The Los Angeles Angels made a big move that could improve their online gambling chances in 2011.
The Angeles got three-time All-Star Vernon Wells from the Toronto Blue Jays for catcher Mike Napoli and outfielder Juan Rivera. It is a risky deal for the Angels because they are paying Wells a huge amount of money but perhaps Wells will be the player Los Angeles needs to win more games vs. the baseball odds at Internet gambling companies.
Angels Were Desperate
No one in the Los Angeles front office will admit as much but the Angels were desperate to make a big deal. They missed out on Carl Crawford and Adrian Beltre so they rolled the dice and went with Wells. They gave up a lot to get Wells and there is no guarantee it was a good deal. Napoli led the Angels in home runs last year with 26 and Rivera is a solid outfielder as well. And the cost for Wells is ridiculous. He is owed $86 million over the next four seasons, $23 million next season and $21 million in each of the following three seasons. The Angels are horribly overpaying for a player who has been up and down throughout his career.
Blue Jays Make Out Big
The Blue Jays must be laughing all the way to the bank. They unload a horrible contract that they gave to Wells and get two good players in return. Wells had a no-trade clause so Toronto’s hands were kind of tied. Los Angeles was one of the few teams he was willing to go to. Wells had a nice comeback season a year ago for Toronto so it was the perfect time to trade him. He hit .273 with 31 home runs and 88 RBIs last season. The Blue Jays get Napoli and Rivera who can more than make up for the loss of Wells.
Old Angels
The addition of Wells did nothing to improve Los Angeles in the long run against the baseball odds at SBG. Now their team is even older. Their outfield is horribly overrated. Now they have Wells to go along with Torii Hunter who is well past his prime and it could be they are stuck with Bobby Abreu at the other outfield spot. He is 37 years old and the Angels would like to DH him. They might pick up Scott Podsednik but he is over the hill as well. The Angels have a great manager in Mike Scioscia but he has his work cut out for him in 2011. The Angels are 25-1 in online gambling at Internet gambling companies to win the World Series.