Vernon Wells To The Yankees Trade Reportedly In The Works

Vernon Wells may be heading to the New York Yankees.

The Yankees are apparently attempting to shore up their lineup by trading for Vernon Wells given injuries to outfielder Curtis Granderson, first baseman Mark Teixeira, and third baseman Alex Rodriguez, along with Derek Jeter being on the DL. Wells would apparently become the everyday left fielder if the deal goes through

The underperforming Wells, 34, has been with the Los Angeles Angels for the past two seasons, hitting.222 for Anaheim with just 36 home runs and 95 RBI. In the 2012 MLB campaign, the right-hander hit.230 with 11 homers and 29 RBI. Wells is still working off the seven-year, $126 million contract (of which $42 million remains) that he originally signed with the Toronto Blue Jays, and which contains a no-trade clause. The Yankees (a.k.a. the Evil Empire) reportedly would pick up most of that salary.

As things stand right now, the three-time All Star has been described as MLB’s highest paid bench player.

Wells has been doing quite well in Spring Training action, however, with a.361 mark and four home runs and 11 RBI.

Wells is the odd man out with the loaded Angels: “Wells has no real spot with the Angels, as they have Josh Hamilton, Peter Bourjos and Mike Trout set in the outfield with the Mark Trumbo-Albert Pujols duo locked in at designated hitter and first base.”

Wells made his Major League Baseball debut in 1999 with the Blue Jays and has a career batting average of.273 with 259 homers, 908 RBI, and nearly 1,700 hits. He was traded to the Angels in 2011 in exchange for Mike Napoli and Juan Rivera. You may have noticed that Wells has an respectful ritual of tipping his batting helmet to the pitcher when he comes up to bat.

Vernon Wells is said by a teammate to be excited about the possibility of a trade to the Yankees. ‘Strong chance’ it happens, source said.

— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) March 24, 2013

Do you think it would be a good move for the Yankees to trade for Vernon Wells?

[Image credit: Keith Allison]