Midway through next season, people may look back at the deal the Cubs just gave Carlos Pena and consider it a huge bargain.

Chicago inked the former Rays’ first baseman to a one-year, $10 million contract on Wednesday and while the dollar amount is a little high, the Cubs did very well no matter how he plays next season.

Pena batted just .196 in 2010 and struck out 158 times. But he slugged 28 home runs and walked 87 times, so his numbers weren’t all bad. He was also reportedly dealing with plantar fasciitis, which could be one of the reasons he struggled at the dish.

The key to this deal is that it’s only for one year. Pena was hoping to sign a multi-year contract but instead inked a one-year deal so that he can build up his value before next winter. He knew his 2010 numbers wouldn’t allow him to cash in this offseason, so signing a one-year deal made sense for him given his current situation.

For the Cubs, they get a player who will be trying to earn a multi-year deal next winter. In general, players in contract years typically perform better because they knew there are no guarantees (contract wise) behind that season. If Pena rebounds to his ’07-09 production when he averaged .252 with 39 home runs and 101 RBI per year (along with 95 walks), then the Cubs could sign him to an extension. If he flops or never finds his form, so what? They’ll be rid of him in a year and can move on.

These are the types of moves that GM Jim Hendry needs to make more. Instead of just throwing millions of dollars and long-term contracts at free agents (Alfonso Soriano anyone?), the Cubs would be better served to build through their farm system and plug holes with low-risk deals like this one for Pena.

It took two games and the threat of elimination but the Rays’ offense has finally showed up to the ALDS.

Behind Carl Crawford’s 2-for-5 day, the Rays beat the Rangers 6-3 on Saturday to cut Texas’ lead in the series down to 2-1. Crawford also hit a long ball and made a great sliding catch to rob Josh Hamilton of an eighth inning hit.

Perhaps the biggest surprise from the game was that Carlos Pena actually found the stadium and showed up. He went 2-for-3 with three RBI, two runs scored and also walked twice. His single to right in the eighth inning tied the game at 2-2 and then his homer in the ninth gave Tampa a 6-2 cushion heading into the last half inning.

Matt Garza contributed to the win, although he wasn’t nearly as sharp as he could been. He gave up two runs on five hits over six innings while striking out four and giving up a home run to Ian Kinsler. For the longest time, it appeared as though Kinsler’s dinger would hold up and the Rangers would proceed with the sweep.

Texas will have another chance today at 1:07PM ET to finish off the Rays for good. Tommy Hunter will oppose Wade Davis, who finished the season with a 12-10 record and a 4.07 ERA for the Rays.

The above picture is not of an offensive player for the Rays – it’s of pitcher David Price. But if it were a picture of an offensive player, he’d have the same expression on his face.

In the regular season, only the Yankees and Red Sox scored more runs than the Rays, who crossed home plate 802 times this year.

In their last two games, they’ve scored just one, which is a problem considering their last two games have come in the postseason. Following their 6-0 loss to the Rangers on Sunday, the Rays now trail Texas 2-0 in the best-of-five ALDS. Oh, and now they have to go on the road for their next two games, if they make it to Game 4, that is.

The Rangers’ pitching staff has been good this season (great even, if you factor in the struggles its had over the years), but they’re not that good are they? Are they good enough to hold the third best run-scoring offense in the league to only one run the past two games? In Tampa no less?

This in no way is meant to be a put down to Texas. C.J. Wilson pitched 6 1/3 scoreless innings today and was outstanding all season. He’s made a successful jump from being a setup man to a full-time starter and he’s one of the many reasons the Rangers may go deep into the postseason this year.

But one run? One run in two games? I figured when the Rays got that albatross Carlos Pena (who batted .169 against lefties during the regular season) out of the lineup that they’d generate some offense. But they actually produced less runs in Game 2 today than they did in Game 1, which was hard to do considering they only scored one yesterday.

This Rays team is in trouble and nobody wants to face the Rangers right now. Those bankrupt bastards are on a mission.

Amazingly, we’re only 10 days away from the All-Star break. That means teams will re-charge and start to make a serious run at a playoff spot from mid-July on. And the power rankings haven’t changed much, other than most of the California teams dropping off the list. So without further adieu…..

1. New York Yankees (48-31)—The Bombers continue to ride their stars to victory, and survived a recent team hitting slump. There’s no reason to believe they won’t win the division again and contend for the title.

