Wells, Damon, Manny on the move
Three big-name outfielders found their new homes on a busy night in baseball.
Vernon Wells was traded Friday from Toronto to the Los Angeles Angels, giving them the big bat they wanted all winter. Manny Ramirez and Johnny Damon were on the move, too — they're about to become teammates again, this time in Tampa Bay.
The Blue Jays shipped Wells, the high-priced fixture in the middle of their lineup, to Los Angeles for catcher Mike Napoli and outfielder Juan Rivera in one of the biggest deals of the offseason.
“Moving forward and starting this new chapter is going to be a blast,” the 32-year-old Wells said on a conference call.
The All-Star center fielder has four years and $86 million left on the $126 million, seven-year contract he signed with Toronto.
Neither general manager, Tony Reagins of the Angels nor Alex Anthopoulos of the Blue Jays, would specifically say whether any money was included in the trade to offset Wells' salary. Instead, both GMs danced around the question, simply saying it was announced as a 2-for-1 swap.
Ramirez and Damon, both free agents, agreed to one-year contracts with the Rays, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the agreements were subject to physicals and had not been announced.Damon gets $5.25 million and the chance to earn $750,000 in bonuses based on attendance, the person said. Ramirez gets $2 million.The moves mark the first major additions for the AL East champions after a devastating offseason in which one prominent player after another left cost-cutting Tampa Bay.Carl Crawford, Carlos Pena and Rafael Soriano signed elsewhere as free agents. Matt Garza and Jason Bartlett were traded. A strong bullpen was decimated by the losses of Joaquin Benoit, Grant Balfour, Dan Wheeler, Randy Choate and Chad Qualls.
Ramirez and Damon played together for four years in Boston and helped lead the Red Sox to the 2004 World Series title — ending the team's 86-year championship drought.Both colorful characters are well past their primes, but if nothing else they could at least provide an attraction at Tropicana Field for a Rays team that drew just 1.86 million fans last year.The Angels are trying to regain their grip on the AL West. After winning three straight division titles and five of six, they slid to 80-82 last season. They had hoped to add Crawford or third baseman Adrian Beltre, but missed out on both expensive free agents.Wells should help. The three-time All-Star hit .273 with 31 home runs and 88 RBIs last season. He made his major league debut with Toronto in 1999 and quickly became one of baseball's most promising players.
