"Within hours of the Angels acquiring slugger Albert Pujols, the odds of the team winning the World Series next year dipped from 22-to-1 to 12-1 on the betting website Bodog.com.

But even if having one of the game's great hitters in the lineup does not translate into a championship in Anaheim in 2012 — and history indicates there's a good chance it won't — the blockbuster deal still could pay dividends despite its whopping $254-million price tag, analysts said.

The Angels reported Friday afternoon that they had sold about 1,000 season-ticket packages and additionally had taken more than 500 on-line orders for season-ticket packages since Thursday's signings of Pujols and free-agent pitcher C.J. Wilson."