Should Pirates Pursue Carlos Pena?
Pittsburgh (KDKA)- The Pirates front office got a first hand look at Chicago Cubs first baseman Carlos Pena over the weekend.
The question now is will GM Neal Huntington attempt to trade for him?
The 33-year-old is a classic power hitter. He hits a ton of home runs but also strikes out a bunch.
Here are his stats over the last few years:
2010 w/Tampa Bay: 28 HR's and 84 RBI (158 K's in 484 at-bats)
2009 w/Tampa Bay: 39 HR's and 100 RBI (163 K's in 471 at-bats)
2008 w/Tampa Bay: 31 HR's and 102 RBI (166 K's in 490 at-bats)
2007 w/Tampa Bay: 46 HR's and 121 RBI (142 K's in 490 at-bats)
In 340 at-bats with Chicago, Pena has hit 19 home runs.
Money could be a potential drawback with the Pirates trading for Pena. According to MLBtraderumors.com, "the Cubs were short on payroll space when they signed Pena, and authored a fairly unique one-year deal that deferred half of his salary until January of 2012. That means an acquiring team would owe Pena around $1.6MM for the remainder of the season if they acquire him at the deadline, but then would have to tack another $5MM for him onto their 2012 payroll."
Would Pirates owner Bob Nutting approve such a trade?
In terms of draft pick compensation, Pena projects as a Type B free agent.
