Pujols signs with Angels pg 151

[XZero771679666304]

If St. Louis re-signs Albert, it'll be during the season or in the window after the Series. If he makes it to free agency, it's over for the Cardinals. They can sign him to a relatively team friendly contract before he hits the market, but if they have to compete with the big market teams...they can't (or won't).

 

If that does happen, I think it'll come down to the Cubs, Angels and Dodgers. The Cubs will shed almost all of their guaranteed contracts over the next two offseasons. Arte Moreno may want to strike hard after muffing the past few offseasons. If the Dodgers can get their ownership situation straightened out, they'll be big players. It's an outside chance, but until AGon signs an extension, I'm not ruling the Red Sox out.

 

As I've said, a few weeks ago I didn't think it was at all likely he wouldn't end up with the Cards. But after seeing that offer and hearing what Mozeliak and DeWitt had to say about it, I'm not at all convinced they're prepared to go all in. I think they won't go much higher than 80% of what Albert is seeking, hoping for another discount. I just can't help but wonder why they didn't make a more serious offer. I think Pujols would have taken 26-27 million per. But now I think he is committed to seeing what he can get.

 

I just can't see the Cards upping their offer by 30% total value, which is about what it'll take now.

 

All that said, and though it would be kind of sweet, I just can't picture Pujols in a Cubs uniform. It just seems...unnatural. It may very well happen, but the whole notion seems off somehow.

 

But I'm sure I'd get used to it.

[bcl412]

Man, this Pujols free agency is starting to feel like the LeBron free agency.

 

the difference is that we are the clear leaders and can give him more than anyone else. please please please happen.

 

I still think he'll resign with STL tho.

 

exactly what many people were saying about lebron, exactly. clear up until the end when it was obvious he was miami-bound.

 

I honestly feel like we'll see Pujols in a Cubs jersey and that's a fun thought to have.

[Guest]

point taken with bad examples, but Pujols being the best player of this decade, youd have to think that there should be at least 5 or so teams involved in the bidding when he hits market.

 

One would have to think that, but I think the point is a valid one. Let's examine the teams who could even potentially afford the contract Pujols wants:

 

Angels: Could be a factor, absolutely, though Arte Moreno isn't a fan of contracts as huge as what Pujols wants

Mets: In major financial trouble at the moment, and you don't figure that's going to all go away (to the point where they could offer $275-$300 million) by November or December

Phillies/White Sox/Yankees/Red Sox: All have first basemen signed to huge contracts

Dodgers: Could be a factor, but similar to the Mets, their ownership situation is still in flux, which could potentially preclude them from a signing that huge

 

And save for the Cubs, that's really all of the teams who could even potentially afford a contract that large, isn't it?

 

 

Nationals: Gave Werth huge money, seem willing to spend.

Rangers: Big market, good team, no long term 1b. THey offered Lee huge $, but this would take double

Giants: Good team, good market, big contracts ending soon

Blue Jays: I think they have about $15M committed beyond 2011 and a solid core of young players. They could afford $30M to one guy if they wanted to.

 

I'd bet on St. Louis, the Cubs have a good chance, but lots of teams will be in on Albert.

 

I can't see the Giants doing it unless they don't plan on resigning some of their pitchers. Zito goes 18.5/19/20/7 (buyout) through 2014. Lincecum's making $14M this year and that's only going to go up. Cain's going to be making $15.3M next year. Sanchez is at $4.8M this year and will likely get another raise through arbitration next year. Then there's Sandoval, who is still dirt cheap but will be due a raise next year, and a couple years down the line, they've got Bumgarner and Posey. Their payroll was $96M in 2010 which was as high as it's ever been and if they hand Pujols a $25-30M/year contract, it's going to be very hard to keep the young players.

 

EDIT: Between Zito (19M), Rowand (13.6M), Huff, (10M), Cain (15.3M) and Wilson (8.5M), they've got 66.4M tied up in payroll in 2012. Adding Pujols puts them close to their 2010 payroll for six players.

[mike2482]

not that I want any part of signing Pujols outside of the reaction from Cardinal fans.

 

Whut.

 

 

I should rephrase myself. I would love to have Pujols but I don't want to pay a 40 year old 30 million dollars. The first 5 years of the contract would be nice but I would rather go with Prince.

[Sammy Sofa]

Hey, he brings them one WS he can be broken down and useless for the rest of it.

[mike2482]

Hey, he brings them one WS he can be broken down and useless for the rest of it.

 

And if he doesn't we just wasted 300 million.

[Sammy Sofa]

It would be worth it.

