Angels Sign Albert Pujols, CJ Wilson, & Latroy Hawkins

[gladdyontherise]

You know Gonzo got traded as well, right? lol

Perhaps you're thinking of Teixeira?

[wheeler281]

Gonzo got traded but admittedly was not going to sign and had huge demands. Needed a deal for the trade

I guess insert any free agent or soon to be free agent. Texira Crawford Lee Papelbon Gonzo

its flawed logic

BTW the cards should not have let it get this far. They had a chance a couple years ago to extend and declined. Shame on them

[gladdyontherise]

I remember a few of us said when they signed Holliday that it would effect signing Pujols..oops

[JesRey]

Nope, because I don't want to see Pujols succeed, because he sold out. That's all. Was the same thing with LeBron (of course he did it in a much different way)

SOLD OUT? hahahaha

Pujols won 2 championships in St. Louis. He did what he was suppose to do for them. He wanted a new challenge in another place.

This is nothing like Lebron

[JesRey]

Angels Agree To Terms With Albert Pujols And C.J. Wilson

I'm sure most of you have heard about the big news already. I'm still a little shocked that the Angels were able to sign, arguably, the best hitter and pitcher on the market today.

Albert Pujols - 10 years $254 million
C.J. Wilson - 5 years $77.5 million

Pujols did win a couple World Series in St. Louis and gave them a lot of great moments to remember, so it's not like he screwed them. The ten year deal isn't so bad in the American League because Pujols can become a DH towards the end of his contract.


CJ Wilson has pitched in the World Series the last two seasons. He hasn't really impressed anyone with his postseason numbers but he was great during the regular season. I wouldn't called him an ace but since the Rangers didn't really have a true ace after Cliff Lee left, then Wilson took that spot.


The Angels pitching rotation at the top should be hard to beat. They have Jered Weaver, Dan Haren and now C.J. Wilson. There are rumors that the Angels are shopping around Ervin Santana.


----------------------------------

From Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com:

DALLAS -- The Angels' huge Winter Meetings splash didn't stop with Thursday's stunning agreement with Albert Pujols. They also came to terms on a deal with free-agent left-hander C.J. Wilson.

The deal with Pujols is for 10 years, includes a full no-trade clause and is worth between $250 million and $260 million, a source told MLB.com. ESPN and The Associated Press reported that the deal is worth $254 million, which would place it second behind the record-setting 10-year, $275 million contract Alex Rodriguez signed with the Yankees in December 2007.

The agreement with Wilson, formerly of the Rangers, is for $77.5 million over five years, a source confirmed.

The Angels confirmed both agreements with separate press releases during general manager Jerry Dipoto's news conference on Thursday. A separate news conference to introduce Pujols is scheduled for Saturday.

"This is a monumental day for Angel fans, and I could not be more excited," Angels owner Arte Moreno said in the press release. Added Dipoto: "Albert's career performance clearly speaks for itself. He has proven to be the best player of his generation."

"Many players around baseball desire to come play for the Angels," Dipoto said at the news conference. "This was a really good fit for our franchise, and I believe it's an excellent fit for the players were talking about. Just in the last couple of days, the interaction between ourselves and Albert's camp ramped up. To answer the question of how much thought we had given to this, a fair amount, as you might expect. These aren't quick knee-jerk decisions.

"Obviously, this is not a one-man show. We're a family. Arte Moreno is as competitive an owner and as genuine a person as there is in the game. This is in large part a tribute to him."

Meeting with reporters prior to Thursday's news conference, Wilson expressed excitement for what lies ahead.

"It's crazy, obviously, with Albert going over there," Wilson said on Thursday. "It's a big swing in the balance of power in the AL West. I thought I was going to make a little bit of a difference, but he's obviously going to make a huge one. Nobody saw that coming.

"It's been a great time playing in Texas as an organization for the last 11 years with my teammates, but at the end of the day, my family was a big player in this, and my friends and stuff back home. Going back to where you're from is a difficult thing to turn down when you have an opportunity, and it works out really in any way."

The Halos had surprisingly surfaced on Wednesday in reports linking them to Pujols for the second time in 24 hours, with a source confirming that their intentions were indeed serious.

"I can't handicap what this means for the Angels, but certainly when you end up with all the best players in the game in your division, that's not what you want," A's assistant general manager David Forst said.

Pujols, a nine-time All-Star and three-time National League Most Valuable Player, weighed a 10-year offer from the Marlins earlier this week and had a counter offer to consider from the Cardinals, with whom he had spent all of his 11 Major League seasons. St. Louis' offer was for nine years and a little less than $200 million, according to a report by ESPN.com. Other reports said it was for 10 years and $220 million.

"Winning breeds interest," Dipoto said. "We're setting ourselves up to start next season with an opportunity to be good.

"There was no swooping strategy. We bided our time. I believe we exercised patience. ... When an opportunity like this exists, you take advantage. That's something I can attribute to Arte's involvement."

Dipoto addressed the potential concern over making a 10-year committment to a player already in his 30s.

"I dont necessarily see it as a clear decline," Dipoto said. "I see Albert Pujols as the most consistent offensive player of his generation. ... If we want to call a decline going from superhuman to just great, I dont think we've seen the last of the great days of Albert Pujols. ... Albert is still as big an impact bat after 11 years as there is in the game. We feel confident that's what we're placing in the Angels' lineup."

