Mo Pena, mo problems

Just an update on Mount Pena- because I know you all love him as much as I do. Acquired this off-season as supposedly a cornerstone of the Red Sox of the future, we weren't expecting to see a whole lot of Wily Mo this season, but we were to rest assured that he would be given some developmental time to turn him into the offense beast that he is destined to be. He wasn't guaranteed a lot of playing time, but given that Rockin' Bronson, the man he was traded for, has the NL on LOCKDOWN, it was safe to assume that the Sox would hold on to Pena to make sure he reached beast-status and legitimized the trade. Just when you thought it was safe to be a Wily Mo, some trade rumors start popping up. One shady unidentified front office figure even went so far as to say that he would be very suprised if Pena weas still on the team at the end of the trading deadline. This blasphemous statement almost brought me to tears.

Amidst the swirling rumors of Pena's impending departure from the Red Sox as a result of the approaching trade deadline and the Sox desperate need for starting pitching, a blessing in disguise occured and Trot Nixon over-extended his right arm in last night's game against the Angels, looking silly on a John Lackey off-speed offering. While I'm a big fan of Trot, as one of the original Dirt Dogs, He's just not having the impact on games that you need from a corner outfielder. The power numbers just aren't there.

One thing we can be sure Wily Mo will provide, is impact. So while I hate to be happy about an injury to one of the Sox starting nine, I'm pretty confidant that if Nixon is forced to the DL and the big guy gets some mo' playing time, he WILL knock the Green Monster over with a line drive one of these days. Seriously... don't stand behind it when he's at bat, it's not safe.

{Update: Trot Nixon has since been placed on the DL. So, start stringing up the caution tape on Lansdowne Street.}