It was a great move by the Nationals at the trade deadline to get Wily Mo Pena from the Boston Red Sox for next to nothing. He played in 37 games for them and he was 39 for 133 (.293 avg, .856 OPS) with 24 runs scored, 8 homers and 22 RBIs. That was just a glimpse at what he has the potential to do if given a starting job which he has never really had in the major leagues. He has now played in 496 games in his career and he’s 362 for 1,395 (.259 avg, .788 OPS) with 186 runs scored, 75 homers and 215 RBIs. He has whiffed an unbelievable 472 times which the Nationals will try to help him improve on and his defense is not very good in the outfield. But the potential for 35-40 homers in definately present with Pena as long as the Nationals can live with his flaws.

Dmitri Young was certainly a find for the Nationals as he was given no guarantees in Spring Training.  Young took advantage of Nick Johnson’s slow recovery from a broken leg and he never looked back.  Young played in 136 games this season and he was 147 of 460 (.320 avg, .869 OPS) with 57 runs scored, 13 homers and 74 RBIs.  It’s still a little curious that the baseball writers rewarded a guy that was kicked off his team last season by Manager Jim Leyland in Detroit because he was an ass!  Still, he behaved this season and it earned him a nice two year contract with the Nationals.

Young has now played in 1,314 games in his major league career and he is 1,347 for 4,612 (.292 avg, .826 OPS) with 633 runs scored, 167 homers and 673 RBIs.