The Marlins were very interested suitors but they backed off on Wednesday and instead signed left-hander Mark Buehrle to a four-year, $58 million contract.

Wilson's name had been attached to the Marlins, too, but when it came down to it, the Newport Beach, Calif., native decided to return to the West Coast and remain in the American League West. Sources said the Marlins offered him $80 million over six years, even after adding Buehrle.

Wilson also expressed some disappointment in not having received a comparable offer from the Rangers.

"A little bit," Wilson said. "I understand the position that the organization is in, in the sense that they have a lot of young talent, so that's something that they trust and they feel good about. That being said, I think, as we saw, this is a situation in baseball where you can never have too much of a good thing. I just want the fans to know that if things were a lot closer, then it would've been a more difficult decision to go to Anaheim, and I possibly might not have gone. But there was no comparison between the packages offered between the three teams.

Pujols turned down an offer from the Cardinals prior to Spring Training, which he had set as a deadline for negotiations, saying he would not discuss a new contract during camp or the regular season."Something like this is a difficult decision. It's life-changing money for me, obviously, and it's a position where having to leave a team that you came up with for a rival is a very difficult thing. But at the same time, I have family to take care of, family-wise and friends-wise and in my charity. I can benefit a lot. But if it were just about money I'd be a Marlin, straight up, because they offered more money, they have a great situation."

"The division just got significantly better," Rangers assistant GM Thad Levine said. "A team we have tremendous respect for and has been our main competition just got better. The challenge in the American League West just got bigger. But we feel our team is up for the challenge."

Cardinals officials were unavailable for comment on Thursday, the final day of the Winter Meetings.

The first baseman, who will be 32 next month, has a career .328 average with 445 home runs. His career on-base-plus-slugging percentage is 1.037, which leads all active players, and he has led the Major Leagues in slugging and OPS three times and in runs scored five times.

He hit .299 with 37 homers and 99 RBIs last season, and that was considered a down year. Previously, he had 10 straight seasons in which he hit at least .300 with at least 30 homers and 100 RBIs.

Now he'll be joining the AL, where he may have been drawn because of the possibility that he can eventually slide into the designated-hitter spot in the final stages of the contract.

Depending on the exact figure, Pujols' deal with the Angels will be the second- or third-richest in Major League history. Rodriguez's first free-agent contract, signed with Texas in January 2001, was for $252 million.

After being converted from a reliever to a starter, Wilson went 31-15 with a 3.14 ERA over the past two seasons for the Rangers, who went to the World Series both years. Wilson struggled in the playoffs, however, going 1-5 with a 4.82 ERA in 10 games, nine of them starts. He pitched well in both of his World Series starts, though he took the loss in each.

The Angels will have to move some pieces around, considering they have a capable young first baseman in Mark Trumbo and a recovering one in Kendrys Morales. A multitude of options are on the table.

The Angels were negotiating with both Wilson and Pujols deep into Wednesday night. Throughout the offseason, they were expected to have between $15 million-$20 million to spend on additions. The Pujols deal, with an average annual value of a little over $25 million, put them over that budget, but the team has sent a clear message that it's ready to win now.

"He's obviously the most prolific hitter of the last decade," Wilson said of Pujols. "The numbers he puts up are amazing, [as is] the support he's going to create for the rest of the lineup."

Picture Credit: LAAngels.com

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[key2win]

I am actually fine with the CJ signing now since they actually got a bat. Maybe Aramis Ramirez is next. I have heard that they may try to move Trumbo to 3B or they can try to trade Trumbo or Abreau to get a 3B. I am sure some team will take Vernon Wells if the Angels paid like 67% of his salary. LOL!

[YankeeCollector]

Even with Pujols, I don't see them making a huge impact as far as a World Series goes, but there might be a few division titles on the horizon. They have three consistent pitchers at the top of their rotation, but Pujols is the only big name in their infield and they have two declining corner outfielders, which causes your good pitchers to have Matt Cain type records. By Matt Cain type records, I am talking about low ERA, but inconsistent win totals due to low run support.

[key2win]

Lost in all of this was also the Angels signing LaTroy Hawkins. He got a one-year, $3 million deal. Hawkins had a 2.42 ERA this year in 48 1/3 innings.

[Dave Crum]

Now, will the Cardinals go after Fielder ??????

I suspect they will chase after him with wallet in hand!!

[Dave Crum]

I wish the Indians would spend just 1/3 of that on free agents.

[bakemeister52]

I agree I don't think the Angels will go to the World Series right away even with Pujols!

[Rosenort]

Hawkins signing is a really good low profile move, was hoping he would come back to Colorado.

[wheeler281]

I hope the Angels finish in last place now

Nope, because I don't want to see Pujols succeed, because he sold out. That's all. Was the same thing with LeBron (of course he did it in a much different way)

Hey Princeboy would this be a gotcha moment

[gladdyontherise]

To be fair, Prince said the entire time he'd be leaving the Brewers, but atleast he came to a mid-market team in Michigan!

[wheeler281]

Nice duck