The Anaheim Angels won the bidding by signing the 31 year old overweight first baseman to a 6 year $80 million contract. For the first two years with the Angels he was not bad. His average dipped to a respectable .281 and .272 with over 100 RBIs each year. He hit 33 and 36 home runs. Then the problems started. Plagued by many injuries, he was unable to play at all in the 2001 season.
The Angels went shopping to rid themselves of this contract and this is where the fun always begins and honesty starts to filter in. What isn’t to love about a 34 year old overweight first baseman who is a defensive liability.
Scheduled for increases in his salary the Angels were rather concerned with what was coming ahead both in production and salary to the teams overall budget.
So after a year off from baseball for injuries the Angels traded him to the Mets just in time for the really bad years.
