Blue Jays’ Wells to have wrist surgery

Nov 3, 1:02 pm EST

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TORONTO (AP)—Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Vernon Wells(notes) will have surgery next week to repair damaged cartilage in his left wrist.

The team announced Tuesday that Wells is expected to be ready in time for spring training.

Wells, who is entering the third season of a seven-year, $126-million contract extension, hit .260 with 15 home runs and 66 RBIs in 158 games last season.

The Blue Jays also said third baseman Edwin Encarnacion(notes) had surgery on Friday to repair a bone spur in his left wrist.

Updated Nov 3, 1:02 pm EST
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  1. adventure_guy
    26. Posted by adventure_guy Fri Nov 6 12:44pm EST

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    How many of you guys writing these comments actually grew up playing this game of baseball?? Seems everyone wants to blame JP for all the troubles and honestly I dont buy into that. Its all a crap shoot when it comes to signing any player. The Jays dont have a lot of money to put the best team on paper on the field but they almost always seem to do better than many teams in the USA. I only see two places to put the blame on a so so season, #1 the players, VW had a terrible year, not sure what was up with that, but most likely personal problems had alot to do with it. VW never seemed to really be in the games , how many balls were hit over his head and runs scored and honestly he was the main reason for to many losses. Rios, never impressed me, ok so he could hit sometimes but honestly he was lost running the bases. And then Scott Rolen want out, what a pitty, best 3rd baseman I have ever seen in Toronto, those lucky Reds. And look what we got for him, Encarnacion, this guy was a waste of space but Gaston keep putting him out there, seems like a color card to me. I could go on and on about how the players played and of course then there was the pitchers getting hurt and bla bla bla. #2 on my list is of course Gaston, honestly he is one of the worst managers in the league, I dont blame the players for having a beef with him. Seems he should just mail in the starting line up and go to sleep, doesnt really seem to want to make any decisions during the game. I could go on and on about him too but what the point. HOnestly next year will most likely be worse than this on, mostly likely our shortstop will be gone and Holliday at some point, looks like down hill for a while so grin and bear it.
  2. Art Vandelay
    25. Posted by Art Vandelay Wed Nov 4 12:28pm EST

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    who was on the cover of playGirl this month?
  3. voice of reason
    24. Posted by voice of reason Wed Nov 4 12:00pm EST

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    The trouble with guaranteed contracts is that there is no incentive to perform. I say send him to single A ball because the travel sucks. It becomes an incentive to get back to the majors, and when or if you get back, you definitely do not want a return assignment to the minors.

    The Jays are stuck with his contract, and reality is that the Jays and Jays' fans have to live with that. But we can still win games. Hitting .167 with runners in scoring position means that there are too many wasted opportunities to score runs, and that costs the Jays games. Those half hearted swings that pop up to second or third every time there is a runner on base~~well~~those are how the Jays lose games.

    I keep hearing excuses for Welles. Maybe he still can play, but he is not likely to do it in Toronto. Trade him for anybody that wants to play...there are a lot of centre fielders in the minors that would love to play in the majors. They will come to the park and give their best effort every day.
  4. <i>gcbstudent</i>
    23. Posted by gcbstudent Wed Nov 4 9:20am EST

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    the_boy_of_a_thousand_shirts and anyone commenting that VW is a Albatross, you might want to understand the use of that term a little better. An Albatross is good luck for a ship up until some fool on the ship kills it. So call him a black cat or a broken mirror if you must but not an Albatross.



    Personally I don't blame VW for the contract, JP wanted to keep him from going to Tex at the first chance he got so he hit him with that ridiculous contract.
  5. Kb
    22. Posted by Kb Wed Nov 4 2:52am EST

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    u can't blame the players for their contracts, they didn't ask for it, they were offered. you have to blame the dumb GM's that give it. i mean if you were given a 126mil contract, wouldn't you also sign on the dotted line?
  6. Truck
    21. Posted by Truck Wed Nov 4 1:20am EST

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    He'll be back to form this year, bet on it.

    Edwin should do big things too, I hope...
  7. Jim M
    20. Posted by Jim M Wed Nov 4 12:27am EST

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    Wells is in a bad position. His contract is laughably bad. Even if he always played as well as he did in his best season, he could barely be expected to live up to it. But on the other hand how can you expect him to opt out? We're talking about like... 40 million dollars basically. Would you opt out of 40 million? Knowing the best you could probably get would be 8 million to replace it? (for your entire remaining career, in a good scenario). I consider myself a pretty generous fellow, but I am not 30+million dollars generous.

    If he were some guy who was talking about one or two years, and he was being overpaid by a few million, like Kenji, I could see leaving the money on the table. But there's no way to leave 30+ million on the table, just because you want to make some Jays fans think you're classy. At best, you can ask the club to donate most of it to a charity of your choice and let them take the tax break.
  8. the_boy_of_a_thousand_shirts
    19. Posted by the_boy_of_a_thousand_shirts Tue Nov 3 9:41pm EST

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    J.P. Ritardi is gone, but his mistakes will linger for years and years.

