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UPDATE #2: The Yankees aren't just giving the Angels some salary relief in exchange for Vernon Wells, they're also sending a pair of warm bodies to Anaheim. The Halos will receive outfielder Exicardo Cayones and left-hander Kramer Sneed from New York, reports Jim Bowden of ESPN.
Neither are considered prospects in the traditional sense -- i.e. they're not very good -- but both boast Hall-of-Fame worthy names, so they've got that going for them. Cayones, 21, hit .228/.374/.291 with one long ball in 200 plate appearances in Low-A ball last year, while Sneed posted a 5.37 ERA and a nearly even K/BB rate in 63⅔ at High-A.
Mike DiGiovanna of the LA Times also reports that the Yankees will actually pay the Angels $13.9 million over the next two years, almost a million more than earlier reported. New York will give the Halos $11.5 million this year, and the remaining $2.4 million in 2014.
UPDATE: The Yankees and Halos are in agreement on monetary figures and have received the OK on the deal from Vernon Wells himself, so the only thing standing in the way of the trade being officially official is final clearance from the commissioner's office, reports Jon Heyman of CBS Sports.
It was rumored that the Yankees would cover somewhere between $12 to $14 million of the remaining $42 million on Wells' contract for the next two years, and that does indeed appear to be the case. New York will pay Wells $6.5 million over each of the next two seasons, reports Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News, which comes to essentially a two-year, $13 million contract.
The Bombers now have $26 million tied into Wells and Ichiro Suzuki alone over the next two seasons. Pretty sure that wasn't their original plan.
ORIGINAL: The Yankees and Angels have a deal done in principle for outfielder Vernon Wells, reports Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports. The teams are just finishing off the final details, according to the reports. Wells should help the Yankees fill the holes left in their outfield by injuries and free agent losses.
The two sides are presumably figuring out exactly how much money will be sent each way, as well as making sure Wells will pass his physical.
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Wells is expected to approve the trade, which would likely give him the chance to start for the Yankees. Wells is owed $42 million over the next two seasons, and the Angels may need to eat a significant portion of that to get this deal finalized.
Wells, 34, has had to deal with the "overpriced" label for most of his career, but he could provide the Yankees with some power and decent defense. He could play centerfield until Curtis Granderson returns from his injury.
Wells hit .230 with 11 home runs for the Angels last year, and eventually lost his job to rookie-phenom Mike Trout.
