forsberg_us wrote:

Latest from Strauss

- Angels believed to have offered 10/210
- Cardinals offer was 9 years guaranteed with 10th year option.  Guaranteed money was probably comparable to previous 198M offer, but worth a potential 220M
- Marlins bid is now believed to have been for just over $200M, and Cardinals deal had a higher AAV
- Cubs offer is believed to be for 4 or 5 years
- Another "mystery team" is believed involved and is believed to have offered 10/200+.  Presumption is the team remains unidentified because they already have an established first baseman who they would have to trade.  (Buster Olney tweets it is NOT the Yankees)

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/baseball/professional/angels-are-new-challengers-in-pujols-bidding/article_34acf7a4-2165-11e1-a2ad-0019bb30f31a.html

and as we are learning, those figures were mostly wild speculation.

artie_fufkin wrote:

Webstergrovesalum wrote:

This is for Albert Pujols!  Karma will get you!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqP3wT5lpa4&feature=share

One of the first things I thought of when the news broke about Pujols signing with the Angels was Mo Vaughn landing in the dugout and breaking his ankle his first week in Anaheim and never being the same player thereafter.
The Angels come to Fenway for the first time this season on Aug. 21. Might want to check the ESPN highlights that night to see if someone in a Cardinals' t-shirt runs onto the field and throws a wad of fake dollar bills at their new first baseman.
I'm just sayin' ...

DO IT! (furious)

alz wrote:

I know it's good business sense for the Cardinals not to commit that type of money to Puojls. However, inside my 36 year old body is a 9 year old little boy (metaphorically speaking, I'm not Sandusky) who wants nothing more then to cry away the afternoon. Since I was 25 years old, I have watched Pujols play for the Cardinals. I have watched him win Rookie of the Year, 3 MVP's and be in the top 3 voting in another 3 or 4. I've watching him hit in the .340 range, and hit 40+ HRs season after season. I've seen the names of the hitters who's company he matched, and eventually passed with his overall production numbers at the plate.

That inner 9 year old is heartbroken. There's no other way to describe it. That fan just lost his 'Stan Musial'.

rec.

This begs the question.....will our own Albertpujolsrules now change his handle?

The Angels also apparently came to terms with C.J. Wilson. Can the baseball media now finally put a stop to the "Arte Moreno doesn't pay big contracts" mantra? He's going to have six guys who signed deals of at least $85 million or more on his roster next season.

alz wrote:

Follow up. Cost of living in Los Angeles is FAR BEYOND 12% higher than St. Louis. Potentially enough to hit him for $30 million over 10 years. I have no idea, it depends on what he buys, where he lives, etc. Just saying, it might not have even been a "raise".

But the promotional deals go WAY up when based in NY, LA, or Chicago.  This is a HUGE raise.

artie_fufkin wrote:

APRTW wrote:

I dot really see 30 million over ten years as that much money.  There was likely 30 million dollars of advantages he had in St. Louis over LA.  Who knows maybe I am upset at Pujols for not picking St. Louis.  I however am not upset at the front office.  As I stated before Pujols demands would have crippled the Cardinals.  I wont judge the FO for not getting this deal done.  I will for letting it reach this point and on what they do from here.  They now need to shop for a middle of the order player.  The only positions they have open are SS, CF or 2b.  Seems there options are Kelly Johnson(2b), Alex Gonzalez(ss), Jimmy Rollins(ss), Carlos Beltran(cf/of), Michael Cuddyer(of/1b), Josh Willingham(of).

Pujols is going to be an Angel for as many years as he was a Cardinal.  At the end of his career his ties to the Cardinals will be limited.  He is not a St. Louis icon anymore. One thing that makes this easier for me is that since he went to the AL it is like he doesnt exist anymore.  I cant tell you more then a couple guys on the Angels roster.

It'd be kind of a trip if they went out and signed Fielder, wouldn't it?

If anybody is NOT worth a big longterm contract, it's that fatass with the golf swing.

Max wrote:

artie_fufkin wrote:

"Every stupid "I want to be in St. Louis forever", "it's about winning, not money", "insert other random heavily accented bullshit" statement he made was absolute horse shit. Complete and utter nonsense."

That's the upsetting thing. It's fine to say "I'm going to the highest bidder," but to say you're about more than money and to then take the highest offer is going to be an everlasting stain on his image. At least in St. Louis.

