New York Yankees Search For a CF Should Not Include Vernon Wells

The Yankees are entering 2009 with the intention of platooning Melky Cabrera and Brett Gardner in centerfield, which is a less-than-stellar situation.

To avoid that, they tried to work out a deal with the Beer Makers for Mike Cameron before deciding there might be something better out there. Now it appears that they are considering signing Manny Ramirez and moving Johnny Damon back to center.

There are issues with both of those scenarios, so Joel Sherman of the Post suggested a swap of Hideki Matsui for Andruw Jones. And there are others out there coming out with their own ideas.

One idea, which was put out there today, was for the Yankees to acquire the Blue Jays’ Vernon Wells.

That is the worst idea I’ve heard yet. The person who came up with the idea, David Aaron Lindsay, is a Jays fan. This is more of a "let’s dump salary" idea than a "let’s make the Yankees better" idea.

Wells is in the middle of a seven-year $126 million deal, which seemed like a panic offer by a team fearful of losing their star player to free agency. He only actually earns $1.5 million this season, so it’s highly doubtful they would part ways with him this season. In 2010, Wells will earn $12.5 million and $23 million in 2011.

So, because the contract is so back-loaded, Wells is set to earn $86 million in the four years after his 32nd birthday.

Why the Yankees would want to pay a player with eroding skills and a career OPS of just .812 that much money is just beyond me. Especially since two of their current outfielders, Nick Swisher and Xavier Nady, are certain to make less money and have nearly identical offensive numbers, with OPS’s of .805 and .793, respectively.

When it comes to Wells, the name of the game is money. If the Yankees were to burn $20 million plus on a player, they would be much better off signing Mark Teixeira or Manny Ramirez.

Sorry, David Aaron Lindsay. The Yankees pay out a lot of money to their players, but they finally dumped Jason Giambi and Carl Pavano. There is no reason to load up on more ridiculous contracts.