    Fittingly, the Albatross is in center-field, too, as if on display.

    Vernon has had plenty of chances to turn it around. He'll get next year to turn it around, too, I think. You can be sure that the people who write his checks are aware of the performance per dollar inequalities, though. Questions will be asked. Demands will be met, or Vernon will doubtlessly get canned. Admittedly it seems to take for ever and ever for the Boo Yay management to get around to doing anything productive. Seriously I am sick of Rogers and their fricking team. Take the team and move to Nebraska or something. Spare us Canadians the continual pain of being the laughingstock of the baseball world.
  9. Brian T
    18. Posted by Brian T Tue Nov 3 9:17pm EST

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    Sign Vlad as DH!!!
    he can play OF for 5 games ;)
  10. scott j
    17. Posted by scott j Tue Nov 3 6:48pm EST

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    It is not Vernon's fault............JP was very bad and management allowed this contract to happen.....Burke is no better in toronto for the leafs.....when will toronto ever learn......
  11. scott j
    16. Posted by scott j Tue Nov 3 6:25pm EST

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    Vernon has won batting championships at every level he has played. Perhaps it is the injuries or other personal problems. Have you ever noticed after a big contract signing most players tank. One could suspect that there is no need for the juice anymore with money in the bank and it is time to perserve ones health for these long term effects of these supplement.
  12. ThaDeacon
    15. Posted by ThaDeacon Tue Nov 3 5:46pm EST

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    2007 TOR 149 584 85 143 36 4 16 80 49 89 10 4 .245 .304 .402 .706
    2008 TOR 108 427 63 128 22 1 20 78 29 46 4 2 .300 .343 .496 .840
    2009 TOR 158 630 84 164 37 3 15 66 48 86 17 4 .260 .311 .400 .711
    g ab r h 2b 3b hr rbi w k sb

    These are not the numbers of someone getting paid this much. 1 average year 08


    CHUMP
  13. Walter Chong
    14. Posted by Walter Chong Tue Nov 3 5:34pm EST

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    I am very surprised that so many people are on Vernon Wells case because he had a bad season. Almost all players,no matter how good they are, have a season they would like to forget. Just two seasons ago,he was the backbone of the Blue Jays lineup. Personally,I think he is pressing too much because of that large contract. Same goes for Alex Rios. Large contracts and they try to prove right away that they deserve it. Sorry Rios left, but I am sure Vernon will bounce back.
  14. TellinThaTruth
    13. Posted by TellinThaTruth Tue Nov 3 5:09pm EST

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    he needs a big bat behind him..... Vladamir?
  15. El Flako
    11. Posted by El Flako Tue Nov 3 4:43pm EST

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    Hes Still A Good Player Just Probably Not 100 Percent Healthy Maybe With This Surgery his Production Will Go Up
  16. Geoff D
    10. Posted by Geoff D Tue Nov 3 4:00pm EST

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    find something else while hes there, make it an extended stay, like untill his contract is up.
  17. voice of reason
    9. Posted by voice of reason Tue Nov 3 3:40pm EST

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    Welles may still be a good player, but it is not likely to be with the Blue Jays. Send him down to Single A Dunnegan in the first week of training camp, and make him a September call-up if someone does not pluck him off the waiver wire.
  18. $t
    8. Posted by $t Tue Nov 3 3:38pm EST

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    my albatross is molting
  19. <i>nwoyankees</i>
    7. Posted by nwoyankees Tue Nov 3 3:32pm EST

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    'albatross' should be affixed to any story about vernon wells.

    'jays in talks to trade albatross wells to cubs'
    'albatross wells to have wrist surgery'
  20. <i>bobbykcarr</i>
    6. Posted by bobbykcarr Tue Nov 3 3:16pm EST

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    Say fellows, don´t kill the guy, not just yet anywayt! He´s had some tough times lately, no doubt, but was an asset to his team not that far ago. Remember, great fans back you up in good times and bad ones.
    Look at the Phillies for instance, everyone is backing Cole Hamels up (and they won´t beat the Yankees in this WS ´cause of him). But they´re suppoting Hamels all the way, no matter what (even after the stupid thing he said)
  21. ThaDeacon
    5. Posted by ThaDeacon Tue Nov 3 2:19pm EST

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    Worthless piece. JP screwed tis team for years, Vernon is fat and slow. OVERPAID FAIL
  22. tim z
    4. Posted by tim z Tue Nov 3 2:17pm EST

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    If he is classy, he'll opt out of his contract in 2011.

    Thanks J.P.
  23. Kenneth
    3. Posted by Kenneth Tue Nov 3 2:03pm EST

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    gettin paid...rack'em up...rack'em up rack'em up
  24. L-Money
    2. Posted by L-Money Tue Nov 3 1:46pm EST

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    Waste of money and his contract only gets worse in the upcoming years.
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