Veteran first baseman Carlos Pena is calling it a career at age 37 and Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports that he will sign a one-day contract with the Rays in order to officially retire as a member of the organization.
Pena had two different stints with the Rays totaling five seasons, during which time he made his lone All-Star team, led the league in home runs once, and posted an .843 OPS in 726 total games.
The practice of signing a one-day contract in order to retire as a member of your old team is typically reserved for upper-echelon stars, but Pena was a good, solid player and certainly ranks among the best hitters in the Rays’ abbreviated team history.
Pena struck out a ton and hit just .232 for his 14-year career, but he still had big all-around value thanks to 30-homer power, 100-walk patience, and outstanding defense at first base.