10:41pm: Pena has been told that the Cubs will pull him back off of waivers, according to Muskat (on Twitter).
5:59pm: The Cubs and Yankees haven't had contact about Pena as of this evening, according to Olney (on Twitter).
5:06pm: GM Brian Cashman told MLB.com's Bryan Hoch that a trade is "very unlikely" for the Yankees and that he's "not optimistic" about making a deal. MLB.com's Carrie Muskat reports (on Twitter) that Pena isn't going anywhere.
4:16pm: The Yankees claimed Pena, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (on Twitter). That means every team in baseball other than New York and possibly Boston passed on Pena. It's clear that the Yankees want Pena, according to ESPN.com's Buster Olney, but Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports says the Cubs remain reluctant to make a deal (Twitter links).
1:09pm: Cubs slugger Carlos Pena was claimed on waivers by an unknown team, according to Buster Olney of ESPN.com (via Twitter). The Cubs made the decision to place Pena on trade waivers on Monday, triggering a 48 hour window in which teams could put in claims.
In 480 plate appearances this year for the Cubs, the 33-year-old is hitting .222/.342/.455 with 23 homers. Pena is owed about $1MM for the rest of the year and projects as a Type B free agent this winter. The Cubs will be on the hook for a deferred $5MM in January even if they deal him.
SF Giants is my guess…
So we cannot further play Brandon Belt…and unless Aubrey Huff goes on our magical DL list or is reduced to a pinch hitter role than Sabean is much more desperate than we think.
magic DL stints happen frequently here in SF lol… also rosters expand in a week.
Very true but then we would have to cut someone from the roster. Unless DeRosa swings at an imaginary wall and blows up his wrist again prompting us to put him on the 60 Day DL lol…
DFA fontenot…bench aubrey move belt to left…
Angels would be my guess
Indians.
Indians are done. SORRY!!!
What about the Indians acquiring him, and then extending him? Takes care of a few offensive issues for the Indians rather early.
Arizona?
If they didn’t go after him at the previous deadline then I question what their plan is.
Pirates, haha just kidding.
Actually…
redsox?
REVEAL YOURSELF MYSTERY TEAM!
Oh god, not the sox!!!!
yes the sox
I doubt he reached an al team. D backs make sense
Rockies…;)
Indians are playing their rookie 3rd baseman as the DH for the second day in a row so with them losing their Thome claim by a half game to the White Sox and Hafner most likely done for the year I see them as a team that would take a gamble on Pena for a DH.
hope the cubs can get a prospect for him
Orioles,
Well known that they love mediocre former Cubs.
After moving Lee, the Os have room to bring in another Cubbie.
from one former cubbie 1st basemen to the next
Giants or D-backs would be my guess
my guess is dbacks they’ve been trying to seek a power 1B the whole year and their among the top 10 in waiver claim, makes sense they get him now they’re in serious postseason talks.
why are the cubs still on the hook for the $5M deferred? Doesn’t the claiming team take on the contract if the Cubs just let him go?
Maybe because its deferred money from this year’s contract. Not really sure?
It’s deferred money, not a signing bonus. When you claim a player, you take on his contract… which should mean that if you’re taking on a guy that has deferred money, you have to pay that deferred money. Trying to find info on it though.
The writer is wrong, technically. The Cubs would owe the deferred money if they allow the other team to just take Pena for free. However, if a trade were made, technically the Cubs would not be on the hook…but, since this is a waiver trade situation, the Cubs will have to pay that $5 mil just to trade him. Simply letting the other team assume the deal isn’t going to save the Cubs much money, Pena is owed less than $1 mil the rest of the season, other than the deferred money.
Are you sure of this… unfortunately I can’t find a thing that states anything about deferred payments with waiver transactions.
*sorry the dbacks arent in top 10 waiver claim but among contenders they are in good position.
If the Cubs trade Pena, doesn’t his contract go with him? I believe any team he’s traded to would be responsible for his deferred salary.
I was going to ask this same question.
The Ghost of Jim Hendry screws the Cubs again.
I don’t think so. The money’s deferred, but the salary is still allotted for the 2010 season. I imagine the deferred salary would be prorated between the teams, with the Cubs having the lion’s share of the responsibility since he’ll have spent the majority of the season with them.
