soapbox

For those who I didn’t chat up about this trade already, the Red Sox traded right handed starting/relief pitcher Bronson Arroyo today to the Cincinnati Reds for OF Wily Mo Pena. I really like Wily Mo. Despite the fact that he’s whifftastic, with 116K/20BB in 311 AB last year, he’s got tremendous power potential, slugging 19 HR in those 311 AB. Despite hitting only .254 last year, he managed a .492 slugging percentage. A popular stat that people use to evaluate a batter’s ability to hit for power is called ISOP (Isolated Power), which is simply batting average minus slugging percentage. The greater the difference, the more of the player’s hits are for extra bases. Using the figures above, Pena has an ISOP of .238. That’s about the same as Miguel Cabrera and Vlad Guerrero. In addition, he’s only 24 years old, and there’s a lot of history for strikeout prone players with power to develop more plate discipline in their late 20s (see Jesee Barfield and Willie Stargell). To be realistic, there’s also a fair chance he doesn’t break from his current pattern, but acquiring him for who essentially became a spare part with David Wells deciding to come play after all, I think, makes a whole lot of sense. For right now, he’ll most likely play for Trot Nixon in RF against left handed pitchers, as well as give Manny Ramirez the occasional day off. I’ll miss the rock star, but not those ugly corn rows.