The Albert Pujols era in Anaheim has come to an end. In a shocking move, the Angels announced Thursday that Pujols has been designated for assignment. The DFA is largely a formality, as Pujols and the remainder of his $30MM salary will go unclaimed on waivers. It’s possible the Halos could work out some kind of trade where they effectively eat all of that salary, but a release is most likely. Pujols is in the final season of a 10-year, $240MM contract.
“The Angels organization proudly signed Albert Pujols in 2011, and are honored that he was worn an Angels jersey for nearly half of his Hall-of-Fame career,” owner Arte Moreno said in a statement announcing the move. “Albert’s historical accomplishments, both on and off the field, serve as an inspiration to athletes everywhere, and his actions define what it means to be a true Superstar. Since his Rookie of the Year season in 2001, Albert and his wife Deidre have generously given their time and resources to countless charities throughout the world. We are thankful to the entire Pujols Family.”
It’s a stunning end to one of the largest contracts in Major League history, although from a pure performance standpoint, it’s hard to fault the move. The 41-year-old Pujols has connected on five homers in 2021 but is batting just .198/.250/.372 overall. He’s drawn only two unintentional walks in his 92 trips to the plate this season. The results in 2020 were similarly disappointing, and Pujols has an overall .214/.263/.387 line across his past 255 plate appearances.
Pujols’ fit on the Angels has become increasingly difficult, given Shohei Ohtani’s flat-out excellence at the plate and the emergence of slugger Jared Walsh. The 26-year-old Ohtani is batting .264/.316/.623 with nine home runs through 114 plate appearances. Walsh, a former 37th-round pick, has built upon last year’s surprise production with a ridiculous .333/.412/.576 line in 114 plate appearances, bringing his overall output since Opening Day 2020 to a robust .313/.369/.611 in 222 plate appearances.
Even with Pujols forced into action at first base, this announcement has sent shockwaves through the baseball world. Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times reports that Pujols was unhappy not only with the fact that he was benched against Rays lefty Ryan Yarbrough last night — against whom he is 6-for-9 with a pair of homers in his career — but that the decision to sit him was made by the front office rather than by manager Joe Maddon. The extent to which that specific instance contributed to today’s move isn’t clear, but MLB Network’s Jon Heyman adds that Pujols was also recently given the message that his playing time would begin to be scaled back.
Pujols’ signing in Los Angeles was a watershed moment in both Angels and Cardinals franchise history. The three-time National League MVP spent the first 11 seasons of a surefire Cooperstown career in St. Louis, cementing himself as one of the game’s top all-around players while batting .328/.420/.617 with 445 home runs through 7433 plate appearances.
Pujols hit the market as one of the most coveted free agents in history. At the time of his signing, his 10-year, $240MM deal was the third-largest in MLB history, trailing only Alex Rodriguez’s prior $252MM and $275MM contracts. That contract was negotiated by Moreno himself, and it’s now Moreno who has formally made the announcement and issued a statement confirming the end of Pujols’ time with the organization.
The contract, of course, didn’t pan out as hoped. Pujols began his Angels tenure mired in a dreadful slump, though he recovered to finish his first year with a .285/.343/.516 slash and 30 home runs. With the Angels, Pujols was never the juggernaut that he’d proven to be in St. Louis, but the first five seasons of his contract still resulted in a solid .266/.325/.474 batting line — good for a 119 wRC+. It’s not the production for which the Halos had hoped, but it’s a far sight better than the cumulative .240/.289/.405 output he’s compiled since 2017.
Pujols hit several iconic milestones during his time with the Angels, belting his 500th and 600th career home runs and also tallying his 3000th hit. But beyond the individual milestones, the Angels had only one postseason appearance during the Pujols era — a winless, three-game sweep at the hands of the upstart Royals back in 2014.
It’s not clear what’s next for Pujols. There’s already been immediate speculation and plenty of clamoring from fans about a farewell tour in St. Louis. A reunion of Pujols, Yadier Molina and Adam Wainwright would no doubt give Cards fans chills, but with Paul Goldschmidt at first base and no universal designated hitter, Pujols isn’t exactly a clean fit for that roster.
Others have suggested a reunion with skipper Tony La Russa, now managing the White Sox, also might make some sense. However, Yermin Mercedes has been the team’s best hitter at DH, and reigning MVP Jose Abreu has first base locked down. It still seems likely that some club will take a chance on Pujols if he wants to continue playing.
