Mike Scioscia benches slumping Vernon Wells - MLB

Angels manager Mike Scioscia has benched the struggling Vernon Wells for tonight’s game against the Indians, according to Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times.

Wells, who was acquired from the Blue Jays for Mike Napoli and Juan Rivera in January, is batting just .091 (4-for-44) over his first 10 games this season and currently is mired in a 1-for-26 slump.

“It’s a mental day off,” Scioscia said of Wells. “Every hitter has rough spots. A lot of guys have some four-for-40s in their history, but when you’re with a new team, there’s a lot of attention on it. The reality is he’s trying to find his timing, and it’s creating some mis-hits. But he’ll find it. I have no doubt about it.”

Sure, Wells isn’t going to hit .091 forever, but that’s not really the point here. The 32-year-old outfielder has been wildly inconsistent for a few years now and has little chance of being worth the $81 million that the Angels will shell out over the next four seasons. A hot start could have helped his cause, but much like in Toronto, Wells is going to be a constant target of fan scrutiny.

Roger Clemens will be an analyst for ESPN when the defending World Series champion Houston Astros host the Chicago White Sox on opening day.

Clemens made four appearances on last year’s KayRod Cast with Michael Kay and Alex Rodriguez. He will be stepping in on March 30 for David Cone, who will be doing the New York Yankees opener against the San Francisco Giants on YES Network.

“Roger has been sort of a friend of ours for the last year, so to speak, he’s in. He’s been engaged, knowledgeable and really present,” said ESPN Vice President of Production Phil Orlins. “You know, whatever past may be, he’s still tremendously engaged and he really brought that every time he was with us.”

Clemens was a seven-time Cy Young winner but his career after baseball has been tainted by allegations of performance-enhancing drug use. He is a Houston native and pitched for the Astros for three seasons.

Orlins said that with the rules changes and pitch clock, it is important to have a pitcher in the booth with Karl Ravech and Eduardo Perez.

“We don’t feel like we have to have the dynamic of Eduardo with a pitcher, but we certainly think that works. Throw in the added factor of rule changes and it is better to have a batter-pitcher perspective,” Orlins said.

Orlins did not say if this would open the door for future opportunities for Clemens as an ESPN analyst.