The Tampa Bay Ray’s playoff hopes are pretty much dead as they felt the nail in the coffin with the recent news that their powerful slugging first baseman, Carlos Pena is out for the year.  Pena, who is leading the AL in home runs (39), was hit by a first inning fastball on Monday from the hard throwing Yankee C.C. Sabathia.  The pitch hit Pena in the left hand, breaking his middle and index fingers and will likely require surgery.  Umpires ruled that Pena swung, so he was not awarded first base, and on the next pitch Pena checked his swing and struck out.  The pain was very evident on Pena’s check swing, as he walked back to the dugout holding his hand gingerly and left the game soon after.

X-Rays showed obvious fractures in both fingers and Pena is now done for the 2009 season.  The Rays picked up first basemen Chris Richard’s contract from AAA Durham to replace Pena, however Richard has not seen any major league action since April of 2003 with the Colorado Rockies.  The Rays have now lost five in a row and their best power hitter, so you will not see Tampa Bay in the playoffs this year.

The Rays have designated 34-year old righty reliever Joe Nelson for assignment. They needed Nelson’s roster spot for newly acquired Sean Rodriguez. Nelson pitched in 42 games (0 starts) for the Rays this season and he was 3-0 with 3 saves, a 4.02 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP. Nelson’s lack of control (27 walks) and propensity to give up the long ball (7 homers) in only 40 1/3 innings this season were the main factors in the Rays jettisoning him.

UPDATE: Joe Nelson has surprisingly accepted a outright assignment to AAA instead of becoming a free agent.

The Los Angeles Angels have sent 25-year old righty swinging IF/OF Sean Rodriguez to the Rays to complete the Scott Kazmir trade. Rodriguez has played in 103 games in AAA-ball this season and he was 109 for 365 (.299 avg, 1.016 OPS) with 81 runs scored, 29 homers, 93 RBIs and 9 stolen bases. He has also played in 12 games for the Angels this season in which he was 5 for 25 (.200 avg, .716 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 2 homers and 4 RBIs. Rodriguez has played in 71 games in his major league career and he is 39 for 192 (.203 avg, .609 OPS) with 22 runs scored, 5 homers, 14 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. He has had problems making contact at the major league level with 62 strikeouts in his career. Part of the reason for all of the whiffing is the sporadic playing time he got with the Angels. Rodriguez has a lot of upside but it’s not clear where he would play for the Rays as he is a natural 2B.

The Rays have traded Scott Kazmir to the Angels for 21-year old lefty starting pitcher Alexander Torres, 21-year old lefty swinging 1B/3B Matthew Sweeney and a player to be named later. Kazmir was not pitching well until lately which is likely what ramped up the Angels’ interest in him. In his last three starts for the Rays, Kazmir was 2-0 with a 3.20 ERA and a 1.02 WHIP. His velocity had appeared to have returned as he whiffed 21 batters in 19 2/3 innings in those starts. But, Kazmir has not pitched well this season and the Rays didn’t send any money with him saving the team around $24 million bucks over the next three seasons. Kazmir pitched in 20 games (all starts) for the Rays this season and he was 8-7 with a 5.92 ERA and a 1.54 WHIP. Kazmir pitched in 145 games (144 starts) in his career with the Rays and he was 55-44 with a 3.92 ERA and a 1.39 WHIP. He leaves the Rays as their all time leader in starts, wins and strikeouts and he’s only 25 years old which is a tad scary to the Rays.

Alexander Torres is a nice prospect as he was ranked as the Angels’ #24 player in their minor league system heading into this season according to Baseball America. Torres pitched in 26 games (24 starts) in the minors this season and he was 13-4 with a 2.75 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP. He only has allowed 116 hits in 147 1/3 innings this season while whiffing 149 batters which shows what kind of stuff he has. But he needs to work on his control before he gets to Tampa as he has walked 80 batters this season. Matthew Sweeney was the #18 ranked prospect in the Angels’ system heading into this season according to Baseball America. He has played in 62 games in the minors this season and he was 67 for 226 (.296 avg, .884 OPS) with 42 runs scored, 9 homers and 44 RBIs. The player to be named later is also thought to be a decent prospect so this could turn out being a nice haul for the Rays. Still, they will need either top prospect Wade Davis or Andy Sonnanstine to step up in September (replacing Kazmir in the rotation) if they want to make a legit playoff push.

With Dioner Navarro and Josh Paul both a little nicked up the Devil Rays decided to recall Raul Casanova back up from the minors.