It’s kind of fitting that, on the same day, an all-time “what happened to that guy” guy like Andy Marte signed with someone, that another one does too: Wily Mo Pena signed with the Diamondbacks.
It’s a minor league deal with an invite to camp, paying him $675,000. Given the way he raked in limited play in Portland last year -- .324/.390/.556 -- he’s definitely worth a shot. Worst case, you let him go. Best case: he turns into Carlos Pena redux: a guy who everyone thought could put it together some day, didn’t for a long time, and then finally figured it out later.
I don’t know that I’d bet on it -- Carlo Pena always had good plate discipline in his favor whereas Wily Mo doesn’t -- but it’s a low risk, high upside proposition. And he has a better shot at helping his team than Andy Marte does, I’d wager.