Arte better not expect the second coming of Vlad with Vernon....
Did Arte Moreno ever really buy the Angels from the Disney Corporation? Are the Angels are spending all their money on outfielders in an attempt to bring back the classicly bad movie Angels in the Outfield? At the time the movie came out it was laughable that the Angels would ever win a pennant, and after a head scratching offseason it seems just as laughable right now spending more on their 30+ year old outfield than the movie grossed at the box office. Moreno is making Al Davis look sane these days.
You may or may not have heard they traded for Vernon Wells giving up Juan Rivera and Mike Napoli to the Blue Jays. Wells is a slight upgrade over Rivera, but not a $15M upgrade. Wells had a pretty good season last year, but if you look at his career numbers you will see he has one pretty good year, then a bad one, and the worst part about him is he has continually declined from his career highs he set in 04-06. I’m not saying he’ll be terrible this year, but he will never live up to his contract. Rivera was supposed to make $5M this upcoming season, while Wells is due to make $23M in 2011 with three more years of $21M left on his contract.
Both Rivera and Wells are 32 years old, and without PED’s we know that their production will dwindle as time rolls along, unless some crazy undetectable strengthening drug comes along.
The Angels struck out on landing Carl Crawford, and decide to trade for a guy that the Blue Jays have been trying to get rid of for years!?! I even put him on my list of worst contracts in the MLB back in August of 2009. This move makes no sense at all, especially when the reason for them not wanting to sign Crawford was that he wanted too many years. He wanted seven, and that would’ve put him at 35 years old when his contract ran out, coincidentally that is the same age that Wells will be when his contract is done. I’ve got nothing against Vernon, but in two years which player would you rather have? Not a tough choice there right?
With their current outfield alignment, they weren’t especially bad out there, nor were they all that good, but having this be their major upgrade of the offseason seems like a joke. They are still paying for the final year of Gary Matthews Jr.’s ridiculous contract ($11.5M this year), and he’s not even playing anymore. They are spending $63M on the outfield including Matthews Jr. Yup, $63M is not a typo for (Matthews Jr, Wells, Hunter, and Abreu). That’s more than the A’s entire payroll, ok, maybe that was an exaggeration, but it’s close, and they still don’t look like a great team. I know Vernon won’t be labeled as the most overpaid fourth outfielder like Matthews Jr. was, but he could be in four years during the final year of his contract! Was it Torii Hunter’s contract working out that made them pull the trigger? I’ll be the first to admit that I thought Hunter was overpaid when they signed him, but this seems like a twice as risky scenario, since Wells hasn’t had an all-star worthy season since 2006, and Torii is known for his hard work ethic, not the same with Wells.
Why wouldn’t they put in a better offer for Beltre since he obviously would’ve come to LA if the price was right since all Boras clients ever want is the most money. It would’ve sured up their worst infield position, and they wouldn’t be stuck with quite as large of a contract. They needed an upgrade at 3B much more than in the outfield. Whatever their reasons, I’m glad they are going to stick with Brandon the .200 hitter Wood at third base, and even happier they have Vernon for the next four years keeping a lot of salary tied up. Just so you know Brandon Wood makes the A’s Kevin Kouzmanoff look like a shoe in All-Star.
By
cali4dre
chappy81
dyslecix
mceezy
Doin Work 
January 24th, 2011 at 6:25 pm
I guess this move was a last ditch effort to keep up with the Joneses, huh. We’ll see if pans out since the Angels are obviously suffering from AL East envy.
January 24th, 2011 at 7:29 pm
I guess it’s a little protection for Kendry in the lineup, but it seems like there were a lot better ways to get that. I hope they keep on overpaying players it always makes fans of their rival smile a little 🙂
January 24th, 2011 at 6:47 pm
Yeah, quietly the Angels have turned into one of those teams that believe spending more automatically equals winning more. I don’t want to speak too soon, but it really seems like they’re moving backward….and getting older.
January 24th, 2011 at 7:22 pm
I kinda hesitated about writing this one, because maybe it will motivate Wells to have a career year haha, but seriously looking at what they’ve done to the team over the last couple seasons they better hope that farm system is stocked (haven’t looked in awhile), because a lot of the guys they have are going to be too old by the end of their contracts! If this trade makes it so they can’t sign Haren after next year, it will just look that much worse!
