seeing as how I get half of my, like, 6 hits a day off of odd web searches (most dealing with my very drunken all-star game ramblings last year concerning players not on the royals), I figured I'd try to help out my fellow web surfers on their search for further enlightenment. so, with my random readers' best interests in mind, here are some answers to your various queries:

how the fuck much money does that carlos pena guy make?

well, in fact, he's making $2,575,000 in 2005. for future reference, this site seems to be a good one for finding this kind of information.

speaking of carlos pena, remember when he was the favorite whipping boy for sites like baseball prospectus? well, ok, "whipping boy" is more like a guy taking punishment. I meant, more like, one of those guys that (especially since he was on the Oakland A's) just about every saber-type site hyped like there was no downside to him. not that I want to spend too much time searching, but he was all over the top of the heap of "potential break-out stars" a couple years back. even rany loved him (you have to scroll down for the pena love). yeah, he's certainly torn up the league since then – who's to say we couldn't have gotten him for jeff suppan?

anyway, looking at trades such as last year, where the A's sent mike wood and mark teahen to the royals in the carlos beltran trade and all they got was octavio dotel – who, besides making $4,750,000 this season, didn't contribute much when he initially pitched for the A's (his end stats look a lot better than I remember them being in important A's games when he came over), the A's also make deals where they acquire guys like mark ellis for angel berroa (oh, sure, there was that Johnny damon for Roberto Hernandez for Ben Grieve thing, but all of those guys kinda suck and washed out for the A's and Royals and Devil Rays). and, after a couple non-productive seasons from ellis, you'd have to say the royals got the best of that deal so far.

and then there's this about our man Carlos Pena:

July 5, 2002: Traded by the Oakland Athletics with a player to be named later and Franklyn German to the Detroit Tigers for Jeff Weaver and cash. The Oakland Athletics sent Jeremy Bonderman (minors) (August 22, 2002) to the Detroit Tigers to complete the trade.

so, let me get this straight: the A's traded former saber-superstar Carlos Pena, Franklyn German, and Jeremy Bonderman for Jeff Weaver and cash. WTF? let's see, for Jeff Weaver they ended up getting:

July 5, 2002: Traded by the Oakland Athletics to the New York Yankees for Ted Lilly, Jason Arnold (minors), and John-Ford Griffin (minors).

for lilly, they got bobby kielty, who's been a part-time player; they sent Jason Arnold to the Blue Jays for Erubiel Durazo (indirectly), and traded John-Ford Griffin for Jason Perry, who has done fairly well at the A level, and is currently in AA. so, basically, they sent three current major leaguers to the tigers (and, in bonderman, a potential 1-2 starter) for a $5 million DH, a 4th outfielder, and a player in AA.

so, they managed to find three star pitchers at the same time. they managed to get some top prospects for two of them (mulder and hudson, obviously), and zito's been average so far this year, but getting prospects for those guys is a product of finding them in the first place, not necessarily a further reflection of their skill at finding talent. they make mistakes, too; it would be nice if people weren't so inclined to glorify them on every move they make.

anyway, random person, hope I helped you with your carlos pena salary information! thanks for stopping by!

some more searches:

roger clemens shower

talk to tony pena! he may be able to help..

"allard baird" asshole

he very well may be. right now, he's just slow to learn how to conduct a youth movement. I mean, "the plan". it is in place, this "the plan". don't disparage it!

"denys reyes" right arm

ah, denys reyes. the guy that broke a collarbone and switched to throwing left-handed – is that what you wanted to know about his right arm? this was probably my girlfriend's favorite royals player, seeing as how she's only been following them the last 2 years now. especially funny when he would fall off the mound every once in a while..

"KEN HARVEY" RELAY PITCHERS FACE

he nailed Jason grimsley. funny as shit, especially considering who he took out. come on, dummy grimsley, you know Harvey can't field that well! oh, I guess that's part of the reason why he's a dummy..

stupid pitcher KC royals

hint: it's all of them.

Kansas City Royals Suck
royals suck
why the royals suck
the kansas city royals suck
royals suck

do you really need to look this up to know why?

helpfully,
Joe Blow