For the Angels, moving on from Pujols allows the club to utilize Walsh at first base and Ohtani at designated hitter once top prospects Jo Adell and/or Brandon Marsh are called to the Major Leagues for a look in right field. Were either to hit at even an average (or slightly below-average) level upon his promotion, that’d give the Angels both an improved lineup and an improved defensive outlook.
The organization surely didn’t make the decision to move on lightly. Beyond his stature as one of the best players in Major League history, Pujols is a beloved teammate who is respected by all in the league and revered by fans for both his on-field contributions and his prolific charity work off the field. The very fact that there is such widespread shock to a see the DFA of a player with his lack of production over the past few seasons is a testament to that reverence. Time will tell whether that leads to another opportunity.
MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand first reported (via Twitter) that Pujols would be released.
Wowzers.
The Cleveland Indians should sign Pujols. They need a better first baseman than Bauers. Someone that can hit a little better for average. The perfect fit for Cleveland to play first base was Mitch Moreland, but he signed with the A’s.
Also, Pujols returning to St Louis would be special, but we have a great first baseman.
Nah, AP can stay out of STL forever.. DD made sure of that.
Too bad no dh in NL
DD? dave duncan? direct delivery? dumb and dumber?
Dirk digler? Dave dombrowski? Darkwing duck?
I think that’s meant as alberts wife deidre
Dunkin’ Donuts. Albert was seen there many a days.
If his career is over, why not on sign him to a one day contract where the local fans can cheer him one more time and watch him bat once more in a Cardinals uniform? Different circumstances but watching Wright play for the Mets again in 2015 was pretty cool and I’m not a Mets fan.
2018 you mean?
Is Pujols the player to be named later in the Dexter Fowler trade?
Darkwing Duck! Hello great childhood memory!
Not a bad idea, and Wright was a special player, Pujols is a HoFer…
They owe us an ending! That cliffhanger! It was so awful to be so in to that show as a kid and they just said….. Nah.
Edit: this is aimed at people talking about Darkwing Duck
Agreed! DW was awesome!
Is Pujols the player to be named later in the Dexter Fowler trade? I’m gonna go out on a limb and say yes. IMHO there nothing to stop Pujols coming back to STL. Carlson, Oneil, cardinals have good young talent who better to learn from?
Ph in San Luis
Get rid of Carpenter, bring him as a bench player until 2022, when the DH starts in the NL.
DD and Albert make comments all the time about wanting to return to STL. Thank God fans like you are in the minority. It would only be right if he retired with the birds on the bat on his chest.
He wants to play. He wants 700 HR’s.
He is already under contract. Not sure understand the “signing for one day” piece.
luclusciano – it is a symbolic gesture for him to go into retirement as a Cardinal, the team where he had all of his success. Much like the Angels did with Vladimir Guerrero. We signed him to a one day contract to retire as an Angel.
A great 1st baseman in St. Louis, yes, a good bench, not at all!
That’s what they were trying to do in Anahiem but you saw how that worked out, not gonna be much of a help in STL
No thanks!
He was my favorite player growing up. Probably the coolest hitter to watch ever.
Obviously you aren’t old enough to have consistently watched Griffey Jr. HE was exciting to watch
Yes
Aarron, Mantle & Mays for me.
Griffey, Mcgriff and the Big Hurt for me
You’re hammered bro. Pujols is essentially a RH Griffey (with better stats) in the sense that they are probably the sweetest swings to watch from their respective batter’s boxes
Come on now. Obviously fabulous players but nobody got to watch those guys play like we’ve been able to watch Pujols. If you want to argue who has better stats that’s one thing but I literally watched probably 95% of his Cardinal at bats at the stadium or on tv. Even Mike Trout won’t have his offensive numbers after 11 years.
Pujols is a below replacement level player. Nobody needs him.
Just like nobody needs this comment.
He’s only below replacement in recent years due to the ridiculous DH defensive penalty. As a bat, he’s still a decent pinch-hitter if nothing else.
Yes! As a White Sox fan I’d love to see Pujols come to the AL Central. He’s washed up and an easy out
Riverat, I do believe you will get your wish and he will be in the AL Central – but on your beloved Chisox. Your astute manager Mr LaRussa most likely has already told you GM that he wants to be reunited with Pujols.
Plus his price will be right up Reinsdorf alley, the ML minimum.
Sing along with me, “….reunited and it feels so good, reunited…….
As long as he can play center field.
It wouldn’t be Bauers, Pujols would replace Chang there as a right handed 1B platoon partner. Because all of their options at 1B down to AA are all left handed.
