Vernon Wells’ fall from grace wasn’t exactly unprecedented, but it wasn’t particularly common either. When the 35 year old former All-Star with a top 10 MVP finish on his resume signed his 7 year, $126 million extension with the Toronto Blue Jays 6 years ago, the contract was seen as only a mild overpay. The Jays were locking up a potential franchise player, a guy who could hit in the middle of the order and with some pop and some speed and someone who rarely struck out.
Instead, Wells’ performance declined to the point that the Jays traded him to the Angels in exchange for Mike Napoli and Juan Rivera prior to the 2011 season. The Angels reasoned that a change of scenery might do Vernon some good and that a productive Wells could be a key piece of a then-very good outfield. Instead, Wells continued to regress.
In his 2 years in LA, Wells hit 36 homers but batted only .222. In 2012, he hit only 11 bombs and had just a .279 OBP, which was actually higher than his number from the year before. To make matters worse, the Angels didn’t have a spot for Wells anymore. With Mike Trout, Peter Bourjous, Mark Trumbo and newly signed Josh Hamilton all vying for outfield time, Wells was the odd man out.
The Yankees picked up the ‘slugger’ after offering to pick up a only tiny portion of his salary–so little, in fact, that the Angels will be paying Wells $18.6 million to play for someone else in 2014–but any offer was good enough to dump the leftfielder.
Wells’ first and only season in the Bronx didn’t go so hot. Injuries made him a more central component than the Yankees would have liked, but Vernon still hit only 11 homers and posted a .233/.282/ .349 slash in 424 ABs.
Last week, the Yankees cut ties with Wells and he’ll either be traded or released in the coming days. Whoever gets the aging outfield will only be on the hook for $500,000 of his $21.6M salary in 2014 and, unless he somehow extorts someone into giving him an extension, he’ll finally be a free agent next winter so there is no risky longterm commitment. As such, Wells might make sense for a couple of teams.
New York Mets: The Mets recently signed another former Yankee, Curtis Granderson, to a lucrative 3 year deal to play leftfield for them, and they’ve got Juan Lagares in center with newly acquired Chris Young in right. Behind them, Matt Den Dekker is the 4th outfielder. Lucas Duda will play a little 1st base behind Ike Davis, and maybe a little outfield too. Even still, Wells might be worth it. He carries virtually no risk financially and could be a decent platoon mate for Granderson, who struggles against lefties. None of the Mets’ outfielders are sure things and Wells could be a decent guy to toss into the mix. He can pinch hit on days he doesn’t play (most days) and, depending on how he hits and where the Mets are in the standings in July, could be a decent trade chip at the deadline.
Wells has never played in the NL before; maybe the senior circuit is just what he needs to find his old stroke.
Tampa Bay Rays: Wells is the perfect candidate for one of Tampa’s low risk, high reward reclamation projects. The outfield is a little crowded at the Trop with Wil Meyers and Desmond Jennings cemented in right and center, respectfully, and David Dejesus and Matt Joyce splitting the left field/DH duties. Joyce and Dejesus are both left handed however, so Wells could be a helpful platoon guy. He isn’t a great defender but he can DH, play either corner outfield spot, and even first base, something that could be valuable to the resourceful Rays. Andrew Friedman is known for this type of off the wall move, so look out.
And did I mention that the price is right up the Rays’ alley?
Cincinnati Reds: The Reds might actually make the most sense of any of the teams on this list. Jay Bruce is the right fielder, and speedster Billy Hamilton will start the season in center, though questions persist about his ability to hit at the highest levels. The real opportunity for Wells comes in leftfield, his best position anyway. Ryan Ludwick is the current starting leftfielder but he hasn’t played more than 140 games since 2008 and has bounced back and forth from the DL a lot recently. Wells could be a great zero-risk insurance policy. Thanks to his league minimum salary (not really, of course, but that is the reality for any potential employer) Wells fits into literally any team’s budget, and on the Reds, he can serve as a backup leftfielder and late inning pinch hitter.
Wells’ versatility is especially valuable on an NL team and the Reds current 4th outfielder, Skip Schumaker, isn’t good enough to preclude them from making any more moves to strengthen that position. Obviously, Cincinnati would want to avoid a situation where Wells became a regular, but a combo of Wells and Schumaker wouldn’t sink the team and could actually be fairly productive.
Baseball is a business, and Vernon Wells, though barely a shadow of his former self, still represents a great value investment. If he can recapture even a fraction of the past, at $500K he’d be an absolute steal. One thing is certain: he will certainly play somewhere next year, and any of these three teams would be wise to take a flyer.
-Max Frankel
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