"The Cubs are learning more every day about how much they're getting for the $10??million they spent on first baseman Carlos Pena.

On Wednesday, they got another instructor on the practice field during pop-up drills.

Pena, who came with a reputation as a good teammate with leadership qualities, showed it when he asked manager Mike Quade if it was OK to tell other players some of his ideas for completing the plays they were practicing. Quade already had been preaching about communication.

It was a small point, ''but he had a different angle, which was great,'' Quade said. ''It's a group effort in so many ways, and also you have people that have been exposed to other organizations and have heard other instructors emphasize different things."