Featured autographs - Vernon Wells

Even though I have my doubts as to whether he is going to get his career going again - I was anticipating finally being able to work on trying to get my stash of Wells cards [including this oddball] signed when the Angels sort of come back home towards the end of the week.

If Wells' pending trade to the New York Yankees goes through [as expected], I'll end up having to wait until the middle of June to see him and it's no guarantee I'll end up running into him as a visiting player - not happy that he stunk and/or was hurt as a Halo and regardless of his failures, guy will still be paid about $40 million for the next couple of years.

Still, I'm wishing him the best and maybe irrationally, hope he enjoys a career resurgence in pinstripes - he's generally been a 'good pro' and it would be kind of sad if the last couple of years were the best we are going to see from Wells from here on out.

Vernon Wells oddball card

I ended up going to the Arizona Fall League for a week to get myself autographs of prospects and some other minor league players - I picked this oddball card of Vernon Wells as part of an league promotion to honor an AFL 20th Anniversary Top 20 team.

The card stock is very thin and not as 'durable' as a regular card would be - I don't really care for cards like these because I don't see them as trading cards [they are little larger than a normal card] and more like fliers to throw away.

The oversized cards I ended up with are Wells, Sean Casey, Todd Helton and Jermaine Dye - it looks as if I got the 'meh' part of the giveaway promotion but oh well.

Angels - back home for three games and then back on the road for a lifetime?

Right now, I think I've been paying attention to Vernon Wells' at-bats - cautiously optimistic that after his brutal start, after regaining some life up through the All-Star break, that he will go on a prolonged hot streak that perhaps pushes his average to around .240 and his on-base percentage to around .290...

My life partially revolves around the Angels' home schedule, so there hasn't been too much 'being at the game in-person' action - ever since the last time I was at Angel Stadium before the All-Star break.

The rest of the Angels home games in the will feature American League West teams making multiple trips to Anaheim - so I'm hoping to see more of the Texas Rangers in particular, since they are leading the division.

I'm planning on going to the Angels games on Wednesday and Thursday - if the Angels sweep or at least win this upcoming series against the Rangers, then I have some hope about the Angels' chances about overtaking the Rangers.

These three games may not be considered a 'make or break' series, but the Rangers are the frontrunners and it doesn't look like they are slowing down for anybody - if the Rangers sweep or least win this upcoming series, it might just be enough to separate themselves where the Angels aren't going to be able to do enough to catch up.

After this brief three game homestand, the Angels won't be back home until August - so I'd better try to get out to a game in the next couple of days.

The Vernon Wells trade - I actually like it

I like the Vernon Wells trade for the Angels despite the doom-and-gloom of worrying about what the team will end up having to pay Wells the next four years - he doesn't seem to be the most vocal guy, but he signs his share of autographs and seems to be a stand up guy otherwise.

The Angels traded catcher Mike Napoli, who maybe the next Mickey Tettleton [he was actually was a productive player, so this is a compliment] - but the Angels milked most of Nap's talents as a one-time 17th round draft pick. Napoli wasn't going to get any better despite establishing himself as a power threat who somehow was perceived as being screwed out of playing time in favor of Jeff Mathis.

The Angels also traded outfielder Juan Rivera, who kind of got a bum rap in 2010 - his stats did lag and maybe there was some 'motivation issues' with him at times, but he may enjoy a bounce back season.

As an Angels' fan, I wanted the team to pick up a star locked up with a franchise in-flux instead of signing Jayson Werth, Carl Crawford or even Adrian Beltre - I maybe crazy, but I was hoping for Justin Upton or Hanley Ramirez.

Wells wasn't the type of star player I was hoping the Angels would get and there are nearly $85 million reasons and four years why that is the case - I wish the Angels could have gotten more money back, but hopefully Wells can stay healthy and avert his trend of having so-so years after relatively productive seasons, including an all-star year in 2010.

I suppose short of Wells turning into Albert Pujols and the Angels winning the World Series the next four years - he'll never live up to his contract. However, it seems like the experts are on Alex Andreopoulos's nuts for getting rid of the Alex Rios a year or so ago and now the Wells contract.

As much as Alex Andreopoulos' sleight of hand skills are praised into duping apparent GM black eyes in Chicago and Anaheim - Andreopoulos' Blue Jays teams will still be playing for third place in American League East.

It doesn't matter how many prospects, draft picks or money he hoards, Andreopoulos is still not going to get what is important in a way that consumes the people who deal with more than just statistical analysis - which is a legitimate chance to compete for a championship.

Maybe it is to circumstance, but for all the pundits and numbers guys who just love the guy right now and since he was hired - a #6 from Dave Cameron maybe the best accolade the Toronto organization might get this year.

The flags fly in Anaheim, not in Toronto.