This is just conjecture, though. I’m interested in knowing the truth of it myself…
-C
White sox for Adam Dunn. This is of course assuming Dunn was placed on and cleared waivers. Which he more than likely did. Cash too of course.
That would be counter productive.
What if the Cubs just Gave him to the claiming team? Wouldn’t said team be on the hook for all of the money, deferment included?
Part of the structure of the deal.
Yes. In a straight claim the team taking Pena would assume all his contract including deferred payments ( see manny to the whitesox last year) but if it’s a trade and no money is involved the cubs would be on the hook for the payments in January. Honestly the Cuba should just let the claiming team take
Him and save 6 mill total.
Absolutely they should…there’s no point to having him around the rest of the year.
Are you sure of this? I haven’t been able to find anything at all addressing this.
I think the Dodgers are the ones paying Manny’s deferred money. I seem to remember an article stating that with his payments beginning, McCourt’s financial troubles got worse (he was having to make payroll as well as start the payments to Manny).
If that’s true, Randy Bush is already showing he’s smarter than Hendry. If the Cubs can save 6 million by letting him go, they shouldn’t hesitate.
The cubs are on the hook for the 5MM no matter what. It was structured that way so the Cubs had more to spend on the 2011 payroll. Not a whole lot of money to be saved.
I thought if a player was claimed, the team could just let him go and the receiving team picks up his contract. How is that any different than Alex Rios being claimed by the White Sox? Toronto just said “OK he’s yours”.
The 5MM isn’t technically part of the payroll. I know there are some good articles about it from MLBTR posts you could find in the archive. Hendry did a really nice job of getting Pena and being able to fill out the roster. Of course, hindsight is 20-20, and it was all for nothing.
I agree. If they can get out of all the money on his contract, they should. This will free up cash to send with _________ (fill in name) when they trade him.
I honestly believe the Giants will claim any and every decent player they can simply to block the D’Backs, Braves, and Phillies.
for some reason i just beleive its the phillies idk its just a strong opinion because of there need for a left handed bat
Yankees! The Yankees trade a class-A prospect for Pena. Pena DH’s with Gawd awful Jorge Posada FINALLY riding the pine (against right-handed pitching).
Wow, were you just guessing? I didn’t expect the Yankee’s to be anywhere near him with Montero they could call up.
Total guess!
Well, if the Yankees are actually going to just try and sell high on Montero, why not just tell the Cubs, “Sure, go ahead and have him?”
That is, of course, if it’s true the Yankees are losing faith in Montero and want to cut him loose before he bombs his value.
Even if Montero’s stock has declined, it is still too high a price to pay for Pena for a month. Let’s get real here.
Another Boras client leaked to Jon Heyman….. Hmmm……
Posada has been hitting fine as a lefty this year, and with Chavez on the bench, a lefty isn’t high on the priority list. And it doesn’t matter if Pena is Type B, no way does a team offer him arbitration.
The YANKEES!?!?!?!?!? How the heck did he get all the way to the Yankees? Arizona must have been sleeping.
I want to know why the Yankees want him? I’d rather they have gone after Wandy or Ublado.
Because trading for those two is remotely similar in asking price.
Rich its simple, hes old, past his prime, pretty bad numbers and cost a lot of money. He is the definition of a Yankee, minus the PED (maybe).
Jesus Montero would be so much better. Get the kid some big league experience.
Amen to that!
I Cant Believe We Came Up With The Same Name. But True Say.
What the…
single white female!
…
You have a stalker…
Do explain
Can someone explain to me why the Cubs would be reluctant to trade Pena? He has no future in Chicago. He is hitting something like .190 with runners in scoring position. Oh, yeah, he’s hitting .220 for the year. If you could get 1 minor leaguer for him, take it.
Fear that LaHair would be up at 1B and it would signify a lost season? /sarcasm
Thanks for reminding all of us that batting averages are the only statistic worth referencing.
And yet a .349 OBP with runners in scoring position.
You don’t typically drive in runs by walking…
Bases loaded walk drives in 1
How often does that happen? My point was it made no sense to mention on base percentage when it comes to RISP. What do I care if a guy has a .500 obp with risp and a horrible batting average. Tells me he’s not driving in runs, which is the point of the game.
i see your RISP BA and raise you wOBA by leverage index:
low leverage: .297
medium leverage: .364
high leverage: .419
clutchiness!
