What on Earth are the Angels Doing?

Vernon Wells for Mike Napoli and Juan Rivera? And the Jays aren't picking up any of Wells' contract, or sending any cash the Angels' way (unless they were sending $80 million the Angels' way, it probably wouldn't make much of a difference, though)?  And here people thought the Twins were having a terrible off-season! I would love this trade, if I were a fan of the Mariners, Athletics, Rangers, or, naturally, the Blue Jays, that is*.

*Do you think Torii secretly regrets signing with the Angels? If he doesn't, he will now.

Of course, there is the possibility, however remote, that Wells will actually be worth the $86 million he is owed over the next four years.  It's not likely, given that Wells is 32 years old and beginning the decline phase of his career, but it's possible.  It sounds like the Angels are planning to put him in center, which increases his value a little over the corner outfield spots.  Also, Wells could always opt out of his contract after 2011, so perhaps the Angels will only get stuck paying him $23 million.  That seems pretty unlikely, however, since he probably won't get a $63 million paycheck anywhere else. 

This looks like a classic making-a-move-for-the-sake-of-making-a-move on the part of the Angels' front office.  After all, they pursued top flight free agents Carl Crawford and Adrian Beltre, only to see them sign elsewhere.  Meanwhile, division rivals Oakland have been very active this offseason, signing Brian Fuentes and Grant Balfour to supplement an already stacked bullpen, besides adding some offense to bolster their mediocre lineup.  The Rangers haven't made many additions, and lost some notable players in Cliff Lee and (probably) Vladimir Guerrero, but they have a lot of young talent and look to be pretty dangerous next year.  The Mariners underperformed according to their talent level last year, and even they have made a few modest improvements.  Games aren't played on paper, of course; the Angels have shown that nearly every year since they won the World Series in 2002.  Still, unless the A's and the Rangers are both bitten by a horrible bout of bad luck, 2011 doesn't appear to be shaping up too well for the Angels.

Our Woofs

image courtesy seacrestwolfpreserve.org

I have to admit that I haven't been following the Timberwolves all that closely this season.  I've been far too busy with school, and work, and the other blogs I write for (which have weekly posting requirements) to focus too much of my attention on an 8-25 basketball team.  I work nights, so I don't get to see the games very often, and for some reason, weekend Woofs games are seldom (if ever) televised.   This actually makes me sad; the Woofs are easily the worst team in the Western Conference, and yet they are kind of fun to watch.