Rays bring back Pena

Baseball Betting Lines

01/24/2012 - St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Rays signed first baseman Carlos Pena to a one-year, $7.25 million contract on Tuesday.

Pena, 33, played for the Rays from 2007-10 before joining the Chicago Cubs last season. He batted .225 with a team-leading 28 home runs and 80 runs batted in.

"Carlos is one of the most accomplished players in team history and he is a great fit for our club in 2012 both on and off the field," said Rays executive vice president, baseball operations Andrew Friedman. "He adds to our offense with his power while maintaining the high defensive standard we seek."

Pena's best season was 2007 with Tampa Bay, as he boasted career-best numbers of 46 homers, 121 RBI and a .282 batting average. In his other three years with the Rays, Pena hit just .224, including a mere .196 in 2010. He was an All-Star in 2009, when he led the American League with 39 home runs.

A former Gold Glove winner, Pena has clubbed 258 home runs in a career that began with Texas 11 years ago, but is only a .239 lifetime hitter. He has also played for Oakland, Detroit and Boston.

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.