Today the players’ association and MLB officially signed off on Albert Pujols’ contract with the Angels, revealing a few interesting details about the deal.
Pujols is guaranteed at least $240 million over 10 seasons, but the contract could be worth as much as $265.75 million.
When he’s finished playing Pujols will begin a 10-year “personal services” contract with the Angels that pays $1 million per year, which isn’t counted as payroll for luxury tax purposes because it doesn’t kick in until he’s retired.
There are also sizable bonuses for reaching milestones, including $3 million for 3,000 hits and $7 million for 763 homers, and another $875,000 in total incentives each season for regular season MVP, ALCS MVP, World Series MVP, Gold Glove, Silver Slugger, and All-Star selections.
And the deal is also heavily backloaded, paying Pujols just $12 million in 2012 and $16 million in 2013 before his salary rises to $23 million in 2014 with an annual $1 million bump each year through 2021:
2012: $12 million
2013: $16 million
2014: $23 million
2015: $24 million
2016: $25 million
2017: $26 million
2018: $27 million
2019: $28 million
2020: $29 million
2021: $30 million
The thought of paying $30 million to a 41-year-old Pujols in 2021 is pretty scary, but the Angels’ new television deal makes even that contractual monstrosity a relative drop in the revenue bucket and who knows what MLB’s money-making landscape will look like a decade from now.