Currently they have Naylor and Bauers, both LH with platoon issues
Bobby Bradley is on the 40, but also a lefty
They could move Nolan Jones over to 1B and call him up. But he’s also a lefty with splits
The other 1B option at AAA Columbus is Connor Marabell, lefty
They’re using two guys at 1B in AA Akron in Trenton Brooks and Richie Palacios – both are left handed.
Yu Chang is currently in this role batting .148/.196/.188 , so Pujols would actually be and upgrade
I can’t argue with that. The Tribe’s insistence that Bauers is their guy at 1B come hell or high water just isn’t realistic. Pujols is far better even in his current state.
AP, despite 5 HR’s, is running a negative WAR this season. If a team is trying to upgrade at 1B/DH, it should be easy to bring in someone better than Pujols.
Pujols’ last positive WAR season was 2016, the 5th year of a 10 year contract. This means that, in each year of the second half of his contract, he would have been paying the Angels to play for them if this were a meritocracy.
But he’d also have waaaaaay more money from the Cardinals
No on Pujols to Cleveland. Already enough players in the lineup that can’t hit.
Looking at it from the CLE FO perspective they could have him for league minimum, and that will get Dolan’s stamp of approval every day of the week.
Great player. Even better person. Unfortunately he has turned out as a perfect example as a reason to never sign veterans to decade long contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars. His bat was probably worth around $100 million over the first 5 years of that contract. It was worth very little after that. The Angels probably paid him over $100 million more than a player with the exact same production would typically earn. I was thinking about this yesterday: Do these long term big money contracts for first baseman ever work out?
Adrian Gonzalez was paid a ton to play for Boston. The Red Sox traded him to the Dodgers and the Dodgers ended up trading him to the Braves in a salary dump and the Braves promptly released him and paid him over $20 million a year to not even play The Mets tried him out for a little bit but he completely floundered there and was released again and never made it back to major league baseball.
Miguel Cabrera was signed to a massive long term contract as a first baseman and is still owed a ton of money. He isn’t hitting anywhere near well enough to be considered a $30+ million a year player. He can’t really even play 1st base anymore. Imagine paying a DH over $30 million a year for the next few year and the DH isn’t even a very good hitter. That’s the situation the Tigers are in with Cabrera.
The Detroit Tigers also paid Prince Fielder over $200 million to be the starting 1st baseman with the insane idea that Cabrera could move back to 3rd base. That clearly didn’t work out and the Tigers traded Fielder to the Texas Rangers. within a year or 2 Prince Fielder sustains a serious neck injury and can never play baseball again.
The Minnesota Twins paid catcher Joe Mauer over $180 million with the idea in mind that he would eventually move to first base. Mauer power completely disappeared as soon as he signed that contract. He never seemed to be the same player. It’s almost as if Mauer stopped being a great player as soon as the Twins started paying him like a great player.
Joey Votto signed a $200+ million extension with the Reds. He was great for awhile. He is not anymore. Votto is still under contract for a long time and a high dollar amount but is no longer a player that can even come close to carrying a team. He was way too young to start his decline that early in the contract. Just like Mauer, Votto has lost most of his power at a young age.
Eric Hosmer signed a contract worth over $140 million to be the long term starting first baseman for the Padres. That contract literally looked terrible from the start. Hosmer has the occasional flash in the pan great showing but he has never been the superstar the Padres are paying him to be. Hosmer is basically a $140 million platoon hitter that is only capable of playing 1st base.
Chris Davis signed an 8-year contract worth over $180 million to be the Orioles mainstay at 1st base. This contract is definitely one of the worst contracts in major league history. Davis spends a lot of time on the injured list. The sad thing is that a Davis injury is actually a good thing for the Orioles. Chris Davis is at best a .150 hitter with little power. When Davis isn’t injured he’s busy stacking up streaks like going 0 for 50 with a ton of strikeouts. The Orioles paid Chris Davis over $180 million to be the worst hitter in baseball. He is actually one of the worst hitters in baseball history.
All this makes me wonder how much Freddie Freeman should get paid on his next contract. He is a spectacular player but if Freeman gets a mega-contract and it works out well for the team that signs him it will be the 1st time that has ever happened for a 1st baseman in major league history. The odds seemed stacked against him. Even The Paul Goldschmidt contract hasn’t worked out as well a hoped. Goldschmidt is a good hitter but he is paid like he is going to be an MVP candidate year in and year out at $150 million over 5 years. I think we all know Goldy’s MVP caliber years are all gone and he will only be considered a superstar player for the years he played in Arizona. For some reason it’s the St. Louis Cardinals that are paying him for the offense he produced in a completely different uniform. The worst part about giving these kind of contracts to 1st baseman is that they can’t be moved to a different position. Every player ages and eventually declines. A center fielder can be moved to right field. A right fielder can be moved to left. A shortstop can be moved to 2nd base and third baseman can be moved to 1st. Once you are at 1st there is no easier defensive position to move to. They start at 1st because they can’t play any other position. If you have a highly paid bad hitting 1st baseman you are basically stuck with him for all those years. You can pay him a ton of money to be bad or you can pay him a ton of money to leave and not even play for your team like the Angels just did with Pujols.
