VUVUZELA
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- Jun 19, 2010
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Albert Pujols(notes), the heart and hammer of the St. Louis Cardinals for more than a decade, will leave St. Louis and sign with the Los Angeles Angels, a person with knowledge of the deal told Yahoo! Sports.
Latecomers to the Pujols derby, the Angels will pay him $250 million to $260 million over 10 years, a devastating turn for the Cardinals and a departure from past organizational philosophies for Arte Moreno's Angels. Within minutes of reaching an agreement with Pujols, they did the same with free-agent left-handerC.J. Wilson(notes). They won him away from the hyper-aggressive Miami Marlins, reportedly paying him $77.5 million over five years.
press conference introducing b
Pujols left the Cardinals after 11 seasons and two World Series titles.
After a month-long search for wealth and happiness, most notably in Miami, Pujols will not return to the only organization he's known.
The contract value is the second or third highest in baseball history, behind the contractAlex Rodriguez(notes) signed with theNew York Yankees in 2008 ($275 million) and perhaps higher than the one Rodriguez signed with theTexas Rangers in 2001 ($252 million).
The Angels' spending spree continued an hour or so later when they reached an agreement with left-handed starter C.J. Wilson on a five-year, $77.5 million deal.
Clearly of the mind to change direction after failing to reach the playoffs in back-to-back seasons, the Angels will put Pujols in the middle of their lineup, steal more thunder from the limping Los Angeles Dodgers, and attempt to catch the prospering Texas Rangers in the AL West.
