Big Vern and the Epic Comeback

above .300 with 40HR and 30 SB but 6 errors

Probably .275 / 20 HR / 90 RBI

Besides sucking, the only thing good ol’ Vern excels at is blocking Mike Trout.

I do cut him a little slack, though. This was his first year on a new team that lacked big bats and put VW in a position he shouldn’t have been in, trying to drive the ball out of the park on every swing.

That is all

I have a feeling that Trout is going to rake in Spring Training, and I think that 3/4 of Wells, Bourjos, Hunter and Trout is better than Trout causing nightmares for pitchers in the PCL. I propose an even split of 4 outfielders for 3 positions, so each would play 120 games over the course of the season. This only works because Trout is a flexible option at all 3 positions. He can spell Big Vern in left, Petey in center and Torii in right (and on the 4th day he rested). The two older guys may play better with rest and the younger ones can use their off-day to work on pitch selection from our acting hitting coach Bobby Abreu and his best-selling short course “OBP and You”. In this scenario, not only will Trout win Rookie of the Year, but I predict he will win 3 gold gloves for all 3 outfield positions.

Or it may just piss off all of our outfielders.

He’s presenting an idea in a very readable format & most importantly he’s not trying to convince everyone they’re wrong & he knows it all.

Note to cougwilly: If you’re gonna present statistical comparisons, I suggest you go read anything written by Matt Welch & Suboptimal. I’m know there are a couple of others but the GA in me is winning.

And expect it all to be questioned.

I agree 100% with cougwilly (Big Vern and the Epic Comeback). VW will have a much better season in 2012, i think he was just trying to do to much last year.

Not that I clicked through or anything.

Makes it a lot more likely that Wells will bounce back, simply because he and everyone else in the lineup will go back to their normal roles. Hunter and Wells are not equipped to carry an offense on their backs, but Pujols is. Therefore, the pressure is far less than it was in 2011. And Wells can concentrate on hitting line drives instead of trying to hit everything out of the ballpark and be the star, which he is not. This lineup became very deep overnight.

Good article. Lots of good information.

I look forward to seeing who hits in front of and behind Pujols. If Wells is in one those spots (which e probably shouldn’t be), then we may see a significant upgrade in his offense.

As much of a huge deal it is to have Pujols in Anaheim (I STILL CAN"T BELIEVE IT!), part of me is being really greedy and wishing we had another great hitter. I was watching an MLBN show on the greatest 1-2 punches in baseball history, and it made me covetous. We need an Eddie Mathews to our Hank Aaron! It probably won’t be Vernon, but maybe. If healthy, it would more likely be Kendrys Morales.