Sam Miller of the OC Register has been providing plenty of excellent background for the Angels’ signings of Albert Pujols and C.J. Wilson over the past week. If you’re an Angels fan or a fan of the business side of the game, it’s great reading to see how the deals came together. On Wednesday, Miller shared a great anecdote from the Wilson negotiations.
According to Miller, the Angels were only offering Wilson four years for $60 million. Wilson’s agent wanted another year and $80 million, and he believed the Marlins would offer six years for $100 million. The Angels explained that their finances were limited because they were pursuing another big-money player (which turned out to be Pujols).
Their offer to Wilson was five years for $75 million. But as previously stated, Wilson’s agent wanted $80 million. Now here’s the best part.
Quoting Miller, “They’re going back and forth, Dipoto asks if he can use the restroom, and Garber tells him “not until we get another $5 million.”
DiPoto, the new Angels’ GM, calls owner Arte Moreno and wakes him up, but he’s able to get an extra $2.5 million. Final offer? Five years for $77.5 million, which Wilson accepted.
It’s now moot, but another cool item from the negotiations is that the Marlins wanted Wilson so badly owner Jeffrey Loria even offered to sponsor Wilson’s car racing team. That’s serious dedication.
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