Vernon Wells could've been playing the role of Pedro Martinez had the Jays held on to Werth (but probably still not)
Don’t get me wrong — Jason Frasor is cool and all. But did you know the Jays traded Jayson Werth for him back in 2004? I’m not gonna go bash J.P. Ricciardi for this one since it took Werth a few years to develop into a monster, but I really, really wish Werth was still in Toronto right about now.
The Jays picked up Werth from the Orioles and he made his major-league debut in 2002, hitting .261 in 46 September at-bats. He cracked the Opening Day roster in 2003 — I know this because I have a ticket stub from the opening series autographed by him — but appeared in just 26 games and hit his only two homers as Jay before being dealt to the Dodgers for Frasor at the end of Spring Training in 2004. After a couple years platooning in Los Angeles, he signed with Philly prior to the 2007 season. Werth hit 36 bombs (including one into the 500 level at Rogers Centre in June — one of four hits on the day) and drove in 99 runs this regular season.
With no disrespect to Frasor, I really wish the Jays could have mulligan on that deal. Then again, maybe they traded him because he looked a little more like this in 2002 than how he looks now.
