Wily Mo Pena Rumors

Wily Mo Pena Exercises '09 Option

According to MLB.com's Bill Ladson, the Nationals declined their $5MM club option on outfielder Wily Mo Pena. However, Pena exercised his $2MM player option. 2008 was a lost year for Pena due to a rotator cuff injury. He'll be 27 in January; he has plenty of time to rediscover his power stroke. An Austin Kearns trade could clear up playing time for him.   Continue Reading

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Odds And Ends: Reyes, Colon, Indians, Nationals

A few notes from the MLBiverse... Anthony Reyes, who has been the object of much trade speculation, made his first start at AAA on Friday night. Reyes pitched 3+ scoreless innings with a strict pitch-count. The Cardinals appear to be reconverting Reyes into a starter in the hopes of increasing his value for potential trade partners. Jim Bowden hinted that he may implement a full-fledged youth movement in the near future, noting that a number of top prospects are close to being ready. Specifically, he mentioned two outfielders which would likely mean that Bowden will seek to move Austin Kearns...   Continue Reading

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Nats Extend Wily Mo Pena, Sign Aaron Boone

UPDATE, 12-8-07 at 12:21pm: The Boston Herald's Rob Bradford says Wily Mo could've gotten more guaranteed money if he'd stuck with his previous agent, Josh Zeide. FROM 12-6-07 at 11:20am: The Nats made a couple of moves today. The rumored extension to Wily Mo Pena is done. He gets $2MM in '08, plus a mutual option for '09. The club can exercise it for $5MM, and if they decline Pena can take it for $2MM. Aaron Boone signed a one-year, $1MM deal with incentives. Boone, who turns 35 in March, hit a respectable .286/.388/.423 in part-time duty with the Marlins..   Continue Reading

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Nats Talk Extension With Wily Mo Pena

UPDATE, 12-5-07 at 11:02pm: According to Nats GM Jim Bowden, they've talked with Pena about an extension but no agreement has been reached. FROM 12-5-07 at 8:35pm: ESPN's Enrique Rojas reports that the Nationals have signed Wily Mo Pena to a two-year extension worth $7MM. He'll get $2MM in '08 and $5MM in '09. The deal buys out one year of free agency. Is Wily Mo worth it? Hard to say, as his development has stalled a bit after spending a few years as Boston's extra outfielder   Continue Reading

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Red Sox To Receive Chris Carter In Pena Deal

UPDATE: Looks like my below tip on Desmond didn't pan out - Svrluga says pitcher Emiliano Fruto is the player going to Arizona. Fruto was received from Seattle in the Jose Vidro deal. UPDATE: A source tells me that 22 year-old defensive-minded shortstop Ian Desmond is rumored to be headed to Arizona to complete the deal. Turns out the Wily Mo Pena trade was a three-team affair. The Nationals received Pena. The Red Sox will receive 25 year-old first baseman Chris Carter from Arizona. Since he's not on the Diamondbacks' 40-man roster, I believe the Sox can get Carter now...   Continue Reading

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Wily Mo Pena Traded To Nationals

UPDATE: The Red Sox traded Pena for cash considerations and a player to be named later, according to Amalie Benjamin of the Boston Globe. According to Rob Bradford of the Boston Herald, Wily Mo Pena has been traded to the Nationals. Jim Bowden finally got his man again. Assuming he can stay healthy, it'll be interesting to see what Pena can do with 550 ABs. For what it's worth, PECOTA projected a line of .276/.336/.504 heading into this season. Pena still has a one in five chance of becoming a star, according to Baseball Prospectus   Continue Reading

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Red Sox Must Make Room For Buchholz

Pitching phenom Clay Buchholz remains on track to start a game of Boston's doubleheader against the Angels on Friday. However, the Red Sox will first need to make room on the 40-man roster. Active roster as well, as far as I can tell. I am no roster expert, so correct me if I am wrong. But it seems that moving Brendan Donnelly to the 60-day DL would open up room on the 40-man. Coco Crisp and David Ortiz's injuries don't seem to merit the 15-day DL, so they'd still need to find room on the active roster. One option, according..   Continue Reading

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Random Rumors: Erstad, Gagne, Podsednik

Here's a smattering of random rumors. The Twins have tried and failed to acquire Mike Piazza, Jermaine Dye, and Kevin Mench. Instead of Dye, the White Sox offered up 33 year-old outfielder Darin Erstad, he of the .671 OPS. The Twins passed. Eric Gagne will apparently earn Type A status as a free agent, despite pitching only two innings in 2006. Rob Bradford has the details. This was apparently a big factor for the Red Sox in making the deal. The Chicago Sun-Times debunks a rumor that the Cubs are trying to trade for Scott Podsednik. How come I wasn't..   Continue Reading