 

If possibly the greatest hitter of all time is available to you and you can afford him and he's likely to give you at least multiple seasons of amazing production then you go for him and only settle for anyone else if you ultimately can't get him.

[mike2482]

Dont get me wrong I would jumping for joy if we did get him, but I would rather go with the 26 year old whose production is pretty close, relatively speaking, to Pujols that we could get for a little bit less money. I don't know what he is going to be asking but lets say its 250 over 10 years or maybe he would sign a 5 or 6 year deal, I would rather go with that.

[KingCubsFan]

Dont get me wrong I would jumping for joy if we did get him, but I would rather go with the 26 year old whose production is pretty close, relatively speaking, to Pujols that we could get for a little bit less money. I don't know what he is going to be asking but lets say its 250 over 10 years or maybe he would sign a 5 or 6 year deal, I would rather go with that.

Who exactly are you talking about? I don't think Miguel Cabrera is available.

[Tracer Bullet]

yeah, if we had joey votto or adrian gonzalez manning first, i could understand the hesitation, i guess. but we don't have the luxury of a really good second option.

[Abe Frohman]

I don't think it's going to be as cut and dry, or even predictable where Pujols is going to end up playing for the next decade. So he tests the FA market, that doesn't mean he signs a lower deal than the highest offer and ends up staying in St. Louis. He'd be a hero if he does it. He could be posturing, or he could be absolutely going for the best deal.

 

Regardless, no matter how good he is now - I just don't think any one player is worth that kind of money. That would be a great set of handcuffs. I'd rather see the Cubs invest in their farm system and try to get two or three solid bats to help out. They do need some big help, I just hate seeing it in ONE contract that large.

 

Then again, I won't be complaining if the Cubs get Pujols.

[Sammy Sofa]

One Albert Pujols is better than the "2-3 bats" the Cubs could net with $30 million.

[SouthSideRyan]

How low do the people against signing Pujols expect the payroll to drop?

[dew1679666265]

Dont get me wrong I would jumping for joy if we did get him, but I would rather go with the 26 year old whose production is pretty close, relatively speaking, to Pujols that we could get for a little bit less money. I don't know what he is going to be asking but lets say its 250 over 10 years or maybe he would sign a 5 or 6 year deal, I would rather go with that.

 

Fielder will be 28 when he signs his new deal - and there's plenty of reason to believe he'll be looking in the 8/20-25 range himself. So if you go with Fielder, you'll likely be paying a 36 year old $25 million at the end of his deal instead of paying a 40 year old $30 million.

 

WAR:

Pujols: 8.0 career average/8.4 past 3 years

Prince: 3.3 career average/4.5 past 3 years

 

That's a quick way to look at it, but Pujols is pretty significantly better and should age much better than Fielder. I'm not against a big contract to Prince - especially if he can keep his weight down - but if given the choice of Prince getting $25 mil at 36 or Pujols getting $30 mil til he's 40, I'll take the much better player.

[dew1679666265]

I don't think it's going to be as cut and dry, or even predictable where Pujols is going to end up playing for the next decade. So he tests the FA market, that doesn't mean he signs a lower deal than the highest offer and ends up staying in St. Louis. He'd be a hero if he does it. He could be posturing, or he could be absolutely going for the best deal.

 

Regardless, no matter how good he is now - I just don't think any one player is worth that kind of money. That would be a great set of handcuffs. I'd rather see the Cubs invest in their farm system and try to get two or three solid bats to help out. They do need some big help, I just hate seeing it in ONE contract that large.

 

Then again, I won't be complaining if the Cubs get Pujols.

 

Even if the Cubs keep payroll in the area of $130 million average over the next 10 years, that would give them $100 million to spend on the rest of their roster, while getting historic production from one position for at least half that period. Add in that the Cubs have a ton of potential cheap production depth in the minors (while likely few, if any, stars) and we're one of the few teams that wouldn't be handcuffed that much by a 10/300 contract.

 

The Cubs are in as perfect a position as you can get to spend on Pujols - and if he's available, they should do it.

[shnsajax]

How low do the people against signing Pujols expect the payroll to drop?

 

Or continue to drop over the next 10 years?

[Sammy Sofa]

The crippling loss of revenue from the "Pujols mows my lawn" and "The Cardinals take it in the Pujols" shirts.

[ConstableRabbit]

The crippling loss of revenue from the "Pujols mows my lawn" and "The Cardinals take it in the Pujols" shirts.

Actually I think the "take it in the Pujols" shirts could continue to be sold, albeit with a different design.

[mike2482]

Dont get me wrong I would jumping for joy if we did get him, but I would rather go with the 26 year old whose production is pretty close, relatively speaking, to Pujols that we could get for a little bit less money. I don't know what he is going to be asking but lets say its 250 over 10 years or maybe he would sign a 5 or 6 year deal, I would rather go with that.

