Los Angeles Angels Vernon Wells (right) walks towards the home plate as Toronto Blue Jays catcher J.P Arencibia looks on during the second inning of MLB baseball action in Toronto on Monday September 19, 2011.Chris Young/The Canadian Press
Vernon Wells has watched, almost in wonderment, as several of his former teammates on the Toronto Blue Jays made the move to other teams and were instantly involved in something he has yet to experience.
Roy Halladay and A.J. Burnett had to go elsewhere to get their postseason fix, and it now appears likely that Aaron Hill and John McDonald, traded this year to the Arizona Diamondbacks, will get their first taste of the playoffs soon.
Making the playoffs, or being in the hunt for the postseason over the final month of the season, is something every baseball player yearns for. And Wells, at 32 with almost 13 big-league seasons behind him, is no different.
Wells thought he would have that opportunity this season, one of the reasons why he shelved his no-trade clause and agreed to allow the Blue Jays to deal him, along with his hefty contract, to the Los Angeles Angels in January.
The Angels, who have made six trips to the postseason since 2002, were hoping the addition of Wells's big bat would be worth the gamble of being saddled with what is often described as the worst contract in baseball.
And Wells, who will earn $23-million (all currency U.S.) this season and a total of $86-million through 2014, has done little to justify the Angels' faith in him.
In fact, Wells is concluding what amounts to the worst campaign of his career.
While the Angels, who began a four-game series against the Jays with a 3-2, 10th-inning loss at Rogers Centre on Monday night, are still in the hunt in the American League West, it's a long shot at best. They came into the day trailing the Texas Rangers by 4 1/2 games with 10 to play.
"We need some help," Mike Scioscia, the Angels manager, said before the game.
The Angels were desperate to add a bat to the lineup in the off-season after striking out on Carl Crawford and Adrian Beltre. Wells, with 223 home runs and a batting average of .280 during 12 seasons with the Blue Jays, seemed to fit the bill.
But Wells got off a slow start and has never really recovered. He carried a career-low .219 batting average into Monday's game and his power has dried up considerably, even though he has hit 22 home runs. He has only 13 doubles and a .406 slugging percentage.
Just a week ago, Wells's on-base percentage was an embarrassing .236, which ranked him last among outfielders with at least 300 plate appearances since 1920. His current on-base average of .251 still ranks Wells dead last in the majors among every-day outfielders.
So what's gone wrong?
Wells will tell you the pressure of arriving in a new city for a new start might have had something to do with it.
"You try to become something that you're not, trying to hit home runs all the time," Wells said. "I think the first couple of months I was probably swinging and missing more than I was making contact. That's not part of my game.
"I learned my lesson, so hopefully going into next season I'll have a good start."
Wells agreed it would have been ideal if he could have realized his playoff dreams without having to move from Toronto.
"I'd have loved to do it in a Blue Jay uniform," he said. "You just start to see how truly difficult it is once you get out of the division and kind of look and watch what goes on and who you have to play and how many times you have to play them.
"It's not an easy task."