PUJOLS TO ANGELS!

[Guest attgig]

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2011/12/angels-to-sign-albert-pujols.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MlbTradeRumors+%28MLB+Trade+Rumors%29

The Angels are the bridesmaid no more. Albert Pujols will sign with the Angels for ten years and $250-260MM, tweets Yahoo's Tim Brown. He'll receive a full no-trade clause. Pujols decided this morning, writes Brown. If Pujols received more than $252MM, his new deal will be the second-largest in baseball history in both its total and average annual value. Pujols, 32 in January, was drafted by the Cardinals in 1999 in the 13th round and began his career with a staggering 11-year stretch. The first baseman is the active career leader in batting average (.328) and slugging percentage (.617), he's second among active players in career on-base percentage (.421). Pujols owns a Rookie of the Year award and three MVP awards, and has ranked no worse than ninth in the MVP voting in every season of his career. He's been extremely durable, averaging 155 games per season. In 2011, Pujols struggled to meet his lofty offensive standards early, and had a scorching June cut short by a small fracture in his left wrist. He recovered quickly from the injury and hit .318/.375/.579 the rest of the way, though overall his 9.4% walk rate was a career-low. The Cardinals signed Pujols to a long-term deal in 2004, which ended up being a huge bargain at $111MM over eight years. Pujols and the Cardinals failed to find common ground on an extension in February this year, but the contract didn't seem a distraction as the team ended up winning the World Series. The suddenly free-spending Marlins made a competitive bid for Pujols, offering a ten-year deal. They seemingly dropped out after signing Mark Buehrle, and up until Thursday morning, the Cardinals were considered the favorite.

I guess they're trading Kendry?

[metsmarathon]

wowzers!

[Edgy MD]

Looks like LaRussa jumped ship at the perfect time.

Gar, the Batting Stance Guy wrote: Halos alive in Pujols sweepstakes. Pujols-Maicier-Aybar-Callaspo infield would amass however many HRs Pujols hits.

[bmfc1]

Now smug Cardinals fans (sorry for the redundancy) will say "how can he leave the greatest baseball city in America" and "didn't he want to become the greatest Cardinal of all time" and "he's no Stan Musial."

Right [u:2xhajz9b]after[/u:2xhajz9b] I wrote that, Will Leitch says:
Will Leitch
Albert should have retired a Cardinal. It is insane that he won't. But good Lord that's a ridiculous amount of money for a 32 year old 1B.

and

birdbrained Chris Reed
If there was ever any doubt, it has now been erased for good: Stan Musial is and will remain the greatest #Cardinal of all time.

[metirish]

WOW, Cardinal fans must be sick.

[Benjamin Grimm]

This is worse, for them, than losing Reyes is for us. By a LOT.

[TransMonk]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: This is worse, for them, than losing Reyes is for us. By a LOT.

Although, they did just win a WS. Their second in 6 years. I'm not weeping for any Cardinal fans.

[metirish]

Talk in St. Louis is Berkman moving to first and Beltran now an option for RF.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Neither am I. The Cards have had a better recent history than we have, but a worse week.

[metsmarathon]

at least their team made a solid run at it, and forced hte winning team to operpay by a silly silly amount.

but yeah, who saw the angels coming?! not me.

[smg58]

An absurd amount of money and years for a player who, while still great, is already starting to decline.

The Angels already had a huge logjam at OF/1B/DH, although Hunter and Abreu will be gone in a year.

[smg58]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: This is worse, for them, than losing Reyes is for us. By a LOT.

True, Reyes was not the greatest player in the history of our organization.

[Edgy MD]

Joan of Arc saw the angels coming.

[seawolf17]

If this was the good old days when the Mets had money, I'd take Hunter's last year.

[Guest attgig]

seawolf17 wrote: If this was the good old days when the Mets had money, I'd take Hunter's last year.

I'm glad it's not the "good old days" where we paid castillo 6.5 and ollie 12 just because...

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Who is the Cardinals' 1B now? This is when it's good to have Muffy/Davis/Duda

[Frayed Knot]

metirish wrote: Talk in St. Louis is Berkman moving to first and Beltran now an option for RF.

