Post by Fish Troll on Feb 21, 2007 21:52:12 GMT -5
Sox sign Peña to one-year deal
By Amalie Benjamin THE BOSTON GLOBE
FORT MYERS, Fla.— With a deadline impending — and all parties in Arizona waiting to head to the first arbitration hearing in the tenure of general manager Theo Epstein — the Red Sox signed fourth outfielder Wily Mo Peña to a one-year deal worth $1.875 million yesterday.
The Red Sox saved money — Peña asked for $2.2 million — and skipped having to make a case against the 25-year-old, though that didn’t mean they wouldn’t have done it.
“We’re certainly not afraid to go,” Epstein said after announcing the deal at the Sox’ minor league complex. “We were very well prepared, but reaching an agreement with a player is a positive step. Both sides are satisfied.”
So Peña begins his quest to reach 400 at-bats as a reserve (his career high is 336 in 2004 with the Reds), but will the talented but strikeout-prone power hitter really get to 400? Will his defense justify playing time? Will his pitch selection improve and his strikeout numbers diminish (90 in 276 at-bats last season)?
“On one hand, I hope he gets 400, on the other hand, that means that somebody else isn’t playing,” manager Terry Francona said. “I think if you realistically look at our ball club and what could happen, because of his ability to play center field, right field and left field, every time somebody needs a rest or somebody’s nicked up, he’s a perfect candidate to get at-bats. Our responsibility will be to find him enough at-bats where he can be productive. I’m confident we can do that.”
If the roster stays as constituted, Peña will be the only outfielder on the bench.
But Peña, who hit .091 with 4 RBIs and 1 run in 14 games in the semifinals of the Dominican Winter League playoffs — though he hit .269 with 2 RBIs and 5 runs in the seven-game championship series — was hopeful that would change in an interview conducted in the Dominican Republic a month ago. Eschewing center field, where he has demonstrated an ability to break on balls and had better range, Peña asked his Winter League manager to keep him in right field so he could focus on defense.
Probably a good idea, considering the Red Sox asked him to work on his defense during the offseason.
“Now it goes like easier,” Peña said. “When you want to get better at something you’ve got to work hard. That’s what I’ve been doing, working hard. I see the point. Now I feel comfortable in right field. Everybody was talking about that, ‘You move, you look better in right field.’ It feels good.
“I just want to surprise them about defense, so they can say, ‘Oh, he do something in winter ball.’ I don’t care about hitting because I know I can hit. I care a little bit, but I just want to do defense. People talk about defense, defense. About hitting, I can get that. I know I can.”
Having hit a career-high .301 last season with 11 home runs in 276 innings, mostly because of injuries, Peña has shown glimpses of excellence with a bat in his hands, though he did say he occasionally tried too hard to prove himself each at-bat, with the prospect of heading back to the bench a very real possibility.
But that wasn’t even the hardest part of his first season in Boston. That was dealing with the fans, the very vocal fans, especially when it came to Peña’s defensive liabilities.
“They were like, ‘Boo!’ but I have to deal with it,” he said. “Everybody has to deal with that stuff. It’s like here (in the Dominican). When you do something wrong, they just be like, ‘Boo!’ You have to get that out of your mind. If you want to think about (the fact that) they don’t like you or all that kind of stuff, you’re just going to get your mind crazy, so you don’t want that. You want to be with your mind clean and just play the game.”
As for explanations as to his defensive deficiencies, they’re hard to come by. Peña has speed, especially for his size (6 feet, 3 inches, 245 pounds), and his arm is above average. Mostly it seems to be the jump he gets off the bat, combined with the route he takes to reach fly balls.
“Some of it’s concentration, some of it’s youth,” Francona said. “He’s a young kid who hasn’t played that much. Repetition certainly helps. He got called up so quickly. If you quit teaching, we’re wrong. We can’t do that. We’ll keep teaching.”
By Amalie Benjamin THE BOSTON GLOBE
FORT MYERS, Fla.— With a deadline impending — and all parties in Arizona waiting to head to the first arbitration hearing in the tenure of general manager Theo Epstein — the Red Sox signed fourth outfielder Wily Mo Peña to a one-year deal worth $1.875 million yesterday.
The Red Sox saved money — Peña asked for $2.2 million — and skipped having to make a case against the 25-year-old, though that didn’t mean they wouldn’t have done it.
“We’re certainly not afraid to go,” Epstein said after announcing the deal at the Sox’ minor league complex. “We were very well prepared, but reaching an agreement with a player is a positive step. Both sides are satisfied.”
So Peña begins his quest to reach 400 at-bats as a reserve (his career high is 336 in 2004 with the Reds), but will the talented but strikeout-prone power hitter really get to 400? Will his defense justify playing time? Will his pitch selection improve and his strikeout numbers diminish (90 in 276 at-bats last season)?
“On one hand, I hope he gets 400, on the other hand, that means that somebody else isn’t playing,” manager Terry Francona said. “I think if you realistically look at our ball club and what could happen, because of his ability to play center field, right field and left field, every time somebody needs a rest or somebody’s nicked up, he’s a perfect candidate to get at-bats. Our responsibility will be to find him enough at-bats where he can be productive. I’m confident we can do that.”
If the roster stays as constituted, Peña will be the only outfielder on the bench.
But Peña, who hit .091 with 4 RBIs and 1 run in 14 games in the semifinals of the Dominican Winter League playoffs — though he hit .269 with 2 RBIs and 5 runs in the seven-game championship series — was hopeful that would change in an interview conducted in the Dominican Republic a month ago. Eschewing center field, where he has demonstrated an ability to break on balls and had better range, Peña asked his Winter League manager to keep him in right field so he could focus on defense.
Probably a good idea, considering the Red Sox asked him to work on his defense during the offseason.
“Now it goes like easier,” Peña said. “When you want to get better at something you’ve got to work hard. That’s what I’ve been doing, working hard. I see the point. Now I feel comfortable in right field. Everybody was talking about that, ‘You move, you look better in right field.’ It feels good.
“I just want to surprise them about defense, so they can say, ‘Oh, he do something in winter ball.’ I don’t care about hitting because I know I can hit. I care a little bit, but I just want to do defense. People talk about defense, defense. About hitting, I can get that. I know I can.”
Having hit a career-high .301 last season with 11 home runs in 276 innings, mostly because of injuries, Peña has shown glimpses of excellence with a bat in his hands, though he did say he occasionally tried too hard to prove himself each at-bat, with the prospect of heading back to the bench a very real possibility.
But that wasn’t even the hardest part of his first season in Boston. That was dealing with the fans, the very vocal fans, especially when it came to Peña’s defensive liabilities.
“They were like, ‘Boo!’ but I have to deal with it,” he said. “Everybody has to deal with that stuff. It’s like here (in the Dominican). When you do something wrong, they just be like, ‘Boo!’ You have to get that out of your mind. If you want to think about (the fact that) they don’t like you or all that kind of stuff, you’re just going to get your mind crazy, so you don’t want that. You want to be with your mind clean and just play the game.”
As for explanations as to his defensive deficiencies, they’re hard to come by. Peña has speed, especially for his size (6 feet, 3 inches, 245 pounds), and his arm is above average. Mostly it seems to be the jump he gets off the bat, combined with the route he takes to reach fly balls.
“Some of it’s concentration, some of it’s youth,” Francona said. “He’s a young kid who hasn’t played that much. Repetition certainly helps. He got called up so quickly. If you quit teaching, we’re wrong. We can’t do that. We’ll keep teaching.”
www.telegram.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070217/NEWS/702170426/1009/SPORTS
