All's Well Without Wells

Even if he does nothing else this season, Jays’ GM Alex Anthopoulos may have just cemented himself as executive of the year in the MLB. The massive, unreasonable, team-crushing contract that was Vernon Wells 7-year, $126 million deal has reportedly been traded to the Angels.

You’ll notice how I didn’t include what he was traded for… How observant of you. Well, the sad truth is, it doesn’t really matter. Apparently C/1B Mike Napoli is part of the package coming back to Toronto, but I doubt he becomes much more than a blip on the Jays’ radar with the wealth of catching talent Toronto has in the minors, and in the majors with J. P. Arencibia; who is not with the big club to be a backup. However the players the Blue Jays get in return are merely an obligation; the real value of this deal of course is the money it clears. Wells was set to make $23 million this season, and $21 million in each of the following 3 seasons. Now, let me get this out of the way, I like Vernon Wells. He’s a well-spoken man, who’s charitable in the community, and, frankly, was a very good player. But he was never worth $126 million. He was going to get that type of money somewhere after batting .303/32/106 in a contract year, but it was obvious the mistake former GM J.P. Ricciardi had made by signing Wells to such a deal within the next few seasons. Vernon’s tenure in Toronto can be pretty much summed up by unattainable expectations. His career numbers were good, but not good enough to be making $20+ a season; he had lost a step in centrefield, but fans needed to see him as the 3-time Gold Glover he used to be; he wasn’t a typical clean-up hitter, but the Jays had no one else to put there. The truth is if Vernon Wells made $13 million a year in Toronto; his name would be included in discussions of “Greatest Jay of All-Time”. But he didn’t. So he wasn’t.

Okay, let’s actually talk about Napoli. Not so much what he brings to the team, but what he’s going to change. The 29-year-old had a career year in 2010. Hitting 26 home runs and driving in 68 runs. Now he only hit .238, but I view him essentially as a trade-off for departed catcher John Buck. The question is; where will he play? Arencibia needs an opportunity to show the franchise whether or not he’s an MLB catcher, so I can’t see Napoli getting too many starts behind the plate. The Jays do have a hole at first base, which is likely where Napoli will end up, but that sets into motion several possible positional changes if John Ferrell wants to keep certain bats in the lineup. Adam Lind appeared to be in line to take over at first, so he’ll now have to either go back to being the everyday DH or start to get more time as a corner outfielder. There is a spot open now in right field with Rajai Davis most likely moving into the centrefielder’s role, so will it be Lind and Travis Snider on the corners? It’s still my belief that Jose Bautista is needed at 3^rd base, so I don’t want to pencil him in as an option in right, but with Edwin Encarnacion and John McDonald on the bench, there’s no reason to think Jose can’t continue his role as the ultimate utility man. The point is this team has positional flexibility. So next season you may want to get to the Rogers Centre before they announce starting lineups to try and avoid some confusion.

            Again, this deal is all about the money saved. To a lesser extent, I compare it to Bryan Colangelo moving Hedo Turkoglu’s contract to Phoenix this summer to reference another Toronto team. For a young Raptors team it was obviously nice to add the veteran scoring presence of Leandro Barbosa, but let’s be honest. When you heard about the deal did you text your buddy “We got Barbosa” or “Thank God Hedo’s gone”? Don’t see the Wells deal for what the Jays are getting in return, but for the opportunities it opens up in the future. Alex Anthopoulos always said the Jays were a few pieces and a few years away from contention; that the 2012 season was the goal. Toronto now has money to burn next off-season and a GM who wants to spend it. It could get very interesting.