Carlos Pena Rumors

Odds and Ends: Phillies and Rays

A few notes regarding the Phillies and the Rays, since this is all anyone is talking about today: Jim Salisbury of the Philadelphia Inquirer notes that arbitration-eligible Ryan Madson could be in for a nice raise this winter. The Biz of Baseball ranked all 30 teams by marginal payroll/marginal win. I'll let them explain the mathematical details, but unsurprisingly, the Rays win by a healthy margin. Howard Bryant discusses Carlos Pena's success with Tampa and how he resisted requests to change his hitting approach while he was struggling with Texas, Oakland, Detroit, New York, and Boston. A lot of writers...   Continue Reading

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Odds and Ends: Yankees, Pena, Epstein

Let's round 'em up for Friday... The Royals claimed 24 year-old righty Jairo Cuevas off waivers from the Braves. I recently did a Q&A with a blog called The 'Burgh Blues. Mike Lupica of the New York Daily News expects the Yankees to spend big this winter. Meanwhile, Peter Abraham reminds fans not to panic. Joel Sherman examines why the Yankees and Red Sox discarded Carlos Pena in 2006. Theo Epstein's new deal will be made official after the World Series. Sox Machine debates whether the White Sox should add a starter this winter. Former Dodgers GM Fred Claire wonders...   Continue Reading

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Rays Dealings: Pena, Kazmir, Shields

We discussed the Carlos Pena deal here, but now we have the breakdown via Marc Topkin. He'll get $6MM in '08, $8MM in '09, and $10.125MM in '10. Meanwhile fellow Boras client Matt Holliday will get $9.5MM in '08 and $13.5MM in '09. Holliday may be the superior player, but is he 60% better? Seems Pena just wanted the security and likes Tampa Bay. Topkin wrote earlier today that Scott Kazmir expected to have an arbitration hearing with the Rays. However, Kazmir and the Rays were able to agree on a $3.785MM salary for '08. Avoiding a hearing might help..   Continue Reading

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Carlos Pena Signs Three-Year Deal

According to Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times, Carlos Pena has signed a three year deal worth about $24MM. The deal buys out one year of free agency. If the amount is accurate, the Rays have a serious bargain on their hands. I was guessing this would cost $36MM. Despite all the concerns about Pena's Boras representation, he's staying in Tampa Bay through 2010   Continue Reading

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Carlos Pena Could Sign Long-Term

The St. Petersburg Times' Rays blog has a note up about first baseman Carlos Pena. (Hat tip DRays Bay.) Pena is under team control through the 2009 season, but a multiyear extension is a possibility. The post says Pena will probably earn in the $4.5-7.5MM range in '08. In '09 he'd probably get up to the $12MM+ range. Maybe the Rays could work out a three-year, $36MM extension to buy out one year of free agency? There was an erroneous report in late November that Pena had rejected a three-year, $30MM extension. Pena is represented by Scott Boras, who didn't..   Continue Reading

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Rays Rumors: Pena, Floyd, Scott

UPDATE, 12-6-07 at 2:17pm: Molony confirms that the Rays have talked to the Astros about Scott, though the Padres are still the frontrunner. FROM 12-6-07 at 8:29am: A few minor Rays nuggets (hat tip Drays Bay)... Marc Lancaster talked to Scott Boras about the possibility of Carlos Pena signing a long-term deal with the Rays. Pena is eligible for free agency after the 2009 season. Boras indicated that Pena would go year to year. If 2008 and 2009 are in the stratosphere of what Pena did in '08, he's looking at four years, $60MM easily in my opinion. Adam Rubin..   Continue Reading

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More Odds and Ends: Kuroda, Pena, Wolf, Percival, Molina

Tim sent me a couple of items, so let's create another bullet list: Mariners GM Bill Bavasi and manager John McLaren have met with Hiroki Kuroda yesterday. There is no report of an offer, but it's believed that four years and $45 million are expected. Kuroda hopes to make his decision on the 29th. Impacto Deportivo, the same site that had first news of the Mets deal with Luis Castillo, reports that Carlos Pena has rejected a three-year, $30 million deal from the Rays. Pena, however, calls the report "a straight lie." Randy Wolf is generating interest from the Padres,..   Continue Reading

