If you don’t think C.J. Wilson signed with the Angels because he likes Southern California, ask yourself this: Would you leave more than $23 million sitting on a table right in front of you?

According to Wilson’s agent, Bob Garber (as told to Miami reporters), the Marlins were willing to offer him six years and $100 million before Wilson took the Angels’ $77.5 million over five years on Thursday. Exactly as his new teammate, Jered Weaver, had done three months earlier, Wilson chose geography over a maximum payday.

Southern California living -- Wilson grew up 15 minutes from Angel Stadium and played junior-college ball five minutes from there -- has a powerful sway around the Angels. Their other star pitcher, Dan Haren, is also a Southern California native and was delighted to relocate from Arizona to Irvine after he was traded two seasons ago.

“Being close to home was the only factor that allowed me to make an emotional decision as opposed to a financial decision,” Wilson told the guys on "Baseball Tonight."

Wilson went to high school in Fountain Valley, juco at Santa Ana College and finished his education at Loyola Marymount. His entire professional career, up to now, was spent in the Texas Rangers' chain, with no stops in the Golden State.

The more the country learns about the left-handed former Texas Ranger, the more it will associate Wilson with what it perceives to be the California lifestyle. He’s a Taoist who follows the “Straight Edge” way of life, which discourages drug and alcohol use. He has that phrase tattooed on his arm and Japanese characters that read "poison free” inked on his shoulder.

Is that the kind of character who looks to settle down in Milwaukee or Cleveland?

It’s often an advantage to be situated in one of the world’s greatest places to live. USC and UCLA benefit from their location. The local NBA teams are lucky, since so many of their league’s players live around here. But nobody’s benefited more lately from their location than the Angels, who got Weaver and Wilson signed to reasonable deals largely because they play within a 20-minute drive of a beach.

How can the Royals compete with that?

Mike Scioscia ought to know how great this area is. He sees most of it during his daily 69-mile one-way commute from Westlake Village to Anaheim. He had dinner with Wilson in L.A. a couple of weeks ago. Scioscia's a transplant from the Philadelphia area, but he's bought into California living in a big way.

“All players are different. Some are drawn to a certain area where they feel more comfortable with the lifestyle and climate,” Scioscia said. “I think Southern California is very attractive to some players because of that.”