Vernon Wells redefined the meaning of common sense on Sunday when he announced that he would not *GASP!* opt out of his contract after this season. Five years ago, Wells signed a 7-year contract with the Toronto Blue Jays worth $126 million, so it shouldn’t take a math genius to figure out why he wouldn’t want to stick out those final three years, despite the fact that he’s not worth even half of what he’s being paid.
And you can’t blame the guy, because who the hell would give up that kind of cheddar? But just in case you were wondering, Wells offered up his reasoning.
“Why would you waive your no-trade clause (to accept a trade to the Angels) and then opt out one year later?
“Maybe it’s just society, but people put too much on struggling,” Wells said. “All of a sudden, everything is negative – you’re a bad guy; you’re unhappy. It’s a struggle, yeah. But that’s all it is. I’ve struggled before. Baseball is such a different game. You can be an All-Star one year, struggle the next year and become an All-Star again.
“It is what it is. … (Southern California) is a great place to live, a great place to play. I’ve got a lot of good years left and I look forward to having them there.”
(Via OC Register)
Well, he has three years left, sure. Unless the Anaheim Angels of Anaheim can find a team that would be dumb enough to take on that kind of contract. Maybe the Blue Jays are interested.
In the meantime, a lot of focus has been on one specific line from Wells – “Maybe it’s just society…” – because it’s just such a contrived cop out of a line. Essentially he’s saying that society shouldn’t be concerned with his .222 batting average this season because he’ll work it out while he makes $21 million per season over the next three seasons. And now my brain hurts.
Fortunately, Aaron Gleeman of NBC Sports and Rotoworld, among others, saw past the brain pains and figured Wells’ new catchphrase deserves its own meme. Who am I to disagree? After the jump, check out the Internet’s response to Gleeman’s battle cry, as well as some of With Leather’s favorite characters getting in on the action, too.
That’s Anaheim’s GM Tony Reagins.
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It’s funny because his name is Vernon Wells, too.
