Wily Mo Pena, originally uploaded by NGottwald.

Jim Bowden continued to remake the Washington Nationals lineup with mediocre talent today. Wily Mo Pena will join the club tomorrow after coming over in a trade with the Boston Red Sox today. The Nats haven’t decided who they’ll send to Boston to complete the deal.

It appears Pena will platoon with Ryan Church in left field. After a hot start to the year, Church has cooled down of late (earing a spot on my fantasy league bench). While the Nats didn’t have to give up much to get Pena, I’m not convinced he’s a long-term solution for the club. He’s never played more than 110 games (and that happened in 2004) and he’s declined significantly this season. The cavernous RFK Stadium certainly won’t help his power numbers.

Instead of picking up players like Pena, I wish the Nats would have instead invested in a star like Alfonso Soriano, who just last year trolled left field.