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The New York Yankees have been hit hard by injuries and free agent defections this past off-season and spring. Curtis Granderson’s injury leaves a huge void in the lineup and the Yankees will need to fill that, even if it for a couple of weeks. Jeff Passan is reporting the Yankees are close to acquiring Vernon Wells from the Los Angeles Angels.
Wells, 34, is owed $42 million over the next two seasons and if a deal is to happen the Angels would have to pick up quite a bit of the money remaining. Wells also owns a full no-trade clause so he would have to be willing to waive that in order to come to the Yankees.
Right now, it is believed that the Yankees would only be giving up a low-level prospect although it is not clear who that would be.
Wells is a right-handed bat but he has not hit left-handed pitching well. He hit just .227/.298/.373 last year against left-handers. He did have problems with staying on the field last season and managed only 77 games and 243 at-bats. He did hit 11 home runs and smacked 25 in 2011. However, he managed just a .218/.248/.412 line in 2011.
Wells’ best days are clearly behind him and the Yankees are clearly desperate to add some pop to their lineup which might be without Mark Teixeira and Granderson until May at the earliest. Teixeira can possibly be out for the season if his tendon sheath doesn’t heal properly.
If the Yankees don’t have to take on much of Wells’ contract and don’t have to surrender a good prospect it might be worth the chance. Just don’t expect Wells to have much of an impact on the Yankees this season, or next.
There are still some hurdles to jump over in order for this deal to get done but there are reports that it could get done as early as today.
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