Wily Mo Pena

From SoSH

Wily Modesto "Mo" Pena - Born in Laguna Salada January 23, 1982. Wily Mo is an amazing physical speciman standing 6' 3" and weighing in at a conservative 245 pounds.

Contents 1 Overall Career 2 Scouting Report 3 WMP's Moments in the Sun 4 Trivia 5 Transactions 6 External Links

Overall Career

Wily was signed as a amateur free agent in 1998 by the New York Mets. However, the validity of this contract was called into question and was eventually terminated. This resulted in a huge bidding war for his services, with him signing a major league deal worth $3.7 million with the New York Yankees. While he still displayed power in the minors, his strikeouts and low batting average lowered his prospect status, and he was subsequently traded to Cincinnati for Michael Coleman and Drew Henson in 2001. Prematurely forced into the majors as a 20-year old in 2002 due to his major league contract, the Reds used him as mostly a bench player and with irregular play time his baseball refinement was stunted. In 2006 he was traded to the Red Sox for Bronson Arroyo seemingly to platoon with Trot Nixon. An early injury to Coco Crisp gave him steady playing time early in the year, until he was DLed with a sore wrist. The wrist required surgery to remove the hamate bone from his wrist.

Pena struggled in 2007, and saw his stock plummet. Proponents say he needs consistent at bats to reach his potential, while critics say he did nothing to earn more playing time when given the opportunity. He was traded on August 17 to the Washington Nationals; Boston received prospect Chris Carter from Arizona to complete the deal. Pena proceeded to hit 4 home runs in his first 10 games as a National. Meanwhile J.D. Drew has 2 HR in his last 53 games. Oops.

Scouting Report

Known for his prodigious blasts he has an uncanny power in his swing. Due to his non-standard path to the majors and lack of everyday playing time his development has left him raw in some areas. While he has the ability to excite the crowd with his big blasts and laser beam line drives, he still strikes out frequently, often flailing at out of the strike zone breaking balls. Baseball Prospectus' top PECOTA comparables for Pena reads like a "Who's Who" list of beer league softball studs, including Jesse Barfield, Willie Stargell, Pete Incaviglia, Greg Luzinski, Lance Parrish, and Cecil Fielder. Prior to the 2006 season Wily Mo claimed to worked hard in the Dominican Winter League on his patience and selection at the plate. His pitch selection seemed to be much improved since his days as a Red and hopefully will continue to improve with influences like Papa Jack, Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz. In the outfield he has been called "an adventure". He often takes bad routes to balls and relies on his speed and athleticism to compensate. Although brought on seemingly as a righty platoon mate for Trot Nixon his raw outfield skills have shown themselves in the tough right field of fenway park. While filling in for Coco Crisp early in 2006 he seemed much more comfortable in centerfield where he did not have to deal with balls slicing away from him and could take more direct routes.

WMP's Moments in the Sun

• April 26, 2007: Wily Mo hits an eighth inning Grand Slam off Baltimore Orioles closer Chris Ray to propel the Red Sox to a 5-2 win.
• August 10, 2007: Wily Mo hits a 2-2 curveball in the 8th inning to tie the game 1-1 after the Sox were shutout for 7.2 innings by Bedard.

Trivia

• Participated in the 2001 and 2002 Futures Game during All-Star Weekend, playing for the World team.
• Played in 2006 World Baseball Classic for Dominican Republic.

Transactions

• July 15, 1998: Signed by the New York Mets as an amateur free agent.
• February 28, 1999: Free agent signing by the New York Mets voided.
• April 5, 1999: Signed as a Free Agent with the New York Yankees.
• March 21, 2001: Traded by the New York Yankees to the Cincinnati Reds for Drew Henson and Michael Coleman.
• March 20, 2006: Traded by the Cincinnati Reds to the Boston Red Sox for Bronson Arroyo and cash.
• August 17, 2007: Traded by the Boston Red Sox to the Washington Nationals for a player to be named later and cash.

External Links

• TheBaseballCube.com - Career Statistics and Analysis
• Baseball-Reference.com - Career Statistics and Analysis
• Wily Mo's ESPN Player Card