AL West

After teams were no longer talking about Cliff Lee, Carl Crawford, Adrian Beltre and Jayson Werth, they began talking about Carl Pavano. That, in a nutshell, is the story of the 2011 MLB offseason: all or nothing.

We can talk about how the Rangers and Yankees lost out on Cliff Lee, we can talk about how the Rays lost loads of talent to free agency. But, if one thing is for certain, it is that no team felt a harder hit than the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. 

On Friday the Los Angeles Angels landed former All-Star center fielder, Vernon Wells, in a trade with the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Blue Jays will receive catcher Mike Napoli and outfielder Juan Rivera, both of whom have only one year left on their current deals.

Wells will be waiving his no-trade clause with Toronto as the Angels will be forced to pay him an owed $86 million over the course of the next four seasons.

In a move that will almost certainly be dissected, panned and universally mocked by writers more intelligent than I, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have sent Mike Napoli and Juan Rivera to the Toronto Blue Jays for Vernon Wells. 

Wells—who is owed $86 million through 2014—has already waived his no-trade clause and passed a physical in Anaheim. 

The hot stove is starting to cool, as we are less than a month from pitchers and catchers reporting. So, let’s stoke that fire a bit with more prospect talk. This series on prospects will cover a wide range of players as well as positions. We’ll cover sleepers and even some of the more obvious stars of the future.

According to Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times, Seattle Mariners OF/DH Milton Bradley was arrested on Wednesday morning for violating California penal code section 422, which involves making a “criminal threat.” The details of the arrest are not yet known, but Bradley was released on $50,000 bail.

Clearly, it was a disappointing season for Kurt Suzuki in 2010. 

Many people anticipated him fully breaking out, but instead he regressed across the board:

495 At Bats
.242 Batting Average (120 Hits)
13 Home Runs
71 RBI
55 Runs
3 Stolen Bases
.303 On Base Percentage
.366 Slugging Percentage
.245 Batting Average on Balls in Play

Milton Bradley must have found the challenge of getting into trouble on the field too simple.

On Tuesday night, it was reported by KING5 News that Bradley had been arrested and charged with a felony in Los Angeles.

Hey, did you hear? The Mariners were lousy in 2010. Terrible. Awful. Dreadful.

Ah, heck. I'll just link you so you can see all the synonyms for "bad."

That poor, poor dead horse.

Oakland Athletics General Manager Billy Beane is still playing "Moneyball" to this day.

The team that used to perennially contend for the playoffs finished just exactly .500 last season, and was nine games out of first place behind the American League champion Texas Rangers.

Beane looks to compete more aggressively in 2011, as he has made quiet moves this offseason.

It’s game on in Oakland.