It is time to give up the fantasy that Vernon Wells has within him some last hurrah, some magical ability to turn his stressings into blessings and once again hit like he hit in 2006, or at least dial up a hot streak that will make him momentarily tradeable. The fact is that since 2010 -- an All-Star season for Vern, let's remember -- he has been utterly consistent away from Rogers Centre. And by "utterly consistent" I do mean horrible:

2010 .227/.301/.407
2011 .219/.249/.406
2012 .223/.250/.384

Adding up those thousand-plus plate appearances of suck, and you get .222/.265/.404 since April 2010. That is replacement-level performance, it is who Vernon Wells is, and there is zero reason to expect him to be any better given his age and trendlines. It is also worth mentioning that Wells has put up a remarkably awful -2.4 Wins Above Replacement on defense for the Angels since 2011.

Meanwhile over that same period of time, Peter Bourjos -- the best defensive centerfielder in baseball -- has produced better offensive numbers: .249/.300/.413.

Unless there is a left-handed starter on the mound, playing Vernon Wells in front of Peter Bourjos is managerial and organization malpractice, needlessly messing with the head of a cheap 25-year-old with great upside so we don't offend the sensibilities of an expensive 33-year-old who no longer has the ability to increase his team's likelihood of winning.

There is no way Jerry DiPoto doesn't know all this. That's why there's only one solution to the problem of Mike Scioscia making this team worse through lineup decisions: JUST CUT VERNON WELLS.