Carlos Pena to retire as member of Tampa Bay Rays

Former All-Star first baseman Carlos Pena will sign a one-day contract with the Tampa Bay Rays to retire as a member of the organization, the club announced on Wednesday. Pena spent five years of his 14-year career as a member of the organization, and was the starting first baseman during the team’s run to the 2008 American League pennant.

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The announcement signifies that Pena has stopped looking for work, as he hasn’t suited up for a major-league team since 2014. After stints with Houston and Kansas City in 2013, he returned to the Rangers, the organization that originally drafted him, to log 18 games last season.

The bulk of Pena’s career came in Tampa and Detroit, where he went on to establish himself as one of the better power hitters in the game. Despite a generally low batting average, the former first-round pick was notorious for his good glove work at first and ability to draw walks at the plate.

After making his major-league debut with Texas in 2001, an offseason trade sent him to Oakland and he would later be flipped to Detroit to make room in the Athletics’ lineup for Scott Hatteberg. The latter transaction is well documented in the book and movie Moneyball.

Baseball Reference suggests that Pena netted roughly $48-million dollars over the course of his career, with his annual salary topping out at $10.125-million with Tampa Bay in 2010. The 37-year-old walks away from the game with 286  home runs, 818 RBIs, 817 walks, 1146 hits and a career .236 batting average.

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