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Rays Pony Up

Mark Lancaster of the Tampa Tribune reports that the Devil Rays are set to raise their payroll by at least 20% for 2008. This would bring the total to just under the whopping $35MM mark. The additional payroll will go toward extending Carlos Pena who only made $800,000 to hit 44 homeruns this year. This also brings bad news for teams waiting to get in on the Scott Kazmir sweepstakes. Principal Owner Stuart Sternberg is exploring long term deals with both Kazmir and James Shields. Sternberg believes that with the ongoing development of their young pitching core and proper offseason..   Continue Reading

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Boras Offers Opinion On Carlos Pena

I have to admit it: sometimes I like Scott Boras. I always love a good villain in a movie. My personal favorite is Kurtwood Smith (the dad from That 70's Show) in Robocop. But sometimes even I get annoyed with Boras's hyperbole. He seemed to stretch the truth a bit on Kyle Lohse. He implied the Cardinals would fail to win the division this year because they didn't sign Jeff Weaver. And now he's making his pitch for Devil Rays first baseman Carlos Pena (hat tip DRays Bay). The difference is that while Lohse and Weaver are mediocre at best,..   Continue Reading

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Rays Mulling Plans For Pena, Baldelli

We'll start with the positive vibes: the Rays unearthed Carlos Pena from the free talent pool this year, and he's got a decent shot at besting the franchise home record of 34 (held jointly by Jose Canseco and Aubrey Huff). He could also top Canseco's team-best .563 SLG from 1999. Pena, a Scott Boras client, is making just $800,000 this year. Talk about bang for your buck. He'll have about four years of big league service time after this season, meaning he's under team control and could go to arbitration. He's set to reach free agency after the 2009 season,..   Continue Reading

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Healey's Latest

Mark Healey at Gotham Baseball has long been a solid, underappreciated source of inside information. He's got another Rumor Mill up at his site. My summary follows. The Yankees have an eye on big-name 1Bs like Mark Teixeira and Todd Helton. But more realistically, they're looking at Tampa Bay's Carlos Pena. He's got the defense, so even if he regresses to a 20 HR bat it's a nice pickup. Healey's source believes Tyler Clippard is too much but the Rays like Sean Henn. The Yanks have also inquired about the versatile Ty Wigginton. The Reds, Rockies, and others have been..   Continue Reading

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Rosenthal's Latest

The authority on all trade rumors, Ken Rosenthal has spoken. Let's review. As we have heard before, the Dodgers like Adam Dunn. We've also discussed the fact that there's not a clear place to put him. Whether you go with first base or left field, a veteran must move. The Padres like Dunn as well but talks have yet to occur. The Angels may have liked him in the past but they don't seem likely at this point. And the Twins? They just won't break the bank for him unfortunately. With Michael Barrett having issues with 40% of the Cubs'..   Continue Reading

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Devil Rays Close On Carlos Pena

Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times writes that the Devil Rays are close to signing first baseman Carlos Pena to a minor league deal. Tampa Bay wanted him last year too after Detroit released him. The Yankees picked him up but he didn't get the call. He then exercised his option to become a free agent and signed with Boston. Pena's best season was 2004, when he hit .241/.338/.472 in 142 games. He'll turn 29 in May. Pena will join a contingent of first basemen competing for time in Tampa Bay. They've got Ty Wigginton, Greg Norton, Hee Seop..   Continue Reading

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Speculation: Choi or Pena to Reds?

Publicly, the Reds' plan seems to be using Scott Hatteberg as a full-time first baseman and shifting Adam Dunn back to the outfield now that Wily Mo Pena is gone. Hatteberg authored a .256/.334/.343 line for Oakland last year in 464 at-bats. That's just nowhere near the work of a starting first baseman, even if he does dial that OBP up to .370 again. A commenter on the Wily Mo thread, Mike Murphy, had this to say: "I predict... the Cincy Reds will wind up with either Carlos Pena or Hee Seop Choi." To that I say, good call! One..   Continue Reading

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Trade Candidates Part 2

Last time we looked at players in their contract year and trade possibilities. Today we'll open the field and see who else could be available. Dealing Shea Hillenbrand or Eric Hinske would probably make sense for the Blue Jays. It looks like the two will enter 2006 splitting DH duty for the Jays, and Hillenbrand may have twice as much value with the bat as Hinske. The problem is figuring out which team actually has a need for a middling 1B/3B/DH type. The Red Sox have six starters (seven if you think Papelbon is rotation-ready), but they shouldn't be so..   Continue Reading

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