Alex Anthopoulos did what a lot of GM's and insiders didn't think was possible: Unload the massive Vernon Wells contract. Not only did he do so, he got two MLB-level talents in return. Toronto will save a ton of money in this deal, and it also allows them to balance their lineup better vs. tough lefties. Adam Lind has struggled against southpaws, and so has Travis Snider. This also buys them insurance in the case that JP Arencibia fails to live up to the hype over the course of a full big league season. Napoli has never been a great catcher, but he's serviceable and can play 1B and DH also. Rivera is nothing special, but he's serviceable and will benefit from being in a deeper lineup in Toronto.
As far as Wells, he will be an improvement over Rivera on both sides of the field. He had a resurgence in his numbers last year, but before that there were people talking about how he seems to throw away AB's and doesn't play his hardest all the time. Since that surfaced, Wells has shown an improvement and his power numbers returned. He will definitely benefit from being on a competitive team, and will fit nicely into the Anaheim lineup. However, with this all said, I do not feel that his overall value adds up to the cost associated. At his age, and the fact that he's already in the decline phase, Anaheim should have went and pushed harder to sign Carl Crawford. For a team that has been reported to be a little gun-shy for big contracts, this is a puzzling move and simply cannot come close to holding its value now and in the future. It's not even worth mentioning that Wells has an opt out clause after this season because there is no way he will ever see a contract like that ever again. Just when you give baseball ops people some credit for using their brains, they go and make moves like this that seem so blatantly one sided. It will be interesting to see what direction Toronto goes in, as Alex Anthopoulos has done a terrific job setting their club up from a talent and financial standpoint.
This comes a little late, but I am proud of Brian Cashman for coming forward and clearing his stance on the commitment to Rafael Soriano. I had actually discussed the fact that I thought he should do exactly that with a friend just two days before he stepped up and did so. It makes him look better, but in the end, a lot of GM's would give their first born son to have the advantages that come with being the Yankees GM.
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