Sammy Sofa

Yes. We are quite virile and we take our vitamins.

On Kyle's face. I keep expecting it to stop, but it just...won't.

No, we're making spray charts.

Nobody cares what you think. You're boring.

Please ignore Kyle. He's bad for your health.

What am I missing about what happened with Tejada? I thought it would be a perfect example of this exact thing happening, and the team he was on didn't really have (or at least seek) any recourse with regards to violation of terms. Someone help me; I'm lost. [expletive], that's a good point; I forgot about Tejada.

But as I said, both the Yankees and Rangers claimed they knew what was up so neither side accused Soriano of anything that could seemingly impact his contract. My question is if a team claims that they were duped by the player when they signed him do they have options after the fact if it's revealed he's older than he claims?

So nobody actually knows?

He moved to the US with his family as a kid in the 90's and got himself set-up in high school then college. I'm pretty sure all the other guys who got busted with visa issues came in with a much different route. Although if the Cubs sign him I'd happily join the group who thinks it's ridiculous to question his age. Personally, I think in the wake of the post-9/11 visa crackdown and given that it's Albert Pujols, that nobody has come up with any evidence beyond "he's Dominican and he's always looked older than he says he is" is the most damning argument against his stated age being incorrect.

In all seriousness, I wonder what everyone who thinks Pujols is older than he claims also thinks that he did to somehow escape the post-9/11 scrutiny that busted several foreign-born players (Soriano was the exception because of the multi-entrance visa he received coming from Japan) who were lying about their ages?

You guys should put together a comedy duo.

Hey you asked the question ("how many HOF players at Pujols' level have you seen fall off of a cliff?"), clearly implying that the number is tiny, when in reality it's not tiny at all. Now it appears we agree -- as you said, there are plenty of great players that crashed and burned after 35-36. There's great players...then there's Pujols. There are too many guys who are in that upper echelon who manged to have damn near two decades-long productive careers to pass on him if he's available simply out of the fear that once he gets past 35 or 36 he suffers a sudden and dramatic downturn. No, I don't think there's enough players who are truly comparable to Pujols who suffered such a fate to justify that approach. Too many "beyond great" players lasted around 17 or 18 seasons at an AS or better level to be so wary of Pujols after just 11. There's great players that crashed and burned shortly after turning 34, or 33, or 32 or 31 or even 30. That's an inherent risk when you're dealing with a professional athlete. Is that saying that Pujols' risk of sudden decline or injury is the same as someone who is 30? No. But I am saying that I think that a player of his elite caliber is too special to pass on because of that relatively increased risk. The chance of him still producing at an elite or near elite level until he's, say, 38 is just too great to pass on. I mean, at some point you have to just sit back and realize you're talking signing someone who is very likely the greatest hitter to ever play the game.

I argued the point for exactly the reasoning I spelled out. Again, I said it was my opinion and that it's a gamble as to how long he'd be productive into his contract (because there are plenty of great players that crashed and burned after 35-36), but it's a gamble I think is well worth taking (also plenty of great who had productive or better 18-19-year careers). You can think whatever you want about when Pujols is going to fall off; it's all subjective at this point. The only thing I think is flat out wrong is when people talk like the Cubs should always avoid guys like Pujols because you can't know how long he'll last or guys like Fielder because you can't know if he'll fall off of a cliff because of his weight. ALL big contracts like those guys will command are a huge gamble. It's a chance that has to be taken if you want someone on their levels because you can always talk yourself out of it when you get down to it.

I disagree with your guess at the odds. That's just my opinion vs yours though. I'm sure there's a lot of people that would agree with you. Maybe your right but I think it would be something we'd live to regret. Players break down toward the end of their careers and can become pretty much a faint shadow of the player they were when they signed, I've watched it happen to many times. People are always excited when they signed then 3 years later are asking why did we do that? But how many HOF players at Pujols' level have you seen fall off of a cliff? I'm not saying it's impossible, but it feels more like you're talking about someone like Soriano. That's a self-fulfilling prophecy, because the players that had HOF careers did so expressly because they were able to avoid falling off a cliff. It's also self-fulfilling because very few have played at Pujols' level, so you leave yourself an easy out there, too. And in case that isn't enough, you gave yourself room to debate the definition of "falling off a cliff". Ask the question, "how many players were on a HOF track before falling off a cliff", and you get a heckuva list. With just a 30 second brainstorm of the last, oh, 20 years, I came up with: McGwire Rolen Manny Belle Canseco Sosa Gonzalez Griffey These were all superstars in their 20s, but virtually useless after 35. I'd argue that Pujols is either clearly significantly better than nearly everyone on the list (really, I'm stunned you're listing some of those players with a straight face), a number of those guys didn't suffer a significant decline or "fell off of a cliff" until their late 30's or were wracked by injuries that Pujols has been fortunate to mostly avoid (or they came crashing down off of PED regimens) that either caused them to decline or to retire abruptly. I mean, really, that's a hugely arbitrary list because you're using the umbrella term "superstar" instead of actually focusing on players with anything resembling Pujols' level of production. You call it an easy out; I simply say it's reality. No Pujols, isn't a lock to have to have a long productive career when he's pushing 40...but there's a decent chance he will be. But ultimately that's all it is; a chance. A gamble. I'm not arguing that it's otherwise. Personally, I'd like them to take the gamble (if they don't get Fielder).

I disagree with your guess at the odds. That's just my opinion vs yours though. I'm sure there's a lot of people that would agree with you. Maybe your right but I think it would be something we'd live to regret. Players break down toward the end of their careers and can become pretty much a faint shadow of the player they were when they signed, I've watched it happen to many times. People are always excited when they signed then 3 years later are asking why did we do that? But how many HOF players at Pujols' level have you seen fall off of a cliff? I'm not saying it's impossible, but it feels more like you're talking about someone like Soriano.

Still, in reference to Pujols, 5-6 years should be something anyone would be fine with. Hell, forget fine; people should be cartwheeling if it was possible for the Cubs to pull that off. Odds are that Albert Pujols at 37 and 38 is still going to be one of the better hitters in baseball.

$50 says he literally meant they fall asleep on the field.

I think that's a needed dose of reality for a lot of Cubs fans. I feel that way as well, I'm very leery of giving anyone a 5-6 year deal and I think Pujols will begin to decline rapidly in the next few years. Wait, wait, wait...you're "leery of giving ANYONE 5-6-year deals?" ANYONE? You ideally want them to stick to guys they can sign for less than 5 years when it comes to FA? Then you better hope the internal player development turns into a [expletive] miracle factory.

CURSES. Make that 35 instead of 32. And make my next one a double.

Wouldn't a team be able to get out of a contract if it was revealed a player was, say, 3 years older than they claimed to be when they signed the deal? I think with Soriano the teams involved claimed they knew what was up, but how would that work if Pujols turned out to be 35 instead of 32 and the Cubs claimed they were duped?

Yeah, that's not the main difference between the two.

I can't believe MLB has that as one of their posted highlights. I'm not really that surprised. I mean, I've never seen that happen or even heard of that happening on the big league level. ONLY THE. COBS.

That would have been pretty damn impressive. Amazing relationship between those two teams.

Yes, that is it exactly. You have your opinion about how they're handling it and I have mine and we've both made it clear where we stand. You're not going to convince me and I have zero interest in convincing you.

It's too bad Castro had that lazy hack Alan Trammell as a coach during his rookie season. That guy probably poisoned his mind with evil.