2011 Toronto Blue Jays Offseason Thread

[Flickered Flame]

Jon Heyman of SI is now reporting that the Jays will send 5 million in the deal but that is only enough to pay VW for a month and a half.

[flambers]

Originally Posted by Flickered Flame

Jon Heyman of SI is now reporting that the Jays will send 5 million in the deal but that is only enough to pay VW for a month and a half.

That makes more sense the Jays still save money this season, I believe Wells makes over 20 million this season

[Mightyfire89]

Originally Posted by Jason14h

To me this is a trade both teams win.

Rivera will have people going nuts by the all star game, and in a bad way! He oinly hits HR when you are down 8-1 in the last inning! Wait till you see him try and hit a breaking ball. He is only included for salary. Napoli is under control for 2 years, so a nice 6-7 hitter and catcher insurance.

For Anahiem, they have money to burn. Wells instantly ungrades their team, and with Oakland and Texas both having good offseasons (Relatively) they had to do something.

They surrendered no prospects, and got a CF who was one of the best Sluggers last season and can "sorta" play good D still.

It is amazing we were able to ditch 80 million. But Wells is a very very good player when healthy, and has been nothing but class act to Toronto. I truely hope he gets a great round of applause when he is here next.

Agreed. There's only one thing I didn't like about Vern, his contract. The only way he could have lived up to that contract would have been 35-40 HRs 95-120 RBIs every year and still playing stellar in CF. He obviously couldn't do it (very few can), but he's a class act and I wish him the best in Cali.

I think (hope?) most Jays fans are smart enough to know the situation and will greet him warmly when he comes back.

On another note, I have to say, I'm very impressed by Anthopoulos so far. I have hope again for the Jays since he took over as GM.

[Flickered Flame]

Originally Posted by flambers

That makes more sense the Jays still save money this season, I believe Wells makes over 20 million this season

I could be wrong but I believe he will earn 24 mill this season.

[Jiggy_12]

Posted on Jays message board, supposedly Well's twitter update:

"My 1st public comments go to the people that deserve it..the Toronto fans! Thx 4 the memories. I am forever grateful!!" - VW

[flames_1987]

Originally Posted by Jason14h

To me this is a trade both teams win.

Rivera will have people going nuts by the all star game, and in a bad way! He oinly hits HR when you are down 8-1 in the last inning! Wait till you see him try and hit a breaking ball. He is only included for salary. Napoli is under control for 2 years, so a nice 6-7 hitter and catcher insurance.

For Anahiem, they have money to burn. Wells instantly ungrades their team, and with Oakland and Texas both having good offseasons (Relatively) they had to do something.

They surrendered no prospects, and got a CF who was one of the best Sluggers last season and can "sorta" play good D still.

It is amazing we were able to ditch 80 million. But Wells is a very very good player when healthy, and has been nothing but class act to Toronto. I truely hope he gets a great round of applause when he is here next.

You'd have a tough time finding many Jays fans who would question the kind've person Wells is or his personality outside of the ballpark. That has little or nothing to do with the trade today though. Kudos to him for having a quality season last year which was enough for the Angels to take on that contract.

I've never bought into the notion that you should make a move just for the sake of making a move which is exactly what the Angels did and starting to have a history of doing (see Scott Kazmir) The money they now have tied up in Wells and Hunter is pretty substantial. I think your being a little to easy on the Angels when you say they had money to burn, so picking up 20 million plus for multiple years on Wells is justified.

I don't think the Angels should be applauded on not giving up any prospects in this trade. The entire baseball world would've most likely still favoured the Jays in this trade, if all they got a Class A bat boy. When you consider that in many career statistics Rivera is not far away from Wells, it makes this trade even more of a great trade for the Jays.

[ricoFlame]

Originally Posted by Jiggy_12

Posted on Jays message board, supposedly Well's twitter update:

"My 1st public comments go to the people that deserve it..the Toronto fans! Thx 4 the memories. I am forever grateful!!" - VW

Wow, class. very impressive.

[flames_1987]

Classy move by Wells, considering the scrutiny he has been under by fans and the media since signing that contract, to thank the fans right away. Listening to him over the last season, it's obvious he's not removed from what fans and the mlb community thought about his contract. Very honest, and intelligent with how he chose to conduct himself.

