The Arizona Diamondbacks made a few roster moves today and among them was designating the mammoth of a man, Wily Mo Pena, for assignment. The team now has 10 days to trade or release Pena, who has the option of accepting his assignment and return to triple-A Reno. Clearly, the D-Backs have no room for the defensively challenged Pena now that interleague play is over. While there aren’t many teams out there in need of DH-only bat, the Yankees have a situation that might fit Pena’s skill set.
Jorge Posada, aside from one scorching hot month, as been a major let-down this season. Moving from behind the plate to a job as the full-time DH was supposed to keep him healthy and keep his productive bat in the lineup. Posada has been healthy, but his bat has mostly been MIA. Posada has been especially bad against left-handed pitching this season, hitting .122/.218/.143 while hitting .260/.345/.469 against right-handed pitching. This is where Wily Mo comes into play.
Pena is a career .274/.335/.459 hitter against lefties and was crushing them to the tune of an insane .984 SLG at triple-A. While that doesn’t necessarily mean that he’ll crush lefties if given regular at bats, it does suggest that he has at least some decent upside to do so.
Of course, this situation isn’t as simple as I may make it sound. The Yankees have been very loyal to Posada and Posada himself threw a tantrum when dropped to the nine-hole earlier this season. Acquiring Pena — or anyone else for that matter — to platoon with him at DH probably wouldn’t go over very well. That being said, it would be a move that could potentially help the Yankees as they fight for a division title and playoff spot.
The move would be low-risk, high-reward for the Yanks..as long as Posada could keep from blowing a gasket.
