Pena Wants To End Cubs Title Drought
Carlos Pena just joined the Cubs and is eager to bring his numbers up. Pena wants to win in Chicago and end the 102 year title drought.
Already comfortable in his new surroundings, Carlos Pena joked with teammates Friday, downed a big bowl of Cheerios and then looked forward to his first season - maybe his only one - with the Chicago Cubs.
Pena says winning in Chicago, where the Cubs' World Series title drought could reach 103 years this season, would be an unforgettable experience.
"If you win in Chicago, it will be lights out," he said.
The Cubs signed Pena to a one-year, $10 million deal in December that his agent Scott Boras called a "pillow contract" because of the comfort it provides. It will allow Pena to put up a good season and then perhaps reap a bigger deal as a free agent.
Pena is already working with Cubs hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo to simplify his approach and hike his batting average.
He's the left-handed power bat Chicago needs in its lineup, but it's hardly a secret that everyone expects him to go above the Mendoza Line this season. Hobbled in August by plantar fasciitis, he ended up batting only .196 last season with the Tampa Bay Rays when 28 of his 95 hits went for homers.
"I definitely want to improve all my numbers. The emphasis is on the batting average because last year was so difficult for me in that category," Pena said.
"I understand that's not me. It doesn't represent me. It wouldn't be intelligent on my part to carry that piece of luggage on my back, that batting average, to carry it around and let it be the number that identifies me. It's not even an issue."
Pena is known for his slick fielding at first base and his power, with 144 of his 230 major league homers coming for Tampa Bay the last four seasons.
With Derrek Lee traded away during last season's fifth-place finish, the Cubs needed to address first base. Tyler Colvin, who had a strong rookie season mostly in the outfield, will also work at the position, an insurance against injury and also a way to give Pena a day off when needed.
Pena's transition has been helped by the presence of his former Rays teammate Matt Garza, who could be the Cubs' ace this season. The two helped the one-time doormat Rays make the World Series three years ago.
"I know I don't have to worry about the left side of the infield," Garza said. "I played with him for three seasons, so I know his range and he knows mine. I know everything he can do and everything he can't do, which is very little. It's a comfort zone."
Pena, who won a Gold Glove in 2008, credits his fielding acumen to an early desire to be a shortstop.
"It goes all the way back to when I was a kid and I wanted to be a shortstop and obviously I couldn't because I was left-handed," he said. "So I had to take shortstop to first base. I've always had an appreciation for the good defensive shortstops of my country, like Tony Fernandez. I just think it was ingrained in my head at a very early age that defense was important. And I've carried that all the way."
Notes: OF Kosuke Fukudome, in the fourth and final year of a four-year, $48 million deal, said he'd prefer to stay in the major leagues and with the Cubs. Fukudome has batted .259 in his three seasons in Chicago and will likely be the fourth outfielder behind Tyler Colvin, Marlon Byrd and Alfonso Soriano. ... Todd Ricketts, a member of the Cubs' board of managers, said the team is working on choosing an architect and contractor for its new spring training facility in Mesa. He said ground will likely be broken this fall and the complex could be ready by 2013, but it will probably be 2014.
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