That's makes a lot of sense on both ends.
Berkman really shouldn't be in the OF anymore. He did suddenly look lighter and spryer last season but there's only so far you can push that.


Angels kind of went stealthy on this like they did on Vlad all those years ago.
The rumors of them getting involved just started to surface last night and then this morning ... BAM!!!

[Frayed Knot]

I bet Astros fans are happy to get Albert out of their division ... oh wait!!

[metirish]

Frayed Knot wrote: I bet Astros fans are happy to get Albert out of their division ... oh wait!!

Ha!

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

smg58 wrote: Benjamin Grimm wrote: This is worse, for them, than losing Reyes is for us. By a LOT. True, Reyes was not the greatest player in the history of our organization.

No, just third or fourth.

That said, he leaves the Cards and not for the Fish. I can't help smiling over that, and the fact that Hot Stove vultures won't linger over shots of sad Met fans any more.

[metirish]

Heyman and the likes need to shut up about Pujols legacy and acting all hurt that he has left St.Louis, the guy is one of the great players all time, not a bad legacy.....so far.

[Gwreck]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: This is worse, for them, than losing Reyes is for us. By a LOT.

I'm going to guess that the 2 WS Championships in 5 years will dull the pain

[Gwreck]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Who is the Cardinals' 1B now?

Fielder is available. If the Cardinals had the $$ for Albert available, they could just as easily sign Fielder.

[metirish]

Gwreck wrote: John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Who is the Cardinals' 1B now? Fielder is available. If the Cardinals had the $$ for Albert available, they could just as easily sign Fielder.

makes sense doesn't it and might even work out for the better

[Fman99]

TransMonk wrote: Benjamin Grimm wrote: This is worse, for them, than losing Reyes is for us. By a LOT. Although, they did just win a WS. Their second in 6 years. I'm not weeping for any Cardinal fans.

Seriously, fuck them in their towel-holes.

[Edgy MD]

I don't know if it's Lennon or Alderson being snarky but

David Lennon wrote: Alderson on Pujols' 10-year, $250-million deal. "I hope he got a box of chocolates with that." #mets

[Vic Sage]

A-Rod was younger, at his peak, and still a SS when he got this kind of deal from Texas. And the owner still had to get out from under it 3 years later.

this is just an insane deal. When Albert starts playing like a mortal in the coming years (it may even be THIS year), the Angels fans will be incensed and the deal will cripple the team. Such a decline would likely be met with more generosity of spirit by Cards fans who had already benefited from his HOF career, but he will haves banked nothing but bucks with the Angels.

frankly, i'm sorry the cards DIDNT get locked into a franchise-crippling arrangement. They would have posed less of an obstacle for the Mets in the long run.

[Guest attgig]

Angels moves past few offseasons:
2007 - signed Gary Matthews Jr to a 5 year/50 million dollar contract because he made one great catch in Texas.
2008 - sign Torri Hunter to a 5 year/90 million contract. he's good, but that good?
2009 nothing
2010 - nothing
they missed all that spending so:
2011 - traded away Napoli and Rivera for Vernon Wells and take on $80 mil.
2012 - Pujols to 10 year/250 mil. CJ Wilson for 5 year/77 mil.



kinda crazy spending by the Angels. they are in a weaker division, and so have won some division titles, but still. they're the yankees of the west - except they give away money to some bad players.

[Guest attgig]

Pujols received ten years and $254MM from the Angels, but Bob Nightengale of USA Today says the Marlins offered ten years and $275MM. That would have tied Alex Rodriguez for the largest contract guarantee in baseball history. Nightengale says that with incentives and Florida's lack of a state income tax, the deal could have been worth nearly $300MM.

[ashie62]

Edgy DC wrote: I don't know if it's Lennon or Alderson being snarky but David Lennon wrote: Alderson on Pujols' 10-year, $250-million deal. "I hope he got a box of chocolates with that." #mets

Sandy should stay in the childrens lounge while the adults talk business..