January 24th, 2011 at 10:21 pm
Wells will be a great addition in the outfield, but that contract has GMJ written all over it if he bombs! Let’s hope that he lives up to some of the hype.
January 25th, 2011 at 1:44 am
I had to read this one twice on MLBTradeRumors. I didn’t think it was serious. The Jays would’ve given Wells away for peanuts, I’ll bet they were ecstatic.
I really can’t find anything to like about this deal as an Angels fan. I guess I’ve heard that he’s a nice guy…so there’s that…
January 25th, 2011 at 8:19 am
Even though I’m usually not a fan of spending like this, I do understand it. The Angels are very close to making a run at this and they need a little bit of extra firepower in order to take division back from the Rangers.
Meehan
January 25th, 2011 at 9:34 am
chappy
Moreno prayed to the baseball gods and all they blessed him with was crap ! Crap on the field and now crap off it as well ! I feel real sorry for Mike Scioscia at this juncture !
tophatal …………….
January 26th, 2011 at 11:03 am
I don’t it makes me happy actually!
January 26th, 2011 at 11:43 am
chappy
I’m sure it does ! Almost as happy as Obama was after last night’s ‘State of the Union Speech.’ Now he can go and console Jay Cutler after all he did back the Bears to win didn’t he ?
Has Urlacher removed his index finger from Cutler’s rectum as of yet ?
With all the money that Moreno has at his disposal how the hell is that team has performed so miserably over the last few seasons ? Other than World Series (’02) triumph they’ve been as dormant and docile as a church mouse !
tophatal ……….
January 25th, 2011 at 11:18 am
chappy
There’s no truth to the rumor that Tonya Harding whacked Cutler on his knee. She says she was nowhere in the vicinity when it happened .
So the Hornets will remain in New Orleans for next season it appears .
Peja Stojackovic signs with the Mavericks . I get the impression that Cuban and the team have become ever so desperate !
All Star Is This American Idol …. ?
tophatal …………….
January 25th, 2011 at 3:27 pm
chappy
So Palmer wants out of Cincy ? But team owner Mike Brown ….. tells him ‘ hold your horses son you’re going nowhere ‘ ! So I guess with Palmer now stating that he’d choose to retire rather than staying with the team I wonder what’ll happen next ? Clue me in please ? LOL,LOL,LOL !!!
Who Let The Cat Out Of The Bag ? Superbowl 45 (SBXLV) Is Now Here !
===
Tigers Have Stripes ………….. The Bengals Simply Have Nothing At All To Make People Fear Them ……..
tophatal ………….
January 26th, 2011 at 2:51 pm
chappy
Bite on this one as it mentions sportschump (Chris) . It’s not so much bashing the Rays but getting him to wake up and smell the cofffee !
Obligations of Office …….
This just in ………. Brian Urlacher has removed his index finger from Jay Cutler’s rectum and the qb has now been able to regain his speech . Obviously it did nothing for his form during the NFC championship game .
tophatal ……………..
January 26th, 2011 at 3:30 pm
Big mistake by the Angels. I’m a huge Vernon Wells fan, he was my favourite Blue Jay, but his contract and the way he has played with it has not been good enough. He started out great last season, but his second half was atrocious, especially the middle part of the season. He has had injury problems, is 32 now I believe, and I just don’t understand why the Angels would want to take on his contract especially because in the latter part of the contract they have to pay $20 plus million per. If I were Alex Anthopolous I would have traded Vernon Wells for a bucket of rotten eggs. Just to dump his contract was great, but then actually getting something in return was just a bonus.
I think Jon Heyman had a nice little piece the other day about this.
January 27th, 2011 at 3:39 pm
Chris Ross ……..
Vernon Wells ? More like ……… Vernon Smells ! The guy continually stinks up the joint more than a used feminine hygiene product ! And for that he’s being paid $20 million a year ? No wonder the Jays’ kicked not only his _ss out of town but also former GM J P Ricciardi for agreeing to such a dumb a_s deal !
And now Ricciardi has gone on to the Mets where he can now assist Sandy Alderson in either ruining that organization even further or lift them up at least one notch or two .
tophatal ……..
January 27th, 2011 at 3:41 pm
chappy
Cutler’s ego has been bruised and ruined ………… Urlacher won’t his calls !
Who’s The Jack Ass In This Story ?
tophatal …………
December 8th, 2011 at 6:12 pm
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