 

Fielder will be 28 when he signs his new deal - and there's plenty of reason to believe he'll be looking in the 8/20-25 range himself. So if you go with Fielder, you'll likely be paying a 36 year old $25 million at the end of his deal instead of paying a 40 year old $30 million.

 

WAR:

Pujols: 8.0 career average/8.4 past 3 years

Prince: 3.3 career average/4.5 past 3 years

 

That's a quick way to look at it, but Pujols is pretty significantly better and should age much better than Fielder. I'm not against a big contract to Prince - especially if he can keep his weight down - but if given the choice of Prince getting $25 mil at 36 or Pujols getting $30 mil til he's 40, I'll take the much better player.

 

That was a pretty convincing argument. I would be happy with either one.

[SweetZombieJesus]

How low do the people against signing Pujols expect the payroll to drop?

 

Ricketts is P.K. Wrigley reborn?

[ConstableRabbit]

I'm trying to not get ahead of myself but everytime I think about the sight of Pujols in a Cubs jersey.... :yahoo:

[Jazz]

just to pile on the fantasizing

 

Castro

Soto

Pujols

Ramirez

Soriano

Byrd/Jackson

Colvin

Pitcher

 

Could be fun. Even with aging Ramirez in Soriano, you have to figure that to be a top 5 offense.

[Little Slide Rooter]

point taken with bad examples, but Pujols being the best player of this decade, youd have to think that there should be at least 5 or so teams involved in the bidding when he hits market.

 

One would have to think that, but I think the point is a valid one. Let's examine the teams who could even potentially afford the contract Pujols wants:

 

Angels: Could be a factor, absolutely, though Arte Moreno isn't a fan of contracts as huge as what Pujols wants

Mets: In major financial trouble at the moment, and you don't figure that's going to all go away (to the point where they could offer $275-$300 million) by November or December

Phillies/White Sox/Yankees/Red Sox: All have first basemen signed to huge contracts

Dodgers: Could be a factor, but similar to the Mets, their ownership situation is still in flux, which could potentially preclude them from a signing that huge

 

And save for the Cubs, that's really all of the teams who could even potentially afford a contract that large, isn't it?

 

 

Nationals: Gave Werth huge money, seem willing to spend.

Rangers: Big market, good team, no long term 1b. THey offered Lee huge $, but this would take double

Giants: Good team, good market, big contracts ending soon

Blue Jays: I think they have about $15M committed beyond 2011 and a solid core of young players. They could afford $30M to one guy if they wanted to.

 

I'd bet on St. Louis, the Cubs have a good chance, but lots of teams will be in on Albert.

 

I can't see the Giants doing it unless they don't plan on resigning some of their pitchers. Zito goes 18.5/19/20/7 (buyout) through 2014. Lincecum's making $14M this year and that's only going to go up. Cain's going to be making $15.3M next year. Sanchez is at $4.8M this year and will likely get another raise through arbitration next year. Then there's Sandoval, who is still dirt cheap but will be due a raise next year, and a couple years down the line, they've got Bumgarner and Posey. Their payroll was $96M in 2010 which was as high as it's ever been and if they hand Pujols a $25-30M/year contract, it's going to be very hard to keep the young players.

 

EDIT: Between Zito (19M), Rowand (13.6M), Huff, (10M), Cain (15.3M) and Wilson (8.5M), they've got 66.4M tied up in payroll in 2012. Adding Pujols puts them close to their 2010 payroll for six players.

 

What about Baltimore? I dont know what kind of money these guys have laying around, but it seems as though every few year, they take a break from raiding our dumpster to make some desperate attempt to compete in the NL East that never works out well. If theres ever a guy that would finally do it for them, Pujols is it.

[Little Slide Rooter]

not that I want any part of signing Pujols outside of the reaction from Cardinal fans.

 

Whut.

 

 

I should rephrase myself. I would love to have Pujols but I don't want to pay a 40 year old 30 million dollars. The first 5 years of the contract would be nice but I would rather go with Prince.

 

Were talking about 5 years of the best hitter of our time here and a team whose gone 102 years without a World Championship. I think if you ask any Cubs fan if theyd accept 3-5 years of overpaying a 40 something Pujols for a World Series win or 3 in the first 5, 99/100 would say yes.

[XZero771679666304]

If it were up to me, I'd frontload the deal. Pay him 36-37 for the first 5-6 years, and then taper it way down as he approaches 40. That way, the bulk of his deal will be paid out when our young guys are still cheap, then decreases in AAV as they start making bucks in arbitration.