Pujols Signs With Angels

[fanforever]

Pujols is being exposed for the phony that he is… and deservedly so.

[Gashouse]

Can't wait to boo him every chance I get.

Angels play in Mpls April 9-12 and May 7-9.

[TimeForGuinness]

I think if the Cardinals really wanted to sign Pujols to a "team friendly" deal, they should have handled his existing contract & ego differently.

Pujols was the highest paid Cardinal for 3 out of his 11 years here? 2007-2009?

If Ownership really wanted him around, why didn't they say, "You know Albert, we're signing Holliday to a large contact, but we want you to be our highest paid player...so here's a few more dollars to keep you the highest paid Cardinal..." What would it have cost them? A few million to keep Albert the highest paid player? Maybe that keeps Albert's ego in check?

I understand the standpoint of "you signed a contract, you play for the contract", but if you really wanted to keep him, moving forward, with a friendly deal, then they could have greased the wheels a long time ago.

If it was all about the money, then the Cards had no chance.

[jim]

I don't fault him at all for going to LA. But it would have been refreshing if he just said something like "Hey, it was more money and I get to DH. And I might be older than you think I am, so that's going to be good for the old bones".

And been done with it.

[robbotis]

Can't wait to boo him every chance I get.

Angels play in Mpls April 9-12 and May 7-9.

I know! It's the Home opener. I want to go. But booing him in Minneapolis wouldn't be the same as in St. Louis. Will it? We'll find out!

[jim]

Can't wait to boo him every chance I get.

Angels play in Mpls April 9-12 and May 7-9.

Me and lipp are already making plans for their August Chicago visit. And I might be in Tempe late March.

[OmahaCard79]

Pujols is being exposed for the phony that he is… and deservedly so.

I agree. I don't want to feel this way as Albert Pujols was my favorite player in MLB for the last 11 years. But, Jose Pujols is just coming out looking like a greedy jerk. You can't rationalize the difference between $200 million and $250 million no matter how much you want to moan about management "not respecting" you when your audience mostly makes between $30-$100k a year.

In my days at Cards talk, I was often absolutely vicious towards management. So, it's pretty bad when they come out on top in this argument by an incredibly wide margin.

[heyzeus]

The oldest freakin' sales strategy in the book and the Pujols' bought it hook line and sinker. Win them over with your charm.

I don't think the Pujols' are the brightest of bulbs.

It seems like Arte exploited Albert's faith by concluding that call telling him and his family to "take the night to pray over it." I mean, good for Moreno, way to use your people skills to get what you want.

[TheoSqua]

After the initial depression from him leaving i'm starting to like how this played out.

Face it. The Cardinals couldn't sign Albert to that sort of deal and maintain their current level of profitiablity/competetiveness. I believe DeWitt deserves to earn money, the reports that they've made $70m over the last 5 years in profit, that's great. A baseball owner should make that sort of money, and I don't see $15m a year profit as excessive for the amount of money he risks by owning the team.

I also love seeing the Cardinals compete for the playoffs basically ever year. Having albert with a 21m a year salary would help that for the next 3-4 years, but the 6-7 years after that? No way. Especially if the Cubs ever get around to being the powerhouse team they're capable of. The Cardinals will have to use their money far better than the return on alberts final 5 years of production in order to compete with a well running Cubs team.

Albert went to basically the only major market baseball team that I can root for that doesn't often compete with St. Louis. If he'd gone to the Yankees or Red Sox i'd hate them even more, if he'd gone to the Cubs or Dodgers i'd hate them for being team rivals. The Angels allow me to cheer for Albert on another team without it affecting my loyalty to the Cardinals, and I think that's great for St. Louis fans.

It's not like Brett Hull going to the Red Wings (speaking of which Hull played 11 years in St. Louis). I think after the disappointment of Pujols leaving lessens (and especially after his performance lessens) that everyone will see this as a best possible scenario in the situation everyone was in and will be able to cherish what he gave to this team and city, rather than being upset at it.

11 amazing years, 9 playoffs runs, 3 world series, 2 championships. That's a pretty awesome run. Thanks for your part Albert.

[fanforever]

don't trip over the B/S form the Pujols family fellas