The Angels announced that they have released veteran Bobby Abreu. The outfielder was in the final season of his three-year contract extension with the Halos and is set to make $9MM.

The move will help pave the way for the promotion of Mike Trout, who is on his way from Triple-A, according to Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times (via Twitter). Manager Mike Scioscia says that Trout "will play", DiGiovanna tweets, while MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez tweets that it seems that the 20-year-old will play everyday.

The slugger has been outspoken about his reduced role with the club since the offseason and there has been a great deal of speculation that his tenure with the Angels was coming to an end. The 38-year-old was said to be warming up to his backup role at the start of the season but Jerry Dipoto & Co. were said to be "feverishly" shopping him.

The Halos appeared to have a taker for Abreu in late March when they had advanced discussions with the Indians. The deal apparently fell apart over how much of Abreu's $9MM salary would be covered by the Angels.