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Wily Mo Pena Clears Waivers

According to Rob Bradford of the Boston Herald, Wily Mo Pena has cleared waivers without a claim. It seems no team was willing to risk taking on the $580K owed to Pena this year. Pena can now be freely traded to any team in baseball, though the players received would have to clear waivers too if on the 40-man roster. The way around it would be to make them players to be named later. I'm surprised no one put in a claim on Pena. It can't really be his salary, can it? Teams waste more than that on players with..   Continue Reading

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Failed Trades

Let's take a look at some deals that almost happened yesterday. Kyle Farnsworth for Bob Wickman. This would've been fun, reunions with former teams for both players. However, the Braves wanted the Yankees to pick up all of Farnsworth's salary, apparently. Brian Cashman didn't want to make him go away that badly, and Wickman would probably be a nonfactor back in the AL. Mariners acquire Mark Loretta. Eh. Let's not overstate the abilities of Loretta. It sounds like Tim Purpura wanted some kind of legitimate prospect for him. Rockies send Jeff Baker and others to Tampa Bay for Dan Wheeler...   Continue Reading

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Mets Offer Humber For Cordero

UPDATE: SI.com's Jon Heyman says the Mets have offered Philip Humber to the Nationals for Cordero, but are holding fast with their bigger name prospects. He also confirms that the Diamondbacks are in on Cordero and could offer Carlos Quentin. According to Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post, the fates of Chad Cordero and Jon Rauch might be tied to Eric Gagne. Gagne has the lower asking price and limited no-trade protection, and Jim Bowden may wait until that situation is resolved. Some possible names on the Nats' radar include Wily Mo Pena, Carlos Quentin, and Philip Humber. Humber is..   Continue Reading

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Tim Brown's Latest: Cordero, Quentin

UPDATE: You can throw Conor Jackson into the mix along with Quentin. Yahoo's Tim Brown has some new rumors and info: Plan B if the Red Sox can't get Eric Gagne: Washington's Chad Cordero. It seems Wily Mo Pena would be a part of that, but I imagine Jim Bowden would want a top prospect as well. The Diamondbacks are shopping Carlos Quentin for a starting pitcher; the Indians and Nationals have interest. Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says the Indians are willing to deal Cliff Lee, so maybe there's a match there. And keep in mind that..   Continue Reading

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"Pretty Good" Chance Of Red Sox Getting Dye?

UPDATE: Edes says it would be Manny Delcarmen or Justin Masterson as the pitcher. UPDATE 2: Now Edes is saying that the Red Sox are not close to a deal for Dye. They are currently refusing to give up Delcarmen or Masterson. Things are heating up...Gordon Edes of the Boston Globe has a Major League source indicating that the Red Sox have a "pretty good" chance of completing a trade for Jermaine Dye. The White Sox would apparently receive Wily Mo Pena and a pitching prospect other than Jon Lester or Clay Buccholz. That could still leave Michael Bowden, Daniel..   Continue Reading

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Red Sox Sign Brady Clark

The Red Sox just signed outfielder Brady Clark, per WEEI. That probably puts them out of the Bobby Kielty sweepstakes. Excitement! Clark, a righthanded hitter, might be able to draw a few walks and play all three outfield positions. Slightly more interesting is that this may portend a trade of Wily Mo Pena soon. Pirates, White Sox, somewhere else   Continue Reading

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Latest On Octavio Dotel

You know what I love about the Kansas City Star? The enormous, extreme close-up pixellated player photo that seems to accompany every article. It's bizarre in a good way. Anyway, Bob Dutton gives us the latest on hot commodity Octavio Dotel. According to Dutton, the Dodgers and Indians are at the forefront, with the Red Sox, Mets, and some other teams monitoring the situation. As before, Dutton indicates that the Dodgers are the best possibility. They refuse to part with Tony Abreu, however. Abreu is seen as Jeff Kent's replacement at second base, though Kent is still going strong and..   Continue Reading

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Graziano's Latest: Livan, Wily Mo

Dan Graziano at the Newark Star-Ledger has really stepped up in recent days with a lot of insider trade talk. Let's see what he has in store for us this morning. Apparently Josh Byrnes is calling around, actively shopping Livan Hernandez. According to Graziano, the Mets, Braves, and Mariners have expressed interest. To the contrary, Ken Rosenthal wrote last night that the Mets and Braves are not interested. Who to believe? Hopefully the Mariners do better than Livan if they make a move for a starter. To hear Nick Piecoro tell it, the Diamondbacks are more likely to just opt..   Continue Reading

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Tim Brown's Latest: A's, Yankees

