ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) - Although the Los Angeles Angels still haven't received the bill from their epic holiday shopping spree, they already think they got a whole lot more than a slugger when they signed Albert Pujols to a $254 million contract.
They got a television star for a new rights deal potentially worth $3 billion. They got a face for a franchise that will have a spot among baseball's marquee teams for as long as Pujols' health and talent hold.
And the Orange County club got a leader for its competition with the wounded Dodgers by making an audacious move that just might change the sports hierarchy in Southern California.
Baseball is still digesting the Angels' dual deals for Pujols and left-hander C.J. Wilson, who will be introduced at Angel Stadium in a gala news conference Saturday. But players and scholars alike already can see the club grabbed Pujols with an extravagant 10-year contract for much more than his contributions on the diamond.
"I think it's an incredible risk, but will ultimately bring with it a huge return," said David Carter, a professor at Southern California and the executive director of USC's Sports Business Institute.
The Angels' front office kept quiet on Friday, with owner Arte Moreno and new general manager Jerry Dipoto not talking about spending roughly $331 million - nearly twice what Moreno paid for the team eight years ago - on two players. Others did the talking for a franchise that has won just one World Series since joining the AL 50 years ago, usually struggling in the Dodgers' shadow before consistent success under manager Mike Scioscia for the past decade.
"They're kind of like the Yankees of the West right now," Cincinnati manager Dusty Baker said. "They're fortunate. The Angels are in great shape. They're outstanding. Every year they sign a big free agent."
Never this big, however. The Angels' deal for Vladimir Guerrero after the 2003 season seems almost quaint - $70 million over five years - while Torii Hunter got a mere five-year, $90 million deal four years later. Los Angeles has been better known in recent years for the free agents it didn't get, missing on tantalizing talents from Mark Teixeira to Carl Crawford.
At the winter meetings, Dipoto made it clear the Angels realize the inherent risk of signing a 31-year-old first baseman for a decade. Everyone in baseball knows it's unlikely even Pujols can maintain his inimitable level of play into his 40s, and the sheer volume of money owed to the slugger could make the contract appear foolish on paper within a half-decade.
But Carter believes those worry only about the price tag for Pujols' homers are missing what he means at the Angel Stadium turnstiles, at the merchandise stand and on television.
"Arte knows brand management," Carter said about Moreno, who serves on the board of advisers for Carter's institute. "He knows he can get those customers to his turnstile so he can service them well, so he can convert them from casual fans to diehard Angel fans. These fans are going to be coming from all over the region to spend money. In the region, they'll become a major attraction. All of that results in long-term brand building and the escalation of his franchise value."
The Angels also are likely to strike gold with their next television rights deal, in which Pujols' shiny shaved head will be the star attraction.
Although the club had some of baseball's lowest local television ratings last season, Pujols nearly guarantees the Angels will be must-see TV in the nation's second-largest media market. The Los Angeles Times reported this week that the Angels are getting a new deal with Fox Sports worth at least $3 billion - potentially tripling the Angels' TV income in a deal partly made possible by the Dodgers' bankruptcy shenanigans, which scuttled their own deal with Fox.
"(Pujols') contract has the potential to be a real albatross around the franchise going forward, but the fact they've got this TV contract in place mitigates a lot of risk," Carter said. "I think the move is very tactical, very timely, and it lets the Angels move out of whatever is left of the shadow being cast by the Dodgers in this market. ... I think a lot of people were wondering the last couple of years when the Angels were unable or unwilling to pull the trigger on other free agents, how were they going to take advantage of the Dodgers being in decline? I think now we know the answer to that."