DALLAS –– There were no plans for the Red Sox to partake in the Albert Pujols free-agent frenzy. With Adrian Gonzalez entrenched at first base, general manager Ben Cherington never needed to pursue the premier slugger.
Still, from his vantage point, Cherington was impressed with the Angels' ability to land the coveted free agent. By also adding lefty pitcher C.J. Wilson, Cherington is certainly looking forward to the showdowns in the AL West.
"That'll be a competitive division certainly with Texas and Anaheim going after each other," he said.
The Los Angeles club lured Pujols –– the former St. Louis slugger –– with a reported 10-year, $250 million contract offer. During his career, he has reached the 40-homer plateau and logged at least 120 RBIs six times.
Even so, Cherington joked that it would've taken the perfect deal for him to piece together a deal.
"That would have had to be pretty creative, given where we were," Cherington said. "You can throw all sorts of things against the wall, but when you start to think about making huge, fundamental changes to your roster to try to fit something in, usually the end result isn't that good.
"I feel like we have a really good team that really just needs some good complements and needs to be put in a better position to win over a six-month stretch. That's what we're focusing on."
