Vernon Wells III (born December 8, 1978) is an American former professional baseball center fielder.

[3] The Toronto Blue Jays made Wells the fifth pick overall in the 1997 MLB draft out of Bowie High School.

[4] He spent several years as a top prospect in the Blue Jays organization, starting with the St. Catharines Stompers, Toronto's Class-A team in the short-season New York–Penn League.

In 1998, he played for the Hagerstown Suns and was selected as the Utility Outfielder on the South Atlantic League End of Season All-Star Team.

He won the AL co-player of the week for the first time on June 23, 2003, sharing the honor with Corey Koskie.

During the season, Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi criticized Wells, as well as teammates Troy Glaus and Shea Hillenbrand, for failure to perform during key situations after two losses to the Kansas City Royals just before the 2006 All-Star break.

[9] He followed such criticisms with great play throughout the rest of the year, including a walk-off home run against New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera.

[4] On December 15, 2006, Wells signed a back-loaded contract extension for $126 million over seven years with the Blue Jays.

[4] On May 9, 2008, Wells suffered a broken left wrist while making a diving catch against the Cleveland Indians and was placed on the disabled list the next day.

[16] Despite the significant amount of time missed to injury, 2008 otherwise represented a return to form for Wells as he finished the year hitting .300 with 20 home runs and 78 RBI in just 108 games.

He struggled with consistency at the plate, and was subsequently dropped from the fourth spot in the lineup before the All-Star break.

[21] On July 5, 2010, Wells was named a reserve for the 2010 MLB All-Star Game, along with teammates José Bautista and John Buck.

[4] Also in 2010, Wells was selected to receive the Branch Rickey Award for humanitarian works by the Rotary Club of Denver.

[31] On March 26, 2013, the Angels traded Wells to the New York Yankees for minor leaguers Exicardo Cayones and Kramer Sneed.

[35] On July 26, Wells changed his uniform number from 12 to 22 to give to Alfonso Soriano, who had been reacquired from the Chicago Cubs.

[38] Wells' father, Vernon Wells Jr. is an acclaimed sports artist and was an early contributor to Upper Deck baseball cards with his art frequently appearing on team checklists and Baseball Heroes subsets featuring Reggie Jackson and other players.