Angels sign Hamilton

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Josh Hamilton is heading to the Los Angeles Angels, lured with a $125 million, five-year contract that steps up the migration of high-profile stars to Southern California.

The Angels persuaded the free-agent outfielder to leave the Texas Rangers with their third big-money offseason signing in as many years. Hamilton heads to Anaheim after first baseman Albert Pujols came West for $240 million last December along with pitcher C.J. Wilson — Hamilton’s Texas teammate — for $77.5 million.

General manager Jerry Dipoto had said Wednesday that he didn’t think a major move was “imminent or required.”

Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said Hamilton had reached a deal with the AL West rival Angels.

Hamilton’s $25 million average salary matches Philadelphia first baseman Ryan Howard for the second-highest in baseball, trailing only Alex Rodriguez’s $27.5 million average with the New York Yankees.

The Angels allowed free agent outfielder Torii Hunter to sign with Detroit, and he reacted to his former team’s latest move on his Twitter account.

“I was told money was tight but I guess the Arte had money hidden under a Mattress. Business is business but don’t lie.”

Rangers GM Jon Daniels said he was disappointed “to some degree,” especially since the Rangers never got a chance to match any offer during the process, as they had expected.

“Josh had indicated recently ... told us that he felt it might be time to move on, but that we were still talking,” said Daniels, who wouldn’t elaborate on the reasons. “We had additional conversations this week that I thought had moved it along in a positive direction, but apparently not.”

AP Sources: Dempster, Red Sox agree at $26.5M

BOSTON — The Boston Red Sox have agreed to terms with right-hander Ryan Dempster on a two-year contract worth $26.5 million.

Dempster would help a rotation led by Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz, promising young pitchers coming off subpar seasons. At the other end of the staff are Franklin Morales and Felix Doubront; pitchers the Red Sox hope can develop into dependable starters. John Lackey returns after missing last season due to elbow ligament-replacement surgery.

Dempster, 12-8 with a 3.38 ERA this year, gives the Red Sox a reliable pitcher who has thrown more than 200 innings for four of the past five seasons. He was 5-5 with a 2.25 ERA with the Chicago Cubs this year before being traded to Texas.

Tags: sports, mlb, baseball