Carlos Pena: Players To Watch in 2011 (Part 2 of a 9-Part Series)

While most of his friends call him Carl, perhaps a change back to Carlos (along with a change of scenery) will help him forget about his 2k10 campaign. 

Carl's season was a miserable one for him. He played through a heel injury without bemoaning his condition or making excuses for his .196 average. He was the leader of the Rays and a major clubhouse presence for the winningest team in the AL, but to say it was a down year is an understatement.

His jacks dropped from 39 to 28, his OBP dropped from .356 to .325 and his OPS was a full 100 points under his career average. To all of that he added a minuscule 1 WAR, which, for a power-hitting corner infielder in the AL, is pretty abysmal (to put that in perspective, Lyle Overbay had a 1.5 WAR and Daric Barton had a 4.9).

Perhaps equally distressing as his batting average was his defense, normally an area of strength for Carl. His -2.8 UZR and, according to fangraphs, -1 DRS ranked him in the middle of the pack, far from acceptable for a guy who is a dynamite fielder when healthy.

So now Pena moves to the Windy City and the Cubbies, a team coming off of an equally awful season, but a team with renewed hope and optimism under manager Mike Quade and stud hitting coach Rudolfo Jaramillo. Gone is Derrek Lee (and thankfully Ryan Theriot), and into the middle of the order slides Pena.

The NL Central has quickly gone from a garbage division with 1-2 good teams to possibly the most competitive in baseball, with four playoff caliber squads. The Cubs have as good a shot as any of winning the division, and if they do, Pena will be a major reason why.

I fully expect him to get back to his career averages, hitting at least .250 with 35-plus jacks. Questions surround the Cubs, from the health of third baseman Aramis Ramirez to the sanity of Carlos Zambrano. If Pena is healthy again, and he says he is, there is no reason to expect anything less than a major bounceback year from one of baseball's good dudes.