Well, in his very short time with the team ... seven games ... thirteen at bats ... four strikeouts ... two walks ... hitting .154 ... Brandon Allen had ... TWO GAME-WINNING HITS for the Rays ... one a homerun!

And ... then there's Dan Johnson and Game 162!

I think they call it "Crapshooting"!

Joyce, Upton and even Zobrist? You both mad? I would rather say Joyce, Zobrist and even mere Upton.

Pretty lousy stats across the board, but I'm willing to cut 'Dimples' some slack. Based upon the awesome numbers he put up in Chicago last year...and forgetting the fact that, as ever, he had the worst full-time player BA with them as well...I've projected the line he'll have to attain the rest of this season to get 'up' to his 2011 tally.

PA-150 /AB-111/R-15/H-36/2b-12/3B-2/HR-13/RBI-34/BB-37/K-23/BA-.324.

Fully aware that these stats will raise his BA to ONLY .225, and that collecting 27 extra-base hits of the 36 total needed while fanning only 23 more times is daunting, it ought to be the proverbial piece of cake for 'our' offensive MVP. To wit, if he pulls a "Ted Williams" act and actually raises his BA to .225, there's virtually no way he'll have the lowest seasonal BA on the Rays as he'll likely pass Jennings, Rodriguez, Scott, and possibly Upton and Johnson. LOL! Come on 'Los, team MVP honors are there for the picking...

You know, there could be another excu...er, answer...to the poor hitting stats. This board constantly wets its collective pants hailing the Rays' "best in baseball" pitching staff...the starters are 44-36 (Price is 14-4, Hellickson, Moore, et al are 30-32)...but what about our opponents? I'd say the Orioles pitchers held their own very well this past series, regardless of the wimpy team they faced. Gonzalez went pitch-for-pitch with our 'Ace of the Base,' Price, Chen out-pitched Hellickson straight up, and Hunter stayed pretty much with Moore, so...

Our hitters are poor, as a team BA of .230 highlights, but except for Price the staff isn't anything to write home about. Hitting, pitching, and defense all play in the outcome of any given game, and these together cut both ways...team versus team. The Rays are 6 games under .500 since June 10th, and it isn't all on our shabby hitting, or porous defense failing our supposed superior pitching. The opponent's hitting, pitching, and 'D' plays a major role as well.

One of the most hilarious posts I've come across on this forum ... ever!

Selecting a "2012 Offensive MVP" for the Rays might be akin to picking which guy on the team who has contributed the least to the mega-mess always left in the Rays dugout during the typical home game!

Given his stats over the past tw-and-two-thirds seasons, Pena is certainly not going to meet your proposed stats over the last one-third of this season ... BUT ... who's to say a newcomer might not?

For example:

Catcher ... Chris Gimenez at Durham ... over 50 games ... .337/.412/.481/.893 with 29 RBIs and 90 total bases.

First baseman and rightfielder ... Henry Wrigley at Durham ... over 70 games ... .323/.361/.521/.882 with 20 2Bs, 10 HRs, 44 RBIs and 137 total bases.

First baseman and centerfielder ... Leslie Anderson at Durham ... over 94 games ... .309/.367/.453/.820 with 19 2Bs, 11 HRs, 45 RBIs and 164 total bases.

(Note: It's not very likely that Scott will be significantly better at the plate than Pena has been ... so ... continuing to keep him around may also become problemmatic. And, the same might be said about Longoria possibly returning after missing more than two-thirds of the season.)

Nah, You messed up.

Wrigley is a 1B only.
Anderson is a DH who can also play 1B, LF and RF.

Either you don't understand or you are just trying to come up with anything to smite Pena. With Joyce on second in the bottom of the ninth in a tie game, a homerun is not needed! Keppinger is pitched too who is hitting 120 points higher than Pena. All that was needed to win a game is a weak single! And they Pitch around the guy with the lowest average besides Roberts who does not have enough ABs. Also, like Casey said Pena already had a hit in the game so chances are small that he would hit another!

Right? Every team in the AL still considers Pena as our offensive MVP, that is why they still put the shift on him! You have about the IQ of Bobby V.

Some of the Rays' starting pitching this season has been absolutely deplorable ... so ... the team has definitely lost some games due to poor pitching rather than poor hitting or defense. All-in-all, I do agree with you that, overall, the starting pitching this season "is nothing to write home about" ... and it hasn't really been comparable at all to the effectiveness the starting pitchers maintained last season.

And, I agree, over plenty of games this season, opponents' starting pitching has matched or surpassed the Rays' starting pitching. And, no question, the Rays have played quite a few teams as good or better than themselves ... so ... I honestly don't think 56-52 is all that bad at this point ... and I originally felt they would probably win 81 to 85 ... with 81 wins possibly becoming somewhat problemmatic if some things didn't fall in their favor.

I have also come to believe that managerial machinations and ineffective coaching have played a part in some losses ... maybe some that could have been avoided.