Artie, he said it for several years.  But then DeWitt played Mr. Big Businessman with him.  I think that was key in this.  DeWitt behaved like a prick.

No matter what went on, the headline on the P-D's website right now is "PUJOLS TURNS HIS BACK ON ST. LOUIS," and Gordo has already written his first "Life will go on without Albert" paean to the organization.

Last edited by artie_fufkin (12/08/2011 12:53 pm)

artie_fufkin wrote:

Max wrote:

artie_fufkin wrote:

"Every stupid "I want to be in St. Louis forever", "it's about winning, not money", "insert other random heavily accented bullshit" statement he made was absolute horse shit. Complete and utter nonsense."

That's the upsetting thing. It's fine to say "I'm going to the highest bidder," but to say you're about more than money and to then take the highest offer is going to be an everlasting stain on his image. At least in St. Louis.

Artie, he said it for several years.  But then DeWitt played Mr. Big Businessman with him.  I think that was key in this.  DeWitt behaved like a prick.

No matter what went on, the headline on the P-D's website right now is "PUJOLS TURNS HIS BACK ON ST. LOUIS," and Gordo has already written his first "Life will go on without Albert" paean to the organization.

The Cardinals have never had a friend like Gordo, but in times of need you need a friend who will speak inconvenient truths, and for big picture columnists, Burwell gets it better than the yin and yang of Gordo and Bernie.  Burwell: "Cards taking a risky approach"

Max wrote:

artie_fufkin wrote:

It'd be kind of a trip if they went out and signed Fielder, wouldn't it?

If anybody is NOT worth a big longterm contract, it's that fatass with the golf swing.

Id take him for 5/100.

Last edited by APRTW (12/08/2011 1:29 pm)

I'm still here and generally OK with this move.

Look, the Cardinals weren't going to pay Pujols $25 million unless it was on a short contract. One or two years? Sure. Anything taking him into his mid-30s? No. And it would have been foolish. This team does not have the resources to pay one player almost a quarter of the payroll.

So when the alleged 5/125 was rejected and then Lozano came back and said that bidding starts at the A-Rod deal, it was pretty obvious the Cardinals were going to be out if someone offered that.

And until the Angels came rolling in with an A-Rod-like contract for a 32-year-old soon-to-be DH, it was game over for the Cardinals. We don't have to like it and we can lament the Cardinals being business people instead of just blindly forking over $254 million, but this is the way it is.

I'm disgusted that he's gone but relieved that they don't have him on their payroll until 2022 when he's 42. That's just too long and too much. It would be great to see him ride out his legendary career with the Cardinals, but when they're sitting at home in October because too much of the payroll is tied up in a legacy player, fans would be grumpy.

They're going to take a hit in 2012 unless they can find two more players to provide something close to Pujols in the aggregate. I think they can.

artie_fufkin wrote:

"in times of need you need a friend who will speak inconvenient truths, and for big picture columnists, Burwell gets it better than the yin and yang of Gordo and Bernie.  Burwell: "Cards taking a risky approach"

You're referring to the column that ends with this sentence?

"I can't fathom how this story can end any other way than with Pujols wearing the birds on the bat across his chest."

That's right, the one that ends:

"For all he has done during 11 seasons with the Cardinals, Pujols already has more than earned whatever he gets over the next decade if he remains in St. Louis. I can't fathom how this story can end any other way than with Pujols wearing the birds on the bat across his chest."

Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/bryan-burwell/burwell-cards-taking-a-risky-approach/article_4feb7ad3-b07b-53e2-9247-ded31f1376c2.html#ixzz1fyLhuePg

Max wrote:

Forsberg_us wrote:

I stopped having that inner 9 year old when I started working with athletes, and undoubtedly that's why my perspective is jaded more with the business side of sports than the fan's perspective.  But I have an 11 year old at home who has an autographed picture of himself standing with Albert Pujols just days after his 7th birthday.  I'll be interested to see his reaction when I get home tonight.

Dad, I hear Anaheim has Disneyland and now also has Albert Pujols.  Is this why they call L.A. the city of angels?  Can we move there, pleeeeeeezzee?

You don't know my son.  My guess it the Pujols picture is off the wall by the end of the weekend.