Sorry to disagree with you fine gentlemen.
Lest we forget.
At age 27 in 2006 Wells hit .303 with 32 hrs and 106 rbi's
That combined with stellar defence made him one if the top centre fielders in the game.
There was no reason too believe that his production was going too drop off severely.
He was just entering his prime.
The thinking was that he was going to continue too improve and if he could have put up those numbers for the rest of his contract then everybody would have been happy.
The big problem with his contract is that it is back loaded and thus making him impossible too move.
At one time Wells was looking like he had HOF potential or close too it.
I agree with the O. VW looked like a solid signing a few years ago. Dunno whether he just didn't come back from injuries or whether he misses Delgado's protection too much to adapt, but no one could have predicted the drop off.
Rios OTOH was always a bad signing.
Before signing that ridiculous, 7-year, $126 million contract in 2006 Vernon Wells had exactly TWO seasons where he was even 30% better than the average hitter. 2003 (OPS+ of 132) and 2006 (OPS+ of 129.) Other than that, V-Dub was an average hitter -
look it up. Yes, he
was a Gold Glove centre fielder, but his defensive metrics were already on the decline in 2006 as he bulked up.
For a team like the Jays, they could simply not afford to sign one player to 20%+ of their payroll (based on his average annual salary - by the end of the albatross of a deal, it may very well work out to almost one-third of the Jays' payroll) with a career OBP of .329 and OPS under .800. He IS a star, a nice guy and an above-average all-around player at a premium position. He is NOT a superstar, a true team leader and someone worthy of one of the 10-15 largest contracts ever given. Not even on potential of his two best seasons, which were inflated and somewhat overrated. The two first round draft picks would have been a better tradeoff if the team couldn't get a decent return via trade.
Unlike some of the vitriolic posters and "fans" I don't blame Vernon Wells or his agent - he is what he is as a player. And who among us would turn down that kind of scratch? I blame JP Ricciardi, Paul Godfrey and the Jays management at the time for making a poor business decision that will cripple this organization until 2015.
$126 million for a player like Vernon Wells on a team like the Yankees, Mets, or Red Sox? Maybe. For a team like the Toronto Blue Jays? Not in a million years.
Excellent article/statistical piece that breaks down Vernon Wells' projected value over the course of his contract:
http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/will-vernon-wells-be-worth-the-price/
