Vernon Wells Further Reiterates He Is Not Worth His Contract

From an LA Times article by Helene Elloit, After a terrible start Wells revived in June, batting .276 for the month after recovering from a groin injury that put him on the disabled list, but that didn't last long. He's only three for 18 since the All-Star break. That's bad enough. But by an obvious gauge — the $86 million on his contract through 2014 — the trade that brought him to Anaheim from Toronto looks monumentally bad. "I'm never going to live up to it. It's not possible," Wells said. "So it's just go out and play and have a good time and try to win some games. That's the important thing now. I've never been able to play in the postseason and that's why I came here, to have a chance of doing that." Should Wells be commended for just being honest, or is the joke even more on Tony Reagins?

10 months ago 44FAN 25 comments 0 recs |

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

Both

There’s no way in hell any of us would turn down that type of money. Then again, there’s no reason to trade for that contract either.

by JeffJoiner on Jul 21, 2011 12:41 PM PDT reply actions 2 recs

I will commend him when he puts his money where his mouth is

And opts out of the deal that he’ll never be worth. But I guess it will be worth it him so long as he’s having a “good time,” huh?

by Suboptimal on Jul 21, 2011 12:46 PM PDT reply actions

Honestly, i would lose even more respect for him if he did that. Not only would he be a shitty ball player but he'd be the biggest moron ever.

"Lose your pants and only good things can happen."-MayhemInTheHood

by Mayheminthehood on Jul 21, 2011 4:13 PM PDT up reply actions

yep

"We are not on an austerity program," Arte Moreno

by thebigtizzle on Jul 21, 2011 8:20 PM PDT up reply actions

I don’t hate V-Dub at all, the trade wasn’t his decision, it was all on the front office. He’d be a fool to walk away from all that money. What’s done is done, so all I want is for him to give the team whatever he can while he’s here.

~ these atoms are liars
http://deemm1.wordpress.com

by Nocturne on Jul 23, 2011 4:44 AM PDT up reply actions

Yep. I said the same thing about GMJ. If Stoneman was dumb enough to offer him that contract, he'd have been an idiot to turn it down.

If the Halos don't care about the way they play, then why should I?

by red floyd on Jul 25, 2011 9:51 AM PDT up reply actions

So he's going to splash in the post seaso too

I’ve never been able to play in the postseason

by eyespy on Jul 21, 2011 3:26 PM PDT reply actions

but he came here to play in the postseason

his ass was TRADED here.

twitter: my twitter

by mannye on Jul 21, 2011 8:05 PM PDT up reply actions

Meh

But, I’m with subop, if you keep re-iterating this “I’m not worth the contract” then opt out.

I love this team.

by Downing Rules on Jul 21, 2011 3:43 PM PDT reply actions

Cant he opt out of it after the season or someting?

I would become his biggest fan if he did that

Minor League Ball's 2010 Rookie of the Year Poster
If you didn't know by now, my screen name is sarcastic

by mathisrocks5 on Jul 21, 2011 3:51 PM PDT reply actions

i would respect him alot more than i do now

if he reworked his contract after the season to help bring in a real power threat . i could get behind a guy willing to give back, to help bring in a slugger. maybe then they could get rid of abreu or hunter.

by hoffy loves the angels on Jul 21, 2011 4:44 PM PDT reply actions

He would be helping the team and himself

since he claims one of the reasons he came to the Angels was to play in the post-season.

A wise man does not need advice and a fool won't take it.

by angelslogic on Jul 21, 2011 8:07 PM PDT up reply actions

Only in the world of sports....

….can an employee get away with declaring on multiple occasions that they are “not worth” what they are being paid.

To go even further and state “I’ll never be worth the amount of money being paid to me” is just stupid unless he’s got a plan to either improve his performance to delivery results commensurate with his compensation, or he’s going to reduce his compensation. I know he won’t do either, which makes this all the more bizarre.

Vern needs to either stop talking, or hire a PR rep to school him on public discourse.

by mustard_man on Jul 21, 2011 5:14 PM PDT reply actions

More Evidence...

…that Reagins must be replaced as GM.

Jeff Mathis = sure fire 1st ballot Hall of Fame inductee

by YouthofToday on Jul 21, 2011 7:35 PM PDT reply actions

And this is news?????

After all these years the one thing I still want to know is why Figgy wears that stupid band aid!

by ArchAngel_7 on Jul 21, 2011 11:54 PM PDT reply actions

I don't know how MLB contracts work

But he really can’t re-structure?
I know they do it in the NFL all the time…

What we've got here is a failure to communicate.

