Much like Wells, Bradley was a good defensive CF at one point before injuries slowed him down; Bradley would be a butcher as well, but the bar for besting Wells is exceedingly low.

I don't disagree that Wells is miscast as a center fielder, but I just don't see a 32-year old Milton Bradley being the one to supplant him, both for reasons of pragmatism and optics. I think any AL team that lands Bradley will tuck him away at DH for sake keeping.

I imagine that Wells' eventual replacement, whoever that is, is going to be speedy fly catcher whom all can see is the logical choice for center field. I don't think his replacement is going to be someone only incrementally better. Hell, the seemingly obvious Wells-Rios flip-flop was a move that could have been made for free and it, apparently, never got serious consideration.

One of these guys is a liar

"Its not a lie if you know the truth" - JP Riccardi

I'm reminded of a New Yorker cartoon from a few months back. Two 'wise men' or 'guru' figures meet on a path. Each is bearded of course, dressed in the usual cartoon garb of robes and sandals and carrying a staff. They're going in opposite directions, and behind them is a sign-post with “Truth” written on it. The one coming from the direction in which the sign-post is pointing says to the other, “Gimme me a dollar. Save you a trip.”

Oooohh ... a Wayne Garland reference! I was a lad of 10 living in Ohio at the time. Mr. Unkle Magpie's stories are such memory-bringers!

Remember the part about the contract being worth a ludicour $2 million? Um, that was over the course of the contract, or $200K a season. Is that even the minimum salary for rookies now?

At the time Wells signed his contract I didn't think it was that bad, even though I was hoping Wells would be traded for a young pitcher (that the Jays needed at the time) and a shortstop.  I also liked that Wells would have to accept a slight pay-cut if he picked up the 3-year player option.   Now I'll admit that Wells' contract is bad.  However, I don't think it's that terrible.  Perhaps I'm naive, but I attribute his ridiculously poor offensive performance to his wrist injury.  I still believe that Wells could be an above average RF or passable defensive CF with above average offense.  I would bet that he hits somewhere around .295/.350/.500 over the next couple of years.  In my opinion he'll never come close to being worth what he's getting paid, but I still think he could be an above average player over the next few years if he's moved to the corner outfield.

One thing to remember about Vernon is that in his career to date, he has been worth about $45m more than he has been paid. 

This is not entirely true. FanGraphs' valuations are based on value in the free market. Vernon Wells was not a free agent for the first six years of his career. One reason that players make so much money in years 7 and beyond is specifically because the rules of the game allow their salaries to be suppressed during years 1 to 6. This frees up owner money for the free agents (since they are "underpaying" their 1-6ers) and artificially props up demand for those handful of free agents, thereby overinflating their salaries.

Were all players free agents from the very start of their careers, the shape of ownership spending would be very different. Wells certainly would have been paid more than he was during seasons 1-6, but his big contract extension would have been for considerably less money. Owners would be spending the same amount of money overall, but robbing Peter to pay Paul. In this case Peter is Wells 7+ and Paul is Wells 1-6.

Thanks for the correction on the oversight, Chuck, but I'm clinging (desperately) to the moral victory barometer!

It sounds like AA is indifferent toward trading within the division, which makes sense (make your rivals stronger now and weaker in the long term).  Here's a shopping list courtesy of the Hardball Times.