Vernon Wells returned to Toronto over the weekend for the first time since being traded to the Angels this offseason and took the opportunity to study the Blue Jays’ video library for footage of his prime.
Wells told Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times that “2006 is the year I’m concentrating on” because “that was the year my average and power were where they should be.”
That season he hit .303 with 32 homers and a .900 OPS. This year Wells is batting .205 with a .611 OPS for by far the worst production of his career, making the Angels’ decision to trade for the 32-year-old and the $81 million remaining on his contract look even worse than it did at the time.
Wells explained that his “mechanics have been out of whack at different times” and was very productive last season, but it’s worth noting that this isn’t the first time his performance has declined sharply. He followed up that excellent 2006 season by hitting just .245 with a .706 OPS and then hit .260 with a .711 OPS in 2009.
