This Day in Baseball History

2011- Blue Jays trade Vernon Wells to Angels

After losing out on signing Adrian Beltre, Los Angeles Angels general manager Tony Reagins shocks the baseball world with a blockbuster trade. 

The Angels acquire outfielder Vernon Wells from the Toronto Blue Jays and agree to pay all but $5 million of his remaining $86 million salary in exchange for catcher Mike Napoli and outfielder Juan Rivera. 

"Vernon is a player we have admired for some time," Reagins said in a statement. "He is a tremendous person and the type of player that will impact our club immediately both on offense and defense."

Wells spent the previous 12 years of his career with the Blue Jays and hit .279/.330/.478 with 221 home runs in 1,336 games while playing in three All-Star games. Despite hitting 31 home runs in 2010, the team is desperate to try and dump his contract in order to lock up Jose Bautista. 

"It made sense for them and it certainly made sense for us the way this deal was structured," Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos told ESPN. 

Wells' tenure in Los Angeles is brief and disappointing. He finishes the 2011 season with a career-low 11 home runs while slashing .218/.248/.412 in 131 games. The next season is even more of a struggle for the three-time Gold Glove winner, as Wells is limited to 77 games due to right thumb surgery and finishes the season with 11 home runs and a .233 average. He is traded to the New York Yankees prior to the 2013 season for a pair of minor leaguers - though the Angels remain on the hook for paying $27.1 million of his remaining $42-million contract.

Napoli never plays for the Blue Jays, as the team flipped him to the Texas Rangers for right-handed reliever Frank Francisco.

Rivera appears in 70 games and slashes .243/.305/.360 with six home runs for Toronto before being designated for assignment in July and eventually traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers. 

Birthdays

1952 - Mike Krukow
1987 - Brandon Crawford
1987 - Jake Diekman
1988 - Preston Claiborne
1990 - Jose Ramirez
1990 - Joe Wieland