Carlos Pena Trade Only a Matter of Time

In not-so-shocking news today, Jon Heyman of SportsIllustrated.com reports that the Cubs intend to deal Pena, and that he'll "almost surely be moved" before the deadline.

After the first month of the season, it looked like Carlos Pena was lost even more than his pitiful 2010 season for Tampa, which saw the slugger hit .198 on the year, with a meager .730 OPS.

After a very strong push these past few months, he has moved up to a level of slight respectability again.

"Slight" is definitely the operative word there, as Pena's season is far from acceptable.

He is hitting a staggering .180 with runners in scoring position this season, and is hitting an even lower .125 against lefties.

The 33-year-old does have 20 home runs this season, which does make him a bit more appetizing to potential teams in need of some cheap power. The problem is, everything else he's done has been a worse version of what the Cubs hoped they'd receive from him.

His .779 OPS is not production you can deal with out of your $10 million first baseman.

The Cubs must be hoping that his reputable "positive attitude" and good defense will make potential trade partners like the Diamondbacks be more tolerant of his offensive liabilities.

As a Cub fan, if only he could have swapped some of that great chemistry for just a bit more production. Since that ain't happening, Pena really has no role here in Chicago.

He'll be 34 next season, and he's now had the two worst seasons of his career in a row. Like most of the Cubbie faithful, I'd rather be stocking up on potential, instead of watching it rapidly evaporate in front of my eyes.

This may very well be Hendry's final trade deadline as the Cubs GM, and I truly hope that he can finagle a few solid prospects away with the upcoming moves; and he can go out with slightly more dignity than most Cubs fans give him right now.