After signing Josh Hamilton, it became clear that the Los Angeles Angels had too many OFers. With Hamilton, last year’s sensational rookie Mike Trout, and Peter Bourgos looking like the Angels starters, and Mark Trombo lining up as a part time OFer and full-time DH, there simply wasn’t room for Vernon Wells and something had to give.
Meanwhile in New York the Yankees were in crisis. Injuries to Derek Jeter, A-Rod, Mark Teixeira, and Curtis Granderson have left the batting order decimated and the Yankees looking for anyone they can plug in the lineup (at any position) in order to fill the holes.
And so what had seemed logical for weeks, and was rumored for days, finally happened on Tuesday as the New York Yankees acquired Vernon Wells from the Los Angeles Angels for some middling prospects.
If it seems like this deal took a long time to consumate, especially when its been so logical since early January, thats true. However, standing in the way of the deal was the fact that Wells has an overpriced contract with two years, and $42 million remaining on the deal. This is clearly a lot of money for a player with Wells’ diminishing talents in recent years. However the Angels were desperate to save some of that money, any of that money, and so they trade Wells today with the agreement that the Yankees will pay $13.9 million of the deal and the Angels $28.1 million of Wells’ inflated contract.
Since being acquired by the Angels, from Toronto, Wells has been nothing short of awful. In 2011 he hit just .218, and his OPS was a paltry .660 for the Club. Overall his stats translated into -0.8 WAR, terrible numbers given the amount of money he is being paid. 2012 was slightly better with Wells hitting .230 and his OPS being .684 with his stats translating into a positive WAR of 0.5. While this is better, it is not a $20 million dollar plus per year outfielder. Heck, even picking up the tab at about $7 million per season, the Yankees are still overpaying based on Wells recent production.
In exchange the Angels have acquired, LHP Kramer Sneed & OF Exicardo Cayones. What type of prospects are these? Well all we can say is this, every year Baseball America profiles the prospects of all thirty major league teams. In this year’s issue there were 83 Yankees prospects profiled. The publication thought so lowly of Sneed and Cayones, that neither prospect was profiled.
Clearly this deal is a salary dump for the Angels, and the big concern is that they are now on the hook for nearly $14 million less for the underperforming Wells. Meanwhile the Yankees pick up an aging slugger and hope he can find some of the past form that got him the big deal in the first place.
This deal continues to show that when desperate, money is no object for the Yankees, and the Angels were willing to do whatever was necessary to save as much money on this dud as they could, even moving him to a club they may compete against for a wild card spot or in a playoff series down the line. Then again, with Wells’ record, they really shouldn’t be too worried about him being the player who will make the difference in a playoff chase or series.
And thats the Last Word.
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