The Los Angeles Angels have had the busiest of mornings on Thursday at the Winter Meetings in Dallas. First, they signed Albert Pujols to a whopping 10-year, $250 million deal. Now come reports that the Angels have signed pitcher C.J. Wilson to a five-year, $75 million deal, per Jon Heyman of CBS Sports and confirmed by multiple reports.
The deal has not yet been officially announced.
Wilson, the Fountain Valley native, was 16-7 with a 2.94 ERA in 2011, his second straight successful year as a starter after transitioning from the bullpen. The 31-year old was also heavily pursued by the Florida Marlins, who reportedly offered WIlson a six-year contract.
Including the postseason, nobody in baseball made more starts than the 76 made by Wilson in 2010-2011. He joins an already formidable starting staff that includes Jered Weaver, Dan Haren, and Ervin Santana. Those four pitchers combined to pitch 926 innings last season and had 98 quality starts.
The Angels already had $105.5 million committed to 11 payers in 2012, which includes a not-yet finalized one-year deal with reliever LaTroy Hawkins worth a reported $3 million. Before Wilson, the Angels' payroll figures to be in the $125 million range after factoring in arbitration raises for Erick Aybar, Howie Kendrick, Alberto Callaspo, and Jerome Williams. Without any other moves, the Angels' payroll could skyrocket into the $165 million range, but of course there could be backloading in the Pujols and Wilson contracts, or a possible trade could happen to shed some payroll as well.
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