Trade Profiles: Vernon Wells

I'm sure a lot of you know this name. Wells was a superstar with the Blue Jays then was traded to the Angels and quietly has had some productive years. He hasn't been in a bunch of trade rumors this year because he's been on the DL. But with Hunter, Trumbo, Trout, Bourjos, there's just no room for him. So could he be a good trade target for the Pirates?

I see Wells sort of like the Soriano situation. Wells just has less power (but not weak), is younger, and doesn't have a no trade clause. He's been sidelined since May with a thumb injury but is coming back. He hit .244 with 6 HRs 12 RBIs and an OPS just over .700 before going down in limited action. He hit 25 HRs last year but carried an OPS lower than .700 and an avg. of .218. That will probably go up in the NL but that's just yikes. One thing I was surprised to learn though is that Wells is not as great a defender as I thought. He's averaged over his career to save -12 runs per year from the outfield. That's not good at all. I will say that I've seen him make some great plays in the outfield but that's still a concern. Then again, it can't be worse than Sutton/Jones platoon out there. Jones needs to play first. Wells also has a HUGE contract, much like Soriano. He's owed close to $40 million until 2014. The Angels would have to pay almost all of his contract (like the Cubs and Soriano) just to start a conversation.

Would I mind Wells? No not at all if the scouts believe he can turn his game around and hit for a better OPS in the NL. I'd still rather have Soriano but if we could do a trade straight up Kevin Correia for Wells and a lot of cash (Joel Sherman suggests this), I would do it.