Vernon Wells trade to have big financial implications for Angels

A major incentive for dealing Wells, who is scheduled to undergo a physical in Tampa, Fla. on Tuesday, is to give the Angels enough financial relief to finish the season under the $178-million luxury tax threshold, according to a person familiar with the team’s thinking but not authorized to discuss it.

The Angels, according to numerous reports, have agreed to pay $29 million of the remaining $42 million of Wells’ contract, which runs through 2014, meaning the Yankees will pay $13 million.

With savings from the Wells trade, the Angels’ opening-day payroll for players on the 25-man major-league roster will be about $153.5 million.

But for luxury-tax purposes, the payroll includes salaries and benefits, including awards and incentives clauses, for the entire 40-man roster, not just the 25-man roster.  The figure is calculated based on the roster at the end of the year; the Angels’ figure last year was $176.7 million, according to the Associated Press.

The Wells trade will bring the Angels’ payroll for luxury tax purposes down to about $172 million. That could allow more wiggle room under the threshold to add a high-salaried player before the July 31 trade deadline and for the Angels to increase their payroll in 2014.

The penalty for first-time offenders of the competitive-balance tax is 17.5% of the amount over $178 million. Those rates rise to 30% for second-time offenders and 40% for third-time offenders, but the luxury tax threshold will be raised from $178 million to $189 million from 2014 to 2016.

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