Yahoo's Tim Brown has a new post up, with some trade rumors we've heard before and some we haven't. Clearly the A's are sellers, and they're offering up Mike Piazza, Joe Kennedy, and Bobby Kielty. Brown names the Twins as the club most interested in Piazza. He also feels the Yankees, Angels, Mariners, and Red Sox would be good fits. But where would Piazza play on the Red Sox? The Red Sox were apparently close to a deal for Kielty, a 31 year-old switch-hitting extra outfielder. He hasn't played much center since '02, so maybe the Sox have relaxed that..   Continue Reading

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McAdam On Red Sox Trade Possibilities

Yesterday, Sean McAdam of The Providence Journal posted an article discussing trade possibilities for the Red Sox. Let's discuss. It seems that the Red Sox will add a bullpen arm despite the fine work of Manny Delcarmen. Apparently they want someone with experience. Eric Gagne doesn't seem likely, nor does Brad Lidge. Instead, Chad Qualls, Dan Wheeler, and maybe Salomon Torres or Scott Linebrink could be acquired. The focus is said to be on the Houston relievers. Wheeler seems like a solid buy-low option. You can add Octavio Dotel to the radar as well. And let's throw Brian Fuentes into..   Continue Reading

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Reggie Sanders Likes Red Sox

Is the feeling mutual? 39 year-old outfielder Reggie Sanders is finally back from his hamstring tear, pinch-hitting on Monday and playing left field last night against the Red Sox. Sanders spoke positively of the possibility of playing for the Red Sox when asked. In the half-month he's played this year, Sanders has hit well. He has about $2.1MM left on his contract currently. The Royals would probably trade him for some salary relief and an A ball long shot prospect. The motivation for the Red Sox would be replacing Wily Mo Pena as the fourth outfielder, as the 25 year-old..   Continue Reading

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Wily Mo Pena And The Padres?

Buster Olney had an intriguing thought in his blog yesterday. The Padres' bullpen is a source of strength, but they've got a lefty-heavy lineup and are tenth in the league in slugging. How about Wily Mo Pena to the Padres for a top shelf reliever, maybe Scott Linebrink? I know what you're thinking - the Red Sox have the best relief ERA in the league. OK, maybe you weren't thinking that. I had to look it up. But Boston's relief success has been reliant on two players - Jonathan Papelbon and Hideki Okajima. Are the Sox confident that this pair..   Continue Reading

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Tuesday tidbits

Nothing in the news that is too breathtaking today, but there have been enough things worthy of mention that I thought I'd throw them all into one thread. Here's a fun trade possibility: the Red Sox are interested in Chad Cordero (uh, who wouldn't be?) and may be dangling Wily Mo Pena, whom Jim Bowden is known to...how should I put this?...really like. Bowden hasn't acquired a toolsy outfielder for a couple of weeks now, so if the Sox found a way to sweeten the deal, perhaps Trader Jim would take the bait. The Yankees have been quiet lately, but..   Continue Reading

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Wily Mo Traded For Arroyo

It's official: the Red Sox have sent Bronson Arroyo to the Reds for Wily Mo Pena. This is an intriguing trade. The Reds needed a solid affordable starter like Arroyo. It's unclear yet which Reds starter will be pushed out of the rotation. Eric Milton is terrible but well paid. Paul Wilson will probably begin the year on the DL, so the club won't have to sort things out until he returns. So far in his career, Arroyo has done an above average job keeping the ball in the park with a 0.95 HR/9 in 588 innings. This will come..   Continue Reading

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Signs of Reds OF Trade Mounting

More and more, it's looking like the Reds will deal one of their outfielders before the season begins. First off, Jon Heyman's column from yesterday: "Now that Scott Hatteberg has been signed for first base, the Reds might shop that extra outfielder they've been carrying for a while. They have Adam Dunn, Wily Mo Peña, Austin Kearns and Ken Griffey Jr., with Peña most likely to go for young pitching. Previous owner Carl Lindner rejected deals for Griffey (including one with the Cubs last year), but maybe new owner Rob Castellini will do the right thing." I must say, I..   Continue Reading

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Bowden Still Chasing Wily Mo

Tucked at the bottom of Bill Ladson's article about the Nationals' attempts to convince Alfonso Soriano to play left field is a new trade rumor. Well, a new old trade rumor. According to Ladson: "The Nationals already have feelers out for Reds outfielder Wily Mo Pena, and a Nationals scout is expected to look at him sometime this week. The Nationals have been after Pena since last season. He is a player who Bowden acquired from the Yankees when he was the general manager of the Reds. Last year, Pena hit .254 with 19 home runs and 54 RBIs for..   Continue Reading

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