His tweet following that was:
To my new home...LA! Winning is all that matters!! Let's do this!!

[Jason14h]

I see no way how this trade can be a win for both teams... Wells has probably the worst contract in baseball... its amazing the Angels made the trade with no cash in return...

Wells was 12th in total bases and 17th in MLB in Slugging last season... He isn't a good CF anymore, but the Angels have a superstar defensive CF. Wells will play LF and be 2nd after Crawford at that position.

The Angels win because they have upgraded their team without giving up anything of value. Their goal is to win. They missed out on all the big FA's.

I think it is a terrific trade for the Jays, and Anaheim def showed some panic, however, Wells when healthy is a great player. His off year he played through injuries because he was the team leader and knew/knows his contract is way too high.

He is a true proffesional and I wish him nothing but success

[flambers]

Originally Posted by Jason14h

Wells was 12th in total bases and 17th in MLB in Slugging last season... He isn't a good CF anymore, but the Angels have a superstar defensive CF. Wells will play LF and be 2nd after Crawford at that position.

The Angels win because they have upgraded their team. Their goal is to win. They missed out on all the big FA's.

I think it is a terrific trade, and Anaheim def showed some panic, however, Wells when healthy is a great player. His off year he played through injuries because he was the team leader and knew/knows his contract is way too high.

He is a true proffesional and I wish him nothing but success

I wish Wells all the best as well, seems like a great guy....

However I don't see it as a terrific trade... rather its a terrible trade for the Angels. For 24 Million a season a person would think the Angels could do better.....

I hope Wells, stays healthy and has another productive season... but can he have another 4 productive seasons (at 20 million a season)... I doubt it.

[Jason14h]

just for the stat junkies, the 11 players with more total bases last season:

Bautista
Gonzalez
Pujols
Cabrera
Cano
Hamilton - MVP
Votto - MVP
Beltre
Konerko
Holliday
Braun

Ahead of guys like A Gonzelez, Crawford, Werth, Longoria, Texeria, Howard

[Jason14h]

However I don't see it as a terrific trade... rather its a terrible trade for the Angels. For 24 Million a season a person would think the Angels could do better.....

Who though? They missed out of the big FA's? They needed someone!

[Jason14h]

Good Article breaking down the stats

http://espn.go.com/blog/statsinfo/po...out-with-wells

And yes it doesn't look good for the Angels

[GirlySports]

Always like Wells. It's not like he wasn't trying. It just didn't pan out. As other have said, not way he could have lived up to that contract.

Incredibly stupid move for the Angels.

A) Wells was on WAIVERS last August
B) Spend 90 million on an OF? Why not go after Crawford if you're going to spend in that neighbourhood!

[flambers]

Originally Posted by Jason14h

Who though? They missed out of the big FA's? They needed someone!

Not sure but it looks desperate in my opinion..... They would of been better to make no trade.

[Jason14h]

Not sure but it looks desperate in my opinion..... They would of been better to make no trade.

Absolutely desperation, and in 2 years it will even be funnier. However, Anaheim has no $$ concerns. Their problem is no one will sign with them. Their only goal is to win, and this trade has improved them for the upcoming season and they gave up 2 players they did not want

[Flickered Flame]

As an Oakland fan, I hope Wells just craps the bed with the Angels.

[Machiavelli]

I hope Wells does great. I miss him nothing but the best.

[flambers]

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2011/0...lls-trade.html

Here are some interesting reactions....

"Wells is "absolutely the wrong player right now for the Angels, who have made one the worst desperation moves I can remember," writes Keith Law of ESPN.com. Law points out that with all of the money Toronto is saving with Wells' contract off the books, the Jays "could become very good, very fast." "

"The trade "had the air of desperation" to it, says Mark Saxon of ESPNLosAngeles.com. Saxon counts this trade along with the Scott Kazmir deal as cases of the Angels taking "other teams' financial problems off their hands." On the plus side, Saxon points out that Wells and Torii Hunter are ideal candidates to mentor Mike Trout, the Halos' center fielder of the future."


"Anthopoulos has only been the Blue Jays' GM since October 2009, but Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star tweets that this deal might already be Anthopoulos "best deal...ever." Griffin also tweets that the trade could "be the first step to signing [Jose] Bautista long-term.""

[Flickered Flame]

^^In addition to that Heyman said that AA should be considered for executive of the year already.