2. Texas Rangers (47-32)—Seriously, how scary has this team become? This past week Vlad gave his former team a taste of what they might be missing this year

3. Boston Red Sox (48-32)—Barely hanging on to second place in the tough AL East, but only two games separate the Yanks, Sox and Rays.

4. San Diego Padres (47-33)—Sure, the Rangers are a big surprise. But no team has been as surprising as the Padres, who just keep winning. And here’s a frightening thing for other National League teams—the Pads are now believing in themselves too.

5. Tampa Bay Rays (46-33)—Thankfully the Rays got off to a hot start, because everyone knows how much talent resides in the AL East. And has Carlos Pena become Dave Kingman? Yikes….he’s batting .196 with 16 homers and 50 RBI.

6. Atlanta Braves (47-33)—The Braves are a major league best 29-9 at home this year (.763 winning percentage). Too bad no one goes to their home games.

7. New York Mets (45-35)—With two more games against the suddenly slumping Nationals, the Mets still have a chance to close the gap with Atlanta this weekend.

8. Cincinnati Reds (46-35)—I’m getting closer to believing, and so are the Reds.

9. Minnesota Twins (44-36)—They haven’t been playing great baseball, which has allowed the mediocre Tigers and White Sox back into the AL Central race. But there is too much talent in Minnesota to keep the Twins out of the postseason hunt.

10. St. Louis Cardinals (44-36)—I’m now ready to put the Reds above the Cardinals, and Tony LaRussa’s boys had better start playing better away from home (18-22) if they want to keep pace.

1. The defending champs needed that one…
Staring 0-3 in the face, the Phillies rallied from a 10-3 deficit in the seventh inning to beat the Braves 12-11 on Wednesday. Raul Ibanez homered and drove in three runs as Philly went on to score eight runs in the seventh inning. While 1-2 isn’t the start the defending champs would have liked, maybe now their offense has awaken from their slump and they can use this game as a confidence builder.

2. And I was like, Emilio!
I know, I know – it’s only one sweep of the Nationals (and at home no less). But the Marlins’ 3-0 start (they beat Washington 6-4 on Wednesday) should raise some eyebrows because this team is loaded with bright, young talent. Granted, Emilio Bonifacio isn’t going to hit .571 the rest of the way, but he gives the Fish a strong table setter at the top of the lineup and catcher John Baker has been a nice surprise so far in the two-hole. If the young starting pitching can hold up and five-tool 22-year old outfielder Cameron Maybin can grow up in a hurry, the Mets, Phillies and Braves will definitely have competition this year in NL East.

3. The Tigers might not have a good year, but Miggie will.
For all intents and purposes, it looks like the Tigers are due for another down year, although outside of Justin Verlander, the starting pitching has looked good the past two nights. But one thing that won’t hold Detroit back this year is Miguel Cabrera, who hit two dingers and drove in four runs in the Tigs’ 5-1 victory over the Blue Jays on Wednesday. It’s early, but Cabrera looks like he’ll be a favorite for the AL MVP all season.

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All 2009 Fantasy Articles | 2009 Position Rankings

If you do a detailed search for rankings of first basemen for your 2009 fantasy league, the only consistent thing you’ll see is: 1. Albert Pujols, STL.

After King Albert, first basemen ranked 2 through 7 is a toss up. Some fantasy pundits believe Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera is the next best 1B after Pujols, while others still feel that Philadelphia’s Ryan Howard deserves the No. 2 spot. One of the Yankees’ big offseasons signings, Mark Teixeira, is also getting some love behind Pujols, while Milwaukee’s Prince Fielder, Minnesota’s Justin Morneau and San Diego’s Adrian Gonzalez are floating anywhere from No. 4 to No. 7.

What’s the deal? After Pujols, how do you value the first basemen that fall 2 through 7? By home run totals? By age? In the case of Fielder, by the size of their waistbands? First and foremost, you can’t go wrong with any of the first basemen in the top 7, if not the top 10. They’ll all give you good to great home run and RBI totals and if you’re lucky, a couple will even hit .300 and produce 100 runs.

Game 5 of the World Series was suspended 2-2 Monday night in the sixth inning and will be resumed either Tuesday or Wednesday depending on the weather.

