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January 21, 2011

The Off-Season Gets More Surreal

First, there is the news that Manny Ramirez and Johnny Damon will be teammates in Tampa Bay this year.

Then I am driving home from work and I look over at one of the news billboards off the highway:

BLUE JAYS TRADE VERNON WELLS TO LOS ANGELES

Fuck the heck?!?!? I figure I must be hallucinating, so I try to look again before I speed by. Wow. I am pretty sure that's what it says. Now I'm frantically wondering why someone would be stupid enough to take Wells's contract (or is Toronto paying a lot of the freight to simply get rid of him)?

Well, it looks like the Angels are taking Wells AND ALMOST 100% OF HIS CONTRACT and sending catcher Mike Napoli and outfielder Juan Rivera to Toronto. Wells is 32 years old, he hit .227/.301/.407 on the road last year, and is due $23 million in 2011, and $21 million in each of 2012, 2013, and 2014.

DownGoesBrown tweet:
Love how the Wells trade includes a Napoli physical, as if Jays would walk away. Doctor: "He has no legs." Jays: "Yeah, we're OK with that."
theflash141, Fangraphs:
It is beyond difficult to be an Angel fan today. Not only is Vernon Wells (.280/.329/.475) essentially the same exact player as Juan Rivera (.280/.328/.461) for $80 million more, but trading Napoli as well gives the worst regular player in the majors, Jeff Mathis, even more at-bats. ... Why are people so f***ing stupid put in charge of multi-million dollar companies? ... So despondent right now. My team is run by absolute idiots.
Hendu for Kutch, SoSH:
I'd never seen a GM wrap up executive of the year 3 months before the season even started, so big kudos to Anthopoulos on this one.
radsoxfan:
The fact that Reagins actually had a negotiation about the money, and settled on only 5 million...good lord. In his head, I wonder how much Anthopoulos was willing to give before walking away from the trade. Conservatively, I think he would have paid $40 million easy. ...
at

11 comments:

  1. PokerwolfJanuary 22, 2011 at 7:58 AM

    Man, this season just got waaaaaay more interesting! Good grief!

    ReplyDelete
  2. PatrickJanuary 22, 2011 at 9:22 AM

    So they basically gave away Napoli, and signed Rivera to a 4/86 extension.

    ReplyDelete
  3. RobJanuary 22, 2011 at 9:25 AM

    Only this Vernon Wells trade could make Manny and Damon going to Tampa Bay almost a footnote.

    ReplyDelete
  4. allanJanuary 22, 2011 at 11:00 AM

    SoSHer twoBshorty:
    I'm wondering if Anthopoulos threw this offer out as a joke to get things started and Reagins took him seriously and accepted it.
    "Alex, we're interested in Vernon Wells."
    "Haha great! How about Napoli and Rivera and you take Wells' whole contract?"
    "Okay."
    *long silence* "Really?"

    ReplyDelete
  5. allanJanuary 22, 2011 at 11:04 AM

    Halos Heaven:

    Today, the Toronto Blue Jays unloaded one of the worst contracts in baseball history and got players with positive value in return. ... This trade doesn't even deserve the dignity of a formal analysis. ... Sam Miller of the OC Register noted that very rarely does a trade make one team "older, more expensive, and worse," all at the same time.

    ***

    Man, it sure is nice to have smart people running our team.

    ReplyDelete
  6. timJanuary 23, 2011 at 7:35 AM

    I'm undecided on the amount of respect I've gained for Anthopoulos. Also undecided on the level of stupidity in the Angels F.O.

    Absurd trade. Completely absurd.

    And Manny/Damon vs. Crawford should be some fun games!

    ReplyDelete
  7. PokerwolfJanuary 24, 2011 at 8:12 AM

    Am I right that we're looking at the possibility of five decent teams in the AL East this year? Toronto just got better, the Rays always hang around (although a lot of their guys are untested, but they always play the Sox and Yankees well), and the O's were playing well at the end of last season. This year might be kinda ridiculous in our division.

    ReplyDelete
  8. ZenslingerJanuary 24, 2011 at 8:13 AM

    I think Wells has some potential to return a little bit to the form that got him such a stupid contract in the first place. But that's the only mitigating factor here.

    I'm amazed Manny signed for $2m. He must have gotten all sorts of offers that were around that and decided he couldn't do better. But I kind of thought he would do a Pedro and just not play if no one was willing to pay him $5m or so.

    ReplyDelete
  9. allanJanuary 24, 2011 at 8:38 AM

    Am I right that we're looking at the possibility of five decent teams in the AL East this year?

    Seems that way.

    And that Manny deal could turn out to an insane bargain.

    ReplyDelete
  10. nickJanuary 24, 2011 at 8:58 AM

    What is it that makes Damon net 5-6 million but Manny only $2M?

    I'm looking forward to seeing Manny play in Fenway again, though I could do w/o the media idiocy that will surely swirl. I hope he kicks ass and the Sox still win with ease.

    ReplyDelete
  11. allanJanuary 24, 2011 at 10:44 AM

    Damon can play in the outfield, presumably. But Manny's bat should be better. ... Maybe they think Manny is less "reliable".

    ReplyDelete