According to FoxSports.com, the Angels have agreed to deal catcher Mike Napoli. While the return is as yet unknown, the deal remains unofficial until the players involved take physicals.
UPDATE: Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com reports that the Blue Jays will be sending outfielder Vernon Wells to the Angels in the deal, which will feature additional players beyond Napoli and Wells.
Wells is viewed as having one of the most onerous contracts in the majors. He is playing under a seven-year, $126 million deal that has four years and $86 million remaining. In 2010, he hit .273/.331/.515/.847 with 31 homers and 88 RBI, his most homers since 2006. The performance earned him his third career All-Star berth, and his first since 2006. He also has three Gold Gloves, and seems likely to be used as the center fielder for the Angels.
Even so, the 32-year-old’s production was considered disappointing to the Blue Jays after he agreed to the extension in the 2006-07 offseason, one year before he was eligible for free agency. The fifth overall pick of the 1997 draft has a career .280/.329/.475/.804 line, and never emerged into the superstar that the Jays anticipated when they signed him.
Napoli, 29, hit .238/.316/.468/.784 with 26 homers in 140 games split between catcher and first base for the Angels last year. The 2010 season was the third straight in which he’d hit 20 or more homers. The Sox placed a waiver claim on Napoli when the Angels put him on August waivers last season, but the Halos pulled him back when the two sides did not strike a deal. Napoli’s career highlight with the Angels, meanwhile, likely came against the Sox, when he crushed two homers against Josh Beckett in Game 3 of the 2009 American League Division Series.