Wily Mo Pena
In 2006, the Red Sox rewarded recently signed right-hander Bronson Arroyo by trading him to Cincinnati for right-hand slugger Wily Mo Pena. Arroyo won 108 games for the Reds and Pena may have lost 108 games for the Red Sox defensively.
Pena’s first season in Boston was not that bad offensively with Wily Mo hitting .301 with 11 home runs in just 84 games. The downside is Pena had 90 K’s in his limited action with a -0.6 UZR/150 playing all three outfield positions. Pena, despite his bulk, was surprisingly agile with excellent speed. But his decision-making and ball-hawking skills were minimal. The Red Sox perpetual search for right-hand sluggers was coming up empty on Pena.
What Pena had was power. In 2019, the tape was out with numerous Michael Chavis home runs and that was almost every bomb Pena hit. Nothing cheap from his bat. During the late stages of 2007, Pena was finally traded and that started a professional merry-go-round since prodigious power is difficult to ignore, but the recipe was the same everywhere. Monumental blasts, questionable glovework, too many whiffs and finally several seasons in Japan.
Pena gives back and in 2007 started a foundation to address diabetes concerns for Hispanic males. As a player, that ended with Chiba Lotte of the JPPL in 2017 with Pena hitting 15 home runs in just 70 games. Of course, an old dog new tricks surfaces and Pena managed to whiff 72 times. Last noted, Pena is coaching in the Tampa area.