Carlos Pena looks like he's 30 again. He's only 33, but still.
Pena’s two run homer Wednesday night gave him a team leading 18 for the season. Thirty five HR and 90 RBI are a realistic possibility for the first-year Cub. Stats you would expect out of a player making $10 million.
It only makes sense for the Cubs to trade Pena before this season’s trade deadline. The team is going nowhere this year, and Pena’s hot hitting isn’t nearly enough to settle one’s stomach when watching whatever social security-eligible starting pitcher the Cubs choose to hand the ball to.
Pena certainly will draw interest from offensively challenged teams. Pena’s power and ability to drive in runs are certainly attractive, and although his .225 batting average is ugly, he still sports a respectable .343 OBP. The left-hander’s playoff statistics are even better. In 19 career playoff games he's hit .269 with 4 HR and 14 RBI. Pena also comes with no baggage and is widely considered throughout baseball to be a great teammate.
Perhaps the Giants would be interested, and could creatively move Aubrey Huff to another spot on the diamond as they have in the past. A typical deadline trading partner of the Cubs, the Pirates would potentially be interested in buying hitting, barring a collapse before the deadline. Pittsburgh has certainly helped the Cubs out with trades in recent years, and Chicago could return the favor by giving them an upgrade over Lyle Overbay.
Pena’s defense is so good that if he were traded to an American League team, it could be to play first base, and a team’s current first baseman could move to DH. Odds are that if Pena is traded, it would be in the National League, but the option of going back to the AL remains a possibility.
Surprisingly enough, AmEx’s 20% rebate is actually a good deal. They offer competitive rates on airfare and hotel booking, and allow you to pay entirely or partially with points.
Numbers, crunched
American Express points, when used through the Pay with Points program, are valued at one cent per point, so you could redeem 97,600 points for that $976 flight to Heathrow from San Francisco. After the 20% bonus is credited to your account (it happens after the fact, and takes 10-12 weeks, according to the Pay with Points website), you’ll have spent 78,000 points, or $780. That’s $185 saved over booking with Kayak or Travelocity, enough that only one-third of your England trip will be spent lamenting the weakness of the American dollar.
American Express Platinum is steadily earning our respect
We’re generally happy with American Express as a card for international travelers, especially since the Platinum and Centurion joined the ranks of credit cards with no foreign transaction fee. Now that you can redeem your points through American Express Travel and get 20% of those points back, we’re even happier.
The American Express Platinum is one of the best-known premium credit cards, and offers a number of perks for international (or domestic) travelers. There’s a 50,000-point signing bonus (worth $500), a base rewards rate of 1% and an annual fee of $450. And based on the numbers we ran above, it only takes a couple of international flights to make up for most of that hefty fee.
Skipping customs and sipping champagne: the joys of premium credit cards
Beyond the numbers, however, the true value of the AmEx Platinum (and, really, for all premium credit cards) lies in the lovely perks. The Platinum shells out $200 in refunds for travel-related expenses like baggage fees and in-flight meals, and a free Priority Pass membership that gives access to over 600 airport lounges worldwide. A special boon for international travelers is the $100 credit towards the government Global Entry program, which allows you to skip customs lines coming back to the US (after, of course, an extensive background check). You also receive one companion ticket a year, which allows someone to fly with you, round trip, in the same class, as long as you book a business or first class ticket.
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