The St. Louis Cardinals have sent third baseman and former World Series MVP David Freese to the Los Angeles Angels for outfielder Peter Bourjos as part of a four-player trade, the teams confirmed Friday.

Third baseman David Freese, who hit only nine home runs last season for the Cardinals, has been traded to the Los Angeles Angels. Richard Mackson,USA TODAY

Freese's departure did not come as a surprise.

"I definitely would look myself in the mirror and say, 'Where am I going to be in March?'" Freese said. "I was ready to go anywhere. I'm excited to get this going."

In addition to Freese, the Angels will receive reliever Fernando Salas. The Cardinals will receive outfield prospect Randal Grichuk.

The move reunites Freese and Salas with former teammate Albert Pujols. In a conference call with media, Freese said he got a welcoming text from Pujols and responded with a reference to the Cardinals' 2011 World Series title: "Remember what we did the last time we played together? Let's go try to do that again."

Freese, a hero in St. Louis' 2011 World Series run, fell off markedly this past season. After hitting .293 with 20 home runs and making the National League All-Star team in 2012, he batted .262 with nine homers in 2013.

Freese's OPS dropped from .839 to .721, and he hit only .179 (10-for-56) in the playoffs. Freese fills the third-base void in Anaheim that was created when the Angels traded Alberto Callaspo to Oakland in July.

Even if Freese fails to regain his 2012 All-Star form, he still appears to be a significant upgrade at third base for the Angels. Manager Mike Scioscia used seven players at that position last season, with Callaspo, Chris Nelson, Luis Jimenez and Andrew Romine logging the bulk of the at-bats.

Overall, Angels third basemen ranked 27th in the majors with an aggregate .637 OPS, and they hit only eight home runs. Only Miami, with a total of three homers, got less power out of the third-base spot.

"He knows how to drive in the important runs," Angels general manager Jerry Dipoto said. "That's something that really fits in our lineup."

Dipoto has made upgrading the pitching staff a prime focus of his offseason activity, and now he has about $4 million of added payroll. The Angels are hoping that Salas, who has 186 strikeouts in 192 1/3 big league innings, can help improve a bullpen that went 20-27 with a 4.12 ERA.