The Rays scratched across a run in the sixth inning but interesting enough, had they not scored and tied the game, the Phillies would have won by rule because it would have been considering an official game. But baseball commissioner Bud Selig said he wouldn’t have allowed Philly to win that way.

Carlos Pena hit a tying, two-out single in the sixth for the Rays, and the umpires called it moments later. By then, every ball and every pitch had become an adventure because of the miserable conditions.

If Pena had not tied it, Selig said he would not have let the Phillies win with a game that was called after six innings.

“It’s not a way to end a World Series,” he said. “I would not have allowed a World Series to end this way.â€�

Had the Rays not scored to tie it and the game was called, then Selig allowed the Phillies to win that way, the baseball world would have been turned upside down. There’s no way that Selig could have allowed Philly to win that way had Tampa not scored because it would have been one of the biggest farces in sports history.

Let’s just all take a moment and thank the baseball gods that the Rays scored and Selig didn’t have to make such a monumental decision, although he deserves credit for saying all the right things at the end of the game.

With their 13-4 victory over the Boston Red Sox in Game 4 of the ALCS, the Tampa Bay Rays are sitting just one win away from heading to the World Series for the first time in franchise history. And as John Romano of The St. Petersburg Times writes, the Rays are beating a team with a much larger payroll, and more resources at their disposal.

For, in Tampa Bay, this season is beginning to look like sweet payback after all the years of ridicule. This series is quickly turning into validation after putting up with a lifetime of smug and an earful of snide comments.

The Rays are not just a hot team. And they are not a fluke. What they appear to be is deeper and more well-rounded than Boston. That’s remarkable considering the disparity in resources.

When the Red Sox decided to invest in a Japanese player in 2007, they spent $103-million on Daisuke Matsuzaka. The Rays spent about $12-million on Aki Iwamura.

When the Red Sox went looking for a bat in the free agent market in ’07, they signed J.D. Drew to a $70-million contract. That same winter, the Rays spent $800,000 on Red Sox castoff Carlos Pena.
When they needed help this summer, the Red Sox brought in Jason Bay, Mark Kotsay and Paul Byrd in various deals. The Rays acquired Chad Bradford.

So if Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein is a genius with a $137-million payroll, what does that make Friedman and his $43-million allowance?

In other words, if the Red Sox lose, they will have no excuses.

Just the knowledge that they were beaten by a team that appears intent on making history.

The Rays follow the 2007 Rockies as examples of how payroll means noting in the postseason. And apparently experience is starting to mean less and less too, because this is one of the youngest rosters in the league. It’s amazing to watch this series and note that the Red Sox appear to be no match for the Rays. Think about that for a second. The mighty Red Sox, can’t handle a Rays team that many predicted to finish last in the AL East for the whatever-straight year. Amazing.

As play-by-play announcer Chip Caray said during the final inning of Boston’s 2-0 win over Tampa in Game 1 of the ALCS Friday night, “Experience trumped exuberance tonight.â€� (I can’t believe I’m quoting Chip Caray, but the comment was spot on.)

For six innings, Boston ace Daisuke Matsuzaka was un-hittable. Literally.

The Rays didn’t record their first hit until Carl Crawford singled to lead off the top of the seventh. But once Crawford reached, Cliff Floyd followed with a single of his own, moving Crawford to third and all of a sudden Tampa was in business despite trailing 1-0 since the top of the fifth.

This is the situation where good teams – World Series contender or other – score that runner from third with less than two outs. But the Rays failed to do so as Dice-K got Dioner Navarro to fly out to left, then struck out Gabe Gross before finishing off Jason Bartlett with a fielder’s choice to the shortstop.

Inning over.

Again the Rays struck in the bottom of the eighth after the first two batters reached safely to start the inning. Yet once again they came away with nothing as the Boston bullpen got Carlos Pena to fly out to right and Evan Longoria to ground into a double play.

In nine innings Friday night, the Sox showed what it takes to be a champion. They’ve still got a long way to go in their chase to defend their title, especially with how good Tampa is. But great teams separate themselves in these types of games and the performances by Matsuzaka, Dustin Pedroia and the BoSox bullpen were outstanding.

That said, Rays’ starter James Shields was phenomenal and on a normal night when the Rays’ bats are on, he walks away from such a masterful performance with a victory. And Tampa will learn a lot from a game like this and it’ll be interesting to see how they respond in Game 2 on Saturday night.