Blue Jays dig deep for Wells, but may come up dry

Insider | Short Hops

Standing in the lobby of Disney's Swan and Dolphin Resort as the winter meetings were breaking up, suitcase beside him, Toronto general manager J.P. Ricciardi mapped out his plans for the rest of the offseason very simply.

The Blue Jays are counting on Vernon Wells to accept the extension. (Getty Images)

He wants to re-sign center fielder Vernon Wells, the Blue Jays' franchise player who is eligible for free-agency following the 2007 season.

He doesn't want the situation to linger into next season, when Wells could become a lame duck, er, Jay, and a franchise's plans -- or lack thereof -- could implode.

So the Jays went home and drew up a whopper of an offer to Wells, somewhere between seven and eight years for between $126 and $138 million according to various reports.

And though the Jays' deadline may not be as severe -- or as well publicized -- as that facing pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka and Boston this week before the Red Sox reached a deal just under the wire, there is a line of thinking worth following here.

"We'll know by the time we get to the first of the year," Ricciardi said. "If we can't sign him, then we've got to explore trading him. Plain and simple."

There was no immediate word this week of Wells' reaction to the Jays' offer, other than that he's received it and is thinking about it. Greg Genske, who represents Wells, did not respond to telephone or e-mail messages left Thursday.

But know this: If Wells and the Blue Jays don't agree to terms, odds are CN Tower-high that an All-Star center fielder will be on the trade market next month (and hmmm, in the let's make a deal portion of our Insider, can we perhaps solve the White Sox's gap in center field by sending an unsigned Wells there, along with a pitching prospect, for Jon Garland or Mark Buehrle?).

It is the most lucrative contract offered in franchise history, eclipsing the four-year, $68 million Carlos Delgado deal that expired after the 2005 season and dwarfing the five-year, $55 million contract pitcher A.J. Burnett signed last winter that made Ricciardi not only a headliner at the 2005 winter meetings, but also the target of some harsh criticism.

What a difference a year makes, huh? Kansas City signs Gil Meche to the same five-year, $55 million deal this offseason and, suddenly, Burnett looks like Bob Gibson in Toronto.

The Alfonso Soriano-like deal offered by the Jays -- Soriano received eight years and $136 million from the Cubs this offseason -- certainly should get Wells' attention. It is in the same financial ballpark as Soriano, whose deal is worth an average annual value of $17 million a season, and far exceeds the AAV of $10 million Gary Matthews Jr. is getting in his five-year, $50 million deal with the Angels. The Jays' offer to Wells is believed to be between $17 million and $18 million a year.

The questions are, does Wells want to stay in Toronto, and how much might he be able to get on the open market next winter?

Though he speaks affectionately of Toronto, there is a belief among some in the industry that Wells, who grew up and still resides in Arlington, Tex., will play out the string and then join best-friend Michael Young in the Rangers clubhouse in 2008.