The real star of the show thus far has clearly been the bullpen!

Wrigley has played in rightfield, leftfield, third base and first base at various times during his seven-years minor league career. He has probably played most of his games in rightfield and at third base.

Anderson played centerfield for the Cuban national team for five seasons from '05 through '09 and signed with the Rays in '10. Within the Rays' system, he's played leftfield, rightfield, first base and DH over the past three seasons. He played first base for the Bulls before Wrigley arrived.

Consequently, in terms of versatility, both can play the outfield as necessary (unlike Pena and Scott).

I would begin their tryouts by putting Wrigley at first and Anderson at DH.

The real issue here is that BOTH are hitting north of .300 with power ... and BOTH can play first base as well as outfield positions ... making them much more attractive and versatile offensively and defensively than Pena and Scott. And ... under the current low-hits-low-runs circumstances ... there's really no significant downside to giving both of them a serious tryout ASAP ... BEFORE roster space might also have to be made available for the possible return of Longoria and Scott.

You know ... teams put the shift on for Pena because he's a terminal pull hitter!

And ... because Buck Showalter decides to handle a situation his way does not mean that every other manager or baseball afficionado would handle that situation the same way!

And ... is the "Bobby V." you mention Bobby Vinton or Bobby Vee? Both were heartthrobs ... both were musical pros in every way ... both made a ton of money ... and I think they're both pretty smart guys! Thanks for the compliment, anyway ... whichever guy you meant!

Good post there, Bobby V. *wink* The bit about the manager and coaching goes well below the surface of things. I think "Vic's" post in the Joyce thread speaks volumes on this topic. Maddon's 'way' is one of the prime reasons that I, a Tampa native, am not more of a Rays fan. To your post regarding possible replacements for "Dimples the MVP," either or both of the guys you mentioned should be given at least a look, especially once the roster is expanded. Heck, I'd already be playing that big orange monkey "Clyde" from the old Eastwood movies simply because I doubt it could do worse. The continual tripe about intentionally walking Pena is getting tiresome. You'd think that by the 9th inning, the guy "every team in the AL blah, blah, blah..." would have already poked 2 or 3 shots making the discussion moot, and solidifying his cred with all of *baseballdom*.

Nobody is going to give Wrigley outfield's glove in the MLB. Third base? Really? It must have looked like Molina catching, too bad I missed it. He is an above average first baseman and it's where he will develop and where he will only play in majors if given a chance.
In the bigs this season if called Anderson would play maybe 1-2 games in the outfield or 1B. Rather Luke Scott's DH replacement for this and eventually next season. If he is going to play an inning in CF in the minors or majors then Upton should be back at SS.

Bobby Valentine... I think it is quite hilarious you have nothing else but another manager would handle the situation differently. Maybe you finally see how more of an asset Pena is.

OK take a look at a neutral source:

www.baseballplayersalaries.com/players/660_Carlos_Pena
www.baseballplayersalaries.com/players/854_Matthew_Joyce

I guess the comment on Pena does not mean he is offensive MVP.

I agree, Matt Joyce is Underpaid. And Pena is really only worth around 5 million. However, if we only offered 5 million someone else certainly would have offered 7. Anyways, Pena can work a full season unlike Joyce who is fragile.

Joyce played 141 games last season despite finding himself constantly on the bench against lefties. One 15-day DL stint over 2 seasons is definitely not making him fragile player.

One of the reason some players are oft. injured is inactivity..Joe sits Joyce more than some who should be sent down..he uses othe lefty hitters when he makes his matches..I never understand why he does not go with his best like the other teams do..Why he does not want an agressive hitting team at the plate and uses slow runners agressively on the field..Thus killing scoring chances..And why a team that is crying poor mouthand has players rotting in the minors who are now better than what the squandered wasted payroll has become..

Even a broken clock is right twice a day ...

Pena getting 3 hits a game is pretty much a fluke of nature,
the rub of the green, pure luck.

On the other hand, if he ACTUALLY put the ball in play just
50% of the time he whiffs, he'd probably have a batting
average above his weight.

There are at least a dozen guys in AAA or AA who can play 1B as well as Pena
and hit better as well. But since they will never get a chance to show anyone
what they can do because of Pena's salary, no one will ever know.

Without Pena, the Rays are well above .500 ... How many times has he whiffed
with runners in scoring position? All he had to do was hit the ball and in half of
those circumstances and we'd have probably scored at least one run on average.

But it's not like he could not improve, IF he wanted to improve. And it would be
simple to do. Get a bigger bat, close up the stance some, choke up a bit and hit
the ball to left center field. Stop trying to hit pitches a foot outside or in the dirt.

"Pena getting 3 hits a game is pretty much a fluke..." Good one! I'd be willing to bet you can count the total number of times he's accomplished this feat during his career on one hand. Two hits in a game is rare enough for old 'Dimples.'