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Pujols, Wilson to sign with LA Angels

Albert Pujols has agreed to a 10-year contract with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, meaning he'll be leaving the St. Louis Cardinals, the only team he played for previously in his 11-year major-league career.
 He's shown at last month's unveiling ceremony for the Albert Pujols statue at the Pujols 5 Restaurant in Maryland Heights, Mo. UPI/Bill Greenblatt
Albert Pujols has agreed to a 10-year contract with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, meaning he'll be leaving the St. Louis Cardinals, the only team he played for previously in his 11-year major-league career. He's shown at last month's unveiling ceremony for the Albert Pujols statue at the Pujols 5 Restaurant in Maryland Heights, Mo. UPI/Bill Greenblatt | License Photo

DALLAS, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- Albert Pujols, who won three National League Most Valuable Player awards with St. Louis, has agreed to a 10-year deal with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

The deal is worth at least $250 million several media outlets, including the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, reported Thursday. The new contract for the right-handed hitting first baseman is expected to include a no-trade clause.

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The Angels also reached terms with left-handed pitcher C.J. Wilson on a reported five-year contract worth $77.5 million.

Wilson, 31, had been with the Texas Rangers for seven seasons. Last year he was 16-7 with a 2.94 earned run average and 206 strikeouts in 223 1/3 innings. He was 15-8 in 2009, his first full season as a starter in the majors.

"This was a really good fit for our franchise and I believe it's an excellent fit for the players were talking about," Angels General Manager Jerry Dipoto told a Thursday news conference.

"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."

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Wilson, before the news conference, said: "It's crazy, obviously, with Albert going over there. 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."

Pujols, who turns 32 next month, played 11 seasons with the Cardinals, breaking into the major leagues in 2001 when he was voted rookie of the year. He was seen as the pick of the 2011 free-agent market.

The Cardinals stayed in the bidding throughout, with the Miami Marlins also aggressively courting Pujols. The Angels reportedly became more deeply involved when the Marlins dropped out Wednesday.

The Post-Dispatch said the St. Louis offer was about $220 million over 10 years, with nine years guaranteed.

Pujols is a career .328 hitter with 445 homes runs and 1,329 runs batted in. He was voted the NL most valuable player in 2005, 2008 and 2009 and finished second four other times. He is also a nine-time All-Star selection.

He led the National League in home runs in 2009 (47) and 2010 (42). Last season he had 37 home runs to go with a .299 average and 99 RBI. It was the only time in his career that he hit lower than .300 and had fewer than 100 RBI.

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