Albert Pujols had 254 million reasons to sign with the Los Angeles Angels, and because of that the Halos have the services of who has been the best player in baseball for the last 11 seasons. In addition to the $25.4 million in average annual salary over the life of the 10-year deal, Pujols has some performance incentives.
Pujols will receive $3 million from the Angels for his 3,000th career hit and $7 million should he reach 763 career home runs, per Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports. These types of performance bonuses require special permission from the commissioner, as they are normally prohibited by Major League Rule 3(b)(5):
"No Major League Uniform Player's Contract or Minor League Uniform Player Contract shall be approved if it contains a bonus for playing, pitching or batting skill or if it provides for the payment of a bonus contingent on the standing of the signing Club at the end of the championship season."
Alex Rodriguez had similar bonuses in his 10-year, $275 million contract with the New York Yankees for milestone home runs, which had to be approved by Bud Selig. Each of his bonuses were designated as an "historic event" in order to receive special approval, per the Associated Press.
Pujols has 2,073 career hits, averaging 188 per season in his 11-year career. He had a career-low 173 hits last season, and if he continued at that pace Pujols would reach 3,000 hits at some point in 2017, when he is 37 years old.
With 445 career home runs, Pujols has averaged just over 40 per season. He would need to average just under 32 home runs per season over his 10-year contract to reach 763 career home runs, which would break Barry Bonds' all-time record (assuming Rodriguez, with 629 home runs, doesn't pass Bonds first).
For more news on Pujols and the Angels, be sure to read Halos Heaven.