Bye Rockstarter (And then there were nine)

As much as it made me cringe when I heard that another member of the 2004 World Champs has hit the road (I won't miss the guitar solos), the acquisition of Wily Mo Pena in exchange for Bronson Arroyo has the potential to be a great deal for the Red Sox.

That being said, Bronson Arroyo will definitely be missed. I was choked up as I went through Boston.com's photo recap of his three years in Boston. We can't forget that it was Arroyo who hit A-Rod with a pitch on July 24th, 2004 sparking the bench clearing brawl that ignited the Sox on their playoff run. It was Arroyo who had the ball slapped out of his glove by A-Rod during Game 6 of the 2004 ALCS....and ah, his lucky (bizarre) corn rows during the 2004 World Series run. Good luck in Cinci Bronson.

Papi & Pena - Yankees are you scared yet?
(Photo from Yahoo Sports)

Of course the success of the trade will depend on how well Pena performs -- he is only 24 with what Peter Gammons describes on his ESPN Insider Blog as "awesome power and remarkable speed."

Pena will probably start in right field against left handed pitchers. His 2005 statistics against lefties are impressive: .291 BA with a .345 on base percentage and a .536 slugging percentage.

Besides, it's just cool to have a monster-sized guy on the Sox with the name "Wily-Mo".

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