cubs give Pena a three-year deal. I guess if you're that fond of Pena it's easy to see him as part of a good team instead of a one-year patch on a bad team.
I'm in favor of signing Maholm, Pena, Ramirez, and CJ or Reyes or whomever. Signing Maholm or Pena and doing nothing else is pointless.
In fairness to him, IIRC he was willing to have the Cubs give Pena a three-year deal. I guess if you're that fond of Pena it's easy to see him as part of a good team instead of a one-year patch on a bad team.
I was in favor of giving Pena the market rate for his services be they two years or whatever.
You two talk about Casey Kotchman's eye pus a lot?
Raul Ibanez?
Yeah, spending $7.5 on Carlos Pena would've been a great idea right after they traded for Anthony Rizzo. Not that Rizzo's a lock to outperform Pena this year (though it wouldn't shock me if he did, either).
I thought the consensus was that Rizzo at least starts the year at AAA. Pena would have taken time from LaHair. On the other hand, LaHair projects about the same as Pena. I'd have much rather have seen the Cubs convince ARam to come back than sign Pena.
Anyway, as McCoy notes, it's all moot at this point. The Cubs are essentially stuck with the team they've got.
Hey, looks like the Cubs have signed most of their arb guys.
Soto 4.3
Volstad 2.7 (woo-hoo, we actually lost $100 K on the Z deal)
Wells 2.7
Stewart 2.2
Baker 1.4
DeWitt 1.1
Garza, Samardzija, Corpas and Sonnanstine to go.
If Garza's not traded, we'll probably sneak past the $100 M mark but that includes the $16M we paid the Marlins to take Z. Anyway a payroll cut of $30+ M to go into Ricketts' pocket.
She must be a screamer.
Sure, but does Damon, who is actively pursuing 3K hits, want to be stuck platooning in the Bronx?
I find it difficult to believe that an offer to play every day for the Tigers would be less than what the Yankees would offer him for 100 games. If that were the case, then the Yankees, not the Rays, would have signed Pena.
The Sox have taken strange approaches to pitching in the Bill James era. There was the closer by committee delight, the 'let's load up on injured old guys' phase, then we were treated to 'hey, what do we need with Kevin F. Millwood--what could possibly go wrong?' Not to mention the 33m in the toilet between Lackey and Matsuzaka.
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