Wily Mo Peña Out, Elijah Dukes In

Wily Mo Peña will be sidelined for roughly four weeks after an MRI revealed a significant tear in his left oblique muscle.

The Washington Nationals outfielder, who was injured during batting practice on Wednesday, says he will work hard to be back on track by mid-April. Peña was batting .226 with one home run and four RBIs in 31 at-bats this Spring.

Manager Manny Acta is not too pleased, or optimistic about Wily Mo's future.

"We were willing to give the guy the opportunity to get 500 at-bats, and now another year is going to go by and next year we’ll probably be hearing the same thing about him," Acta said.

Since Mo will not be able to start in left field as projected, Elijah Dukes will most likely take his place on Opening Day.

Dukes strained his right hamstring while sliding into second base during Friday's split-squad game against the Cleveland Indians, and is day-to-day.

[SI.com]

No Mo' Wily Mo in Boston

The Washington Nationals acquired giant outfielder Wily Mo Peña from the Boston Red Sox Friday, along with some cash and a player to be named later.

The plan is to have Peña platoon left field for the Nats, who have high hopes that he'll bring along a big bat to help the club climb out of home run cellar.

Serving as a backup for the AL East-leading Sox, Peña is batting .218 with 5 longballs and 17 RBIs - and 58 strikeouts - in 73 games this season. Along with his 67 career homers, he has whiffed 436 times in 459 games over six seasons between Boston and the Cincinnati Reds.

Nationals VP and GM Jim Bowden put it perfectly...

"One thing about Willie Mo Peña I can tell you is if you give him 500 at bats, he's going to hit 40 home runs and strike out more than Adam Dunn," Bowden said. "And he's a below-average defender who needs to work hard on his game."

His tendency to make defensive mistakes and strikeout consistency aside, he's pretty much a monster; a welcomed sight in Washington, where they've hit a major league-worst 82 homers so far.

To make room for the new slugger on the roster, the Nationals sent rookie Matt Chico (5-7, 4.96 ERA) back down to the AAA Columbus Clippers.

The lefty has walked 20 batters in his last 24 innings, so he has roughtly two starts down there to shape up and relocate the strike zone before rejoining the club when big league rosters expand in next month.

[Washington Nationals]

Cabrera To Arbitration, Peña Gets Deal

Miguel Cabrera and the Florida Marlins took their salary dispute to arbitrators Friday, with Cabrera asking for $7.4 million and the club offering $6.7 million.

The All-Star third baseman finished second in the NL last year with a .339 batting average, driving in 114 runs with 26 homers, making only $472,000. A decision is expected Saturday.

Clubs are 4-0 in arbitration this year, with four players remaining scheduled for hearings next week: Baltimore's Erik Bedard, Washington's Chad Cordero, San Diego's Todd Walker and Chicago Cubs ace Carlos Zambrano.