Red Sox Notebook: What's Wily Mo's Role?

In his inaugural season in Boston, Wily Mo Pena showed glimpses of the prodigious power that convinced the Red Sox to acquire him during spring training in 2006. Yet with only limited playing time, those glimpses were often fleeting, leaving plenty of questions surrounding the hulking outfielder's true potential.

It was expected that, with the likely departure of free agent outfielder Trot Nixon, Pena would enjoy an everyday role in 2007. Yet the five-year contract (which has yet to be finalized) with outfielder J.D. Drew has created doubt about Pena's future in Boston.

In one sense, Pena demonstrated marked progress in 2006. In 84 games and 276 at-bats, the 24-year-old set career highs in average (.301) and on-base percentage (.349). However, he clubbed roughly one homer per every 25 at-bats, a significant reduction from his yield of one every 14 at-bats in the previous two seasons.

Of course, it is difficult to determine the meaning of such developments if Pena spends much of next season on the bench. Yet that is exactly where he is slated to start the season, with the Sox largely set with an outfield of Manny Ramirez in left, Coco Crisp in center and Drew in right.

"The best way for us to find out how good Wily Mo can be is to get 550 at-bats. Finding out how to do that is another story," said manager Terry Francona. "I personally don't think Wily Mo is a guy that you just play once or twice a week and expect him to hit."

As such, Pena might well prove more valuable as a trading chip to a club that is looking for an everyday outfielder with significant power potential. With the Sox still in need of a closer, Pena could well serve as the centerpiece of a swap. Otherwise, he will remain a looming curiosity, a player of prodigious talent whose actual performance level remains indeterminate.


NOTES, QUOTES
—The Red Sox's search for a closer might include a pitcher who has spent most of the past seven seasons as a big-league starter. RHP Joel Pineiro, 28, signed a one-year, $4 million deal with Boston, which will consider him as the replacement for RHP Jonathan Papelbon as the team's closer. Papelbon will go into the rotation this year.

Pineiro's ERA with Seattle has risen five years in a row, from 2.03 in 2001 to 6.36 in 2006. He went 8-13 last season, making 25 starts and 15 relief appearances. He also recorded the first, and only, save of his career.

—RHP Keith Foulke signed a one-year, $5 million deal with the Indians. Because the former closer declined the Red Sox's offer of salary arbitration, Boston will receive a supplemental pick in the 2007 draft between the first and second rounds.

—RHP Runelvys Hernandez, signed to a Triple-A contract in December, will offer the Red Sox organizational depth in either the rotation or middle relief. Hernandez is 25-33 with a career 5.38 ERA with the Royals, though at 28 and now two full seasons removed from "Tommy John" surgery, the once highly regarded prospect still retains some promise.

—OF J.D. Drew and the Red Sox remained in a holding pattern in contract negotiations. The two sides continue to try to sort through contract language regarding the outfielder's right shoulder. The Sox reportedly identified a source of concern in Drew's physical exam, while Drew's agent, Scott Boras, has stated on multiple occasions that his client is in fine health.

—OF Jim Rice, who received 64.8 percent of the votes in Hall of Fame balloting last year, continues to nudge closer to election. The outfielder, who hit 382 homers in his career but enjoyed a run as one of the dominant sluggers in the majors from 1975-86, was 53 votes short of election last year.

—The Red Sox were given a luxury tax bill of $497,549 from the commissioner's Office. The Sox had the second-highest payroll in the majors in 2006 at roughly $138 million. With the offseason signings of SS Julio Lugo and RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka, as well as the pending finalization of the contract with OF J.D. Drew, the Sox are all but certain to bump their payroll significantly in 2007.

BY THE NUMBERS: 142—Homers by DH David Ortiz over the last three seasons, most in the majors.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "(Manager Terry Francona) called me. ... He said, 'You're going to make the best fifth starter in the American League.'"—RHP Josh Beckett, to the Boston Herald, on the Red Sox rotation.