Cardinals trade Freese to Angels

ST. LOUIS — Former World Series MVP David Freese was traded by his hometown St. Louis Cardinals to the Los Angeles Angels in a four-player deal Friday that reunites Albert Pujols with a pair of exteammates.

Freese said he got a welcoming text from Pujols and responded with a reference to the 2011 World Series: “Remember what we did the last time we played together? Let’s go try to do that again.”

Freese didn’t think his drop-off in production last season had anything to do with the pressure of being the “hometown kid.”

“Obviously, I’m a little sad closing this chapter, but I’m extremely pumped about joining the Angels,” Freese said. “If it was going to go down, I wanted it to happen on a team like the Angels.”

St. Louis got a new starting center fielder in Peter Bourjos, and outfield prospect Randal Grichuk. The Cards also sent reliever Fernando Salas to the Angels.

“Overall, we just felt this was a very compelling deal to make,” Cardinals GM John Mozeliak said.

Freese’s departure did not come as a surprise.

“I was ready to go anywhere,” Freese said. “I’m excited to get this going.”

The 30-year- old was the MVP of the 2011 NL championship series and the World Series, setting a major league record with 21 postseason RBI and hitting a game- ending, 11th-inning home run in Game 6.

Freese injured his back chasing a foul ball into the stands during spring training this year and never hit stride. He hit only . 179 in this year’s postseason, going 3-for-19 (. 158) with no RBI in the six-game loss to Boston in the World Series.

Freese batted .262 with nine homers and 60 RBI, a letdown from career bests of 20 homers, 79 RBI and a .293 average the previous year. Freese made $3.15 million and is eligible for salary arbitration.

The Cardinals will move second baseman Matt Carpenter to third, opening a spot for former top draft pick Kolten Wong.

Wong batted just .153 in 32 games last fall and was picked off first base to end Game 4 of the World Series against the Red Sox. Mozeliak said that was just a “snapshot” of Wong, who batted . 303 with 20 steals in 21 chances for the Triple-A Redbirds.

“It gives Wong a clear shot,” Mozeliak said. “I think he’s going to hit.”