Some tidbits from Jon Heyman on the early edition of MLB Tonight on the MLB Network,..
- Heyman doesn't envision the Brewers getting a deal done with Prince Fielder. While he was complimentary towards club owner Mark Attanasio, he doesn't see Milwaukee ponying up the $25MM a year that it will likely take to hang on to him. This means that they'll have to trade him at the end of next year or let walk as a free agent.
- Meanwhile, he believes that Albert Pujols is now in line to receive a contract worth $30MM per season, perhaps up to eight years. The two sides tabled negotiations in March but will resume after the season.
- Even though the Padres are currently in first place in the NL West, Heyman believes that the club will deal Adrian Gonzalez. Heyman says it's unlikely that San Diego will allow their payroll to balloon in great excess of $50MM and therefore a re-up of Gonzalez won't fit in the budget.
Once Albert re-signs the Cardinals will open the checkbook for other players.
Because they will have a ton of money left after giving him $30m/yr..
im a diehard cardinal fan, but if pujols wants 30million a year, than i won’t miss him one bit. “hey cya, thanks for the great 12 years. Good luck with whatever team gives you 300million contract for your declining years”
so many better ways to spend 30million than just one player. even if it is albert pujols.
Wrong. There is no other player worth 30 million dollars, Albert is worth it, sabremetrically and financially. You underestimate how much money he makes for that franchise. If he leaves, ticket sales PLUMMET, and the city probably riots.
John Mozeliak is aware that losing Pujols will probably cost him his job.
Albert is worth 100 Million a Year for what he does for St.Louis. His Pujols Family Foundation, his play, and his heart all make him a key asset to the city. Also he will replace Stan the Man when he passes away which will hopefully be in a long time.
You must not be a Cards fan if you know how rich Bill DeWitt is, but he chooses not to spend most of his money. He hasn’t built ballpark village, but he sure as hell better re–sign Albert or all hell is gonna break loose in StL.
Think how many will get season tickets when he re-signs….
If by open the pocket you mean extending some of their young players like Rasmus or Molina (who already has his contract extended) then I agree.
If you think they’re going to go out and try to bid for guys like Crawford or Werth in 2011 or Cano, Hill, or Rollins in 2012, then I disagree.
The Cardinals are going to try to keep the core they have. Why overspend on Free Agents if you have young players to compliment your all stars?
I just want them to keep all their supporting cast and perhaps sign a new 2B.
Agreed. Although I think that a young player such as Descalso or Solano could come up and fill that position with youth. Just another position where we could go from within and save some cash for Pujols.
Yeah, I agree with you. It will probably end up being Descalso. If only we coulda grabbed Kelly Johnson for Rick Ankiel a while back 😛
Hill has very friendly team options that keep him in Toronto through 2014
Albert will get his money and it has nothing to do with Ryan Howard or anyone else, he’s in his own class. Personally, I think he’s older than his listed age and it wouldn’t surprise me if he’s on PEDs but just based on his stats and listed age, he will command 8 years, 240 million.
And no way Fielder gets 25 million per.
They should structure his contract with incentives in his declining years to protect themselves. So 30 mil for a few years would be cool then as he enters what would be his declining years then make his contract something like 20mil + 8 mil in incentives that should be easy to obtain if he keeps the same level of play. (HRs, RBI’s, etc
I think ultimatley the Cardinals will resign Pujols. I wouldn’t be surprised if we were blind-sided mid-season with a deal ala Ryan Howard. They may say they dont want to negotiate till after the season but I have a feeling thats just to get the press and public off his back. Im quite sure engotiations are always ongoing lol. You can’t base Albert on anyone else. He is by far in a class of his own. Even if he starts to rapidly decline, there is a history between him and the Cardinals that they both should honor. Sure he could command Top dollar on the Free agent market. But do you really think he will make a team that much better? The Cards are really not too shabby monetary wise, not as bad as they make it to be. I think dewitt had a plan all along for not developing Ballpark Village, It costs money. period. Money that he needs to secure the Cards best Player long term. Any team that invests 300 milion in one player will have difficulty putting together a supporting cast. Even if he goes (which I doubt) The Cardinals will still compete.
maybe baseball owners hang around all those high flyin’ banker/loan types:
“don’t worry fells. spend away. there will always be somebody there to bail you out.”
the Howard deal and their own Holliday package puts the Cardinals in a no-way-out situation
too bad, because they have been one of the teams in recent years that have gone about it in the right ways
I heard sometime this offseason that the new Padres ownership was going to steadily increase payroll in the upcoming years. I think that if they go to playoffs this season and the next, there’s an outside chance that Adrian González stays and even signs an extension with them. It’s slim, but they’re not going to just let their best player go if they are winning.
Good points. The salary isn’t ballooning to 50M, in fact the way it’s lined up right now the Padres would field a similar team for less money next year. AG is only on the books for roughly 6M in 2011, which would mean the team wouldn’t have to take a significant boost until 2012.
Good points. The salary isn’t ballooning to 50M, in fact the way it’s lined up right now the Padres would field a similar team for less money next year. AG is only on the books for roughly 6M in 2011, which would mean the team wouldn’t have to take a significant boost until 2012.