Nobody knows what leverage index is yet. Come back in a few months when it’s the cool thing to talk about, k.
trade pena. get new gm, have gm sign pujols or pena and a nuMBER #1 starter
wat r the yankees gonna do with carlos paina -.-
Looks like they’re not getting him but how the hell did he make it to the Yankees aren’t they like one of the last 3 to be able to claim a player. Hes not Adrian Gonzalez but hes also not Bob Eucker lol. He’s got good power and a good glove and decent obp.
If the cubs let him go and are able to save the 6 mil ( the only way )I say let him go.
I guess this opens the rumors about pujols and fielder again if this trade goes down.
Fire Randy Bush.
Give the Yankees Pena, just get rid of him.
If the Cubs are not interested in trading Pena, it is irresponsible and careless. We shouldn’t even be entertaining resigning Carlos Pena with Fielder hitting free agency. Are we sure Jim Hendry isn’t still here?
I Hope NYY Get Him At A Cheap Price Because We Are Only Having Him (IF THEY GET HIM) For The Rest Of The Season
The Yankees need starting pitching.
The Cubbies’ season has been done for months. Just let NY have him. Bring up LaHair or anyone really. Let’s see where we stand for next year.
Who cares about LaHair, hes a 28 year old minor leaguer who is homer only
I never said I cared about LaHair, but who else do they have in the minors? The point was Pena makes several million dollars this year and LaHair makes a few thousand. If they play LaHair over Pena, at least they know whether to give him a shot in the spring or move on to plan B. There is zero benefit to keeping Pena. Does that make some sense to you or do you need more clarification?
Well, this does tell you that they’re not signing Fielder, doesn’t it? So, there’s a point to keeping him just not one you’d like.
How does that work exactly? Not that I am hoping they sign Fielder, I just don’t follow your logic train.
Well, my point is that he’s cheaper, a good clubhouse guy, a LH power bat, with good OBP…he doesn’t compare offensively to Fielder but Pena does have skill sets that you want to keep and the Cubs need, like solid OBP. And if the Cubs don’t want to give him up to a team like the Yanks who appear to really desire him, which could mean a solid prospect. What does that say? Sounds like the Cubs are intent on keeping Pena.
I agree with you for all of the reasons you stated. I personally would prefer letting the Yankees have him for the rest of the season. Maybe their hitting coach can have better luck fixing his swing. Then the Cubs new GM can look at re-signing him in the winter to a 2 or 3 year deal while the scouting team looks at bringing in a young, capable, long-term replacement (not Fielder or Pujols).
wtf, I just don’t get it, unless it’s just so another team doesn’t get him. The yankees have Montero waiting for months at this point, and they aren’t willing to bring him up.
Wow, all those posts and not one “But can he pitch” – Brian Cashman.
“But can he pitch”
– Brian Cashman
Thanks.
Wlcome.
Where the heck do the yankees put Pena? Don’t they already have a left handed hitting 1B/DH? Is the organization still trying to trade Jesus Montero?
Further proof that the Yankees either don’t think Montero is ready or he is overrated a bit. And a Fangraphs writer had a good point a few days ago, to you fans who though the Yankees would call him up and start immediately at DH when rosters expand, if they were planning on calling him up and starting right away he would be up already.
i don’t think the yankees feel that he is overrated, but whenever you can add a veteran to your roster who can add something over a player who has extremely limited mlb experience, you do it…
Calling up Montero now and say hey, go up there and hit because we’re in the playoffs! probably isn’t the wisest in terms of player development..
and your last point is off too, he wasn’t called up now because he’s playing defensively everyday which is what he was there to work on .
The Cubs will sign Carlos Pena to the same contract Pujols gets from the Cardinals this off-season. Not sure why they are so hell bent on keeping this guy around in a lost season.
I was all for the initial Pena signing. It’s worked fairly well. Now you use him as a trade chip–fairly simple.
Honestly, this crap makes me wonder if Hendry was if very really fired.
Yeah, he’s “still managing the team from tunnel.”
is teixera not good enough at first? LOL…
I think this signals a ‘White Flag’ for next season. Ugh. There is no earthly reason to keep Pena around, except they plan to resign him next season. FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
The one offseason where there are TWO serious difference makers at a position the Cubs need, and they’re seemingly going to stick with Pena. I HATE being a Cubs fan sometimes.