What About Pena?
About the only good thing that has happened to the Yankees this season is Ramiro Pena. Despite never playing above AA, he has hit .280 and provided solid, if not spectacular, defense so far in 2009. There is no doubt that he can help the 2009 Yankees, but the 2010 Yankees and beyond might be better served by having Pena playing every day in AAA.
New York has to make a decision about this tomorrow, but it might be a moot point right now. Before Molina left tonight's game you could argue the best use of Pena either way, but now Molina may miss some time. With no other catchers on the 40-man roster, the Yankees need an insurance policy and the best way to get one is to DFA Angel Berroa and add a catcher to the 40-man. You can activate A-Rod tomorrow and DFA Berroa to do that.
Before Molina left the game, I would have argued for the Yankees to send Pena down and see what he does everyday at AAA. Jeter grows more immobile by the day and you need to see if Pena can replace him in the future. Now, you don't have that luxury. This team needs all hands on deck. Pena stays, A-Rod arrives and you have to hope something clicks.
UPDATE: Molina is in a MRI machine right now and Girardi assumes that means he is headed to the DL. I guess that means Kevin Cash is the catcher for the next few weeks and validates my thinking above. <gulp>
