Victor Rojas · @VictorRojas29
23rd Jan 2011 from Twitlonger
Been asked a lot about the Vernon trade and here's my take...in a nutshell, I like it. It certainly makes this team better defensively. The Angels last year traveled the most miles in MLB at just over 50,000 miles...Torii Hunter covered that much ground the first 2 months of the season with Rivera and Abreu on the corners and there's absolutely no doubt that it crushed his legs. I'm curious as to what Vernon's value would've been hitting a whacked-out open market after putting up his line in 2010 (this guy's actually won Gold Gloves, driven in 100+ runs in his career AND is an actual CF instead of a corner OF who "could" play CF). The players the Angels sent to Toronto are two very good guys...I like them both personally but I believe things had run its course & it was time to move on (that actually happens in sports...you know, where a team has decided to cut ties with someone & they have some value on the market). Removing the "contract" (4 years and roughly $75mm remaining after you back out the app. $11mm for Napoli/Rivera in '11) for a moment, would you have traded Napoli/Rivera for Wells in a straight baseball move? My answer is yes and that's what the Angels did with the blessing of Mr. Moreno (who, by the way, is the guy that's ACTUALLY footing the bill) and they did so without losing a draft pick and without affecting arbitration & free agency. As Mark Healy (@baseballdigest9) asked this morning - "When did #MLB fans decide that this sport is now a contest for who spends their money most wisely? Unless you're an investor, who cares?" Agreed. I watched every game this team played last year (unlike a lot of people who've passed judgement) and as Mike Scioscia said yesterday, this club is indeed better today than it was last year.