The Angels didn’t make a dent in the free agent market, but acquired a high-priced player anyway as they trade for Vernon Wells:

The Los Angeles Angels acquired All-Star center fielder Vernon Wells from Toronto on Friday night, giving them the big bat they wanted to add this winter.

The Blue Jays shipped their high-priced fixture to the Angels for catcher Mike Napoli and outfielder Juan Rivera in one of baseball’s biggest trades this offseason.

The teams did not say whether the Blue Jays would also send cash to the Angels to help offset Wells’ contract. He has four years and $86 million left on the $126 million, seven-year deal he signed with Toronto.

That deal included a no-trade clause, which Wells waived to join the Angels.

I’m pretty sure Wells won’t produce $21 million in value per year for the Angels, so I suspect the Jays coughed up around $24 million to balance out the contract. Toronto may be betting that Mike Napoli‘s poor 2010 was a fluke. He got on base well until last season, when his OBP dropped to .316, mostly due to a poor batting average. He maintained his power and his walks, so it could just be he got unlucky with the bat. I’ve always like Juan Rivera, but he’s past his prime. I think the Jays made out really well here, depending on how much money they send to Los Angeles. They may even have cleared enough to pay Jose Bautista decently.

By the way, kudos to J.P. Ricciardi for structuring Wells’s contract to be back loaded. The Jays were able to trade him before the contract became too much of a burden.

Update: True Grich is okay with the deal.