Follow the Chicken on Twitter

by SportsChicken on Jul 22, 2011 9:33 AM PDT reply actions

He has the ability to opt out

I'd like to DFA Reagins

by hauldog on Jul 22, 2011 10:08 AM PDT up reply actions

Contracts can be restructured

But only at the insistence of the player, and with the consent of the union. It usually happens when a player is unhappy with his current team and wants to make a trade or a release financially feasible for them. Payments are only deferred—the union would never allow a player to leave money on the table. Seeing as how Tony and Arte loved the idea of paying Wells “only” for four years, I can’t see how this would happen, even if Wells felt like he needed to help the Angels with their short-term payroll.

by Suboptimal on Jul 22, 2011 12:44 PM PDT up reply actions

Think about the the people running this team and tell me when it's going to get better.

Arte believes it’s better to pay $86m over 4 years rather than $86m over 10 years.

Soth believes in CERA.

Hatcher believes power hitters should shorten their swings, go the other way and never not swing for fear of missing your pitch.

Butcher believed he could fix a broken Karmis.

Pollyanna is dead. But don't get mad at me, I didn't kill her. Tony Reagins did.

by snowhor on Jul 22, 2011 2:42 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs

Union would never allow it.

by firebird81 on Jul 23, 2011 10:39 AM PDT up reply actions

It would be a historic moment for sure.

He would find it tough to get support from the players union. In sports where they have salary caps, I’ve seen restructuring when a superstar sacrifices for the benefit of a lower level player to fit a deal under the cap- especially after a championship season. But in “fair market” sports he would be doing a disservice to the players at large. In a league where teams get increased fan interest, ticket sales, excitement, and not to mention wins from team-controlled young guys making 400k, you’re going to see these owners winning more often with underpaid Bourjos, Trumbo, Weaver, Trout, than you will with the occasional (and rare) Vernon Wells.

"We are not on an austerity program," Arte Moreno

by thebigtizzle on Jul 22, 2011 10:10 PM PDT up reply actions

I guess that's a problem with baseball, imo

For example, Alex Smith who plays quarterback for the 49ers restructured his contract before the 2009 season so he would be paid at a fairer (lower) rate and so the team could have more money to spend on other players.
Now, Nate Clemments (a defensive back that is set to be grossly overpaid) is either going to re-structure his deal or be cut.

What we've got here is a failure to communicate.

Follow the Chicken on Twitter

by SportsChicken on Jul 23, 2011 7:52 AM PDT up reply actions

I agree.

At some point, it all becomes artificial economics. Guys end up restructuring to help the team or preserve their jobs. In sports we focus so much on the guys making the big bucks, we forget that over 75% of these guys who play on a daily/weekly basis make the league minimums. I’m in favor of the free market approach because I’d rather see a team have exactly who they want rather than having to intentionally use patches because free agency (the only free market moment in capped sports) means that one guy on the team takes 50% of the payroll. In baseball there is absolutely no reason for Vernon to restructure because i would simply motivate all owners to suddenly feign poverty to undo a nonperforming or underperforming contract in the name of “helping the team” or “the small guy”.

"We are not on an austerity program," Arte Moreno

by thebigtizzle on Jul 23, 2011 1:52 PM PDT up reply actions

We get it...

The trade was historically stupid. It’s done though. As I see it, he’s never caused any scandals a la Manny or A Rod, gives one of the most articulate interviews I’ve ever heard, is a veteran presence to the younger guys (who I hope studied how he carried himself during his horrible slump and learned from it) and goes out there everyday looking to play his ass off. As far as baseball players go, he’s one of the good guys. To me, that does count for something.

The trade was awful and I get sick when I think about the money and Napoli smashing in Texas. Still, I am glad he’s an Angel.

Tim Salmon: The once and future Kingfish.

by Teixeira Who? on Jul 23, 2011 1:51 AM PDT reply actions

and he is in his 1st year here.

alot of players have an offensive down year right after they move to a new team. this is a 4yr. deal, yes we want big production now,but we don’t all get what we want . when we want it.he would also be getting better atbats with some powere threats before and after him in the lineup, which is not happening. next season if morales is ready, and trumbo has a year under his belt, those three hitting together are going to scare the crap out of pitching staffs.

by hoffy loves the angels on Jul 23, 2011 3:03 AM PDT reply actions