Tampa Bay brings Pena back: According to CBSSports.com Baseball Insider Jon Heyman, the Rays agreed to sign free agent 1B Carlos Pena on Friday. Pena will receive a one-year deal worth $7.25 million. The 33-year-old slugger was with the Rays from 2007 to 2010, and he hit .225 with 28 homers and an .819 OPS for the Cubs last season. (Updated 01/20/2012)
Injury Report
No information available at this time (Updated 2/12/12).
Fantasy Analysis
Pena hit 46 homers in 2007 and 39 in 2009, but he has been held to less than 30 in each of the last two seasons. For a player who doesn't offer much in the way of batting average, that's a problem. He does walk at a high rate, though, so he wouldn't need much of a power boost to re-enter the mixed-league discussion. A return to the Rays would at least mean he's getting regular at-bats, so you should consider this development a favorable one for his Fantasy value. (Updated 01/20/2012).
02/10/2012 13:27 2012 Draft Prep: 12-team, mixed H2H draft
Which picks stood out in our initial 12-team Head-to-Head mock draft for 2012? Check out the results and read what Scott White has to say about some of the more interesting selections.
02/09/2012 05:02 2012 Fantasy outlooks: Chicago Cubs
Chicago has a new front office and several new names to consider on Draft Day. Our Scott White breaks down the Cubs in a Fantasy team outlook.
02/02/2012 12:21 2012 Draft Prep: Our 12-team, mixed Rotisserie draft
It's time for owners to start looking ahead to Draft Day. We get you off and running with our 12-team Rotisserie mock draft. Check out the results!
After a miserable year in Chicago in which he could never quite redeem himself in the hearts and minds of Cubs fans after a slow start, Carlos Pena is coming back home. And by home, we mean Tampa Bay, where he was an All-Star in 2009. Clearly, he isn't that player anymore -- he hasn't hit better than .227 in any of the last three seasons -- but he still offers a combination of patience and power that allows him to keep getting regular at-bats at the major-league level. True, he has fallen short of 30 homers each of the last two seasons, and if he doesn't meet that threshold, his low batting average and high strikeout rate are probably going to do him in for mixed-league purposes. But before you dismiss him as a viable option, keep in mind the slow start. He hit .235 with all 28 homers and an .871 OPS from May 1 to the end of the season. If he can start off the year that way now that he's back where he's comfortable, he still has something to offer mixed-league owners at age 33. As long as you can tolerate the drain in batting average, target Pena late as a cheap source of homers. (Updated 1/27/12)
Actual 
AccuScore Projections) Note: Points are rounded down.
