Arroyo for Pena

FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) - The Boston Red Sox traded pitcher Bronson Arroyo to the Cincinnati Reds for outfielder Wily Mo Pena on Monday.

For the Reds, this is a good move. The last thing Cincinnati needs is another outfielder with ‘5-tool’ potential who in reality plays lousy defense and strikes out too much. The Reds certainly improved their pitching. And any time they can do that and only lose one suspect player, the deal should be made.

Every time I see Pena’s age (24) listed, I giggle a little.

Here is the Reds current starting outfield:

Freel – played 103 games in 2005. Injury prone and has a penchant for driving while intoxicated.
Kearns – played 112 games in 2005. He averaged 86 games from 2003-05. He MUST produce this year. He has been given every opportunity and made every excuse. I am tired of hearing how ‘fundamentally sound’ he is. If he does not play 130 games and bat AT LEAST .285 with 25 HRs and 90 RBI, he is dead to me.
Griffey – played 128 games (his most since 2000) and put up great numbers. He has averaged 83.5 games from 2002-05. I will die a little every time he chases a ball into the alleys.

I think Cincy is short an outfielder. Calling Freel an every day player is a stretch. One of these guys will be out for a considerable stretch of games and maybe all three.


Despite all that mumbo jumbo, it was a good deal. Wily is twenty-something-towards-thirty years old, so he should be peaking NOW. So, in essence, we have seen him at the top of his game. And his ceiling is this: a physical specimen who can hit a fastball 1000 feet yet is clueless in the outfield and cannot hit a curveball if he knew it was coming. He’s Cerrano. Furthermore, I am 98% sure that the guy has been on the juice. And with MLB cracking down, he is either going to get caught or will have to stop using the stuff. Either way, his numbers suffer.

I just hope to God Arroyo has gotten rid of his awful corn rows.