Carlos Pena’s breakout season also landed the American League comeback player of the year a hefty pay raise. All-Star pitcher Scott Kazmir did pretty well for himself, too.
Pena, Kazmir and the Tampa Bay Rays avoided arbitration, reaching contract agreements before the club’s self-imposed deadline to have deals in place before salary arbitration figures were exchanged.
The most productive season of Pena’s career positioned him for a three-year contract worth $24,125,000. The 29-year-old slugger must pass a physical to complete the deal, which would pay him $6 million this year, $8 million next year and $10,125,000 in 2010.
Until that is finalized, the sides agreed Friday to a $6 million, one-year contract. That means they didn’t have to exchange salary arbitration figures.
Kazmir, a 23-year-old left-hander who led the AL with 239 strikeouts last season, agreed to a $3,785,000, one-year contract. He’s the youngest AL strikeout champion since 22-year-old Frank Tanana in 1975 and finished one behind San Diego’s Jake Peavy for the major league lead. Kazmir was a career-best 13-9 with a 3.48 ERA in 34 starts last season. He was 8-3 with a 2.39 ERA after the All-Star break.
Pena set career highs for home runs (48), RBIs (121) and slugging percentage (.627) while
earning $1.2 million in 2007. He set a season franchise record for homers, finishing with the fourth-highest total in the majors behind Alex Rodriguez, Prince Fielder and Ryan Howard. He was sixth in RBIs and became the first player to hit 40-plus homers the season after being released by another team.
Tags: carlos pena, scott kazmir