These contracts never work out as in production. A lot of these big contracts come from the need to bring in a proven veteran with a leadership attitude. Most teams rebuilding will do this when the kids are ready to play. All the examples you pointed out are players I feel that got a lucky reward contract because of a great season they had before free agency. Mauer the hometown hero and Chris Davis the Adderall homerun beast. Jason Heyward at least won a world series even though they are still paying for his poor production. Jayson Werth created a winning environment I feel when he sign with the then new Nationals namebrand.
Don’t forget about the largest contract at the time in 1999 given to Mo Vaughn. 6 years for $80MM – For his injury plagued tenure with the Angels he put up 466 G, .267/.356/.481, 98 HR, 312 RBI. Compared to his time in Boston from 1993 through 1998, Vaughn hit .315 while averaging 36 home runs and 110 RBI per season.
The Tigers paid most of Justin Verlanders contract while he pitched for Houston. Giancarlo Stanton will soon join this list. Josh Hamilton was a waste.
Tigers only paid $8m per year of Verlander’s contract in 2018 and 2019
Great read. On the pitching side, CC Sabathia worked out for the Yankees. They extended him twice on one year deals (the second year maybe not so much), and he was the unicorn that didn’t disappoint
These are called “comments,” not “stories.” Way too much ti consider reading.
So the case is made for handing out nothing more than a 3-4-5 year contract with a higher average annual value than a 8-10 year albatross contract than holds a team hostage. So many examples of these misguided “forget the future” contracts.
Anyone remember Bobby Bonilla? He’s still getting paid by the Mets.
And oh, by the way, the Mets may still have to pay …… RobbieCano, don’cha know …. when and if he comes back.
You have to wonder how much the “set for life” aspects of these massive, guaranteed contracts contribute to a player losing some of his competitive edge? Face it, they’ve sort of won the lottery in a sense. Of course they are still playing the game they love and have pride and egos but maybe the edge is dulled?
Many that would be special….he retires with the Tribe as they retire Chief Wahoo
Um, no. Cleveland does not need him. Cleveland already has several 1B who hit at the Mendoza line and play weak defense.
Uh, he hasn’t hit over .245 since 2016 … his ship has sailed.
Great career, but it’s over.
I’ve been saying the same thing
yo
And he has that 10-year service contract with the Angels going into effect next year. Aaaawkwaaard.
Yeah how does that work now? No way they have him fulfill that, maybe a buyout?
His services contract doesn’t have a start date. I also heard there was an issue with the players union rules on those contracts but never heard whether anything happened with it. All that was was the Angels way of saying you’re going to the Hall as an Angel.
Pfft. services contracts have no real bearing on Hall of Fame teams. Pujols is definitely going in as a Cardinal. Even if Pujols picks the Angels (which he probably won’t, anyway), MLB will overrule him.
3 seasons too late
Including this season, since 2017, the Angels will have paid Pujols $140 million in salary for a cumulative bWAR of negative one point nine. (-1.9)
It’s obviously a worse outcome than expected but that’s essentially how long-term deals are supposed to work. You get surplus value on the front end and eat money on the back end. Unfortunately Pujols never put up enough value on the front end to cover his decline on the back end.
@averagejoe
I don’t think there is a single person in the game that believes the last 5 years of a contract are “supposed” to amount to negative value.
Far worse outcome than expected BUT the Angels assumed the aging curve was starting with his age 32 season despite ample evidence it was starting at age 35.
For a contract that started with a player’s age 35 season, I think the performance went about as expected.
What evidence he not his age. You can’t just lie about your age. There are birth records. You can’t just make up a number.
players from the Dominican routinely lie about there age with spotty birth records. its an open secret in MLB
@Halo11Fan same as the evidence that Trout got Anaheim a $3B TV contract. You can’t just make that up either.
And they get caught when they try to renter the country. But the kicker is, the sign in the Dominican Republic, and are pretty good players.
Pujols went virtually unnoticed in high school. Drafted in the 13th round in college. Talk about a late bloomer. So basically, when he started this lie, he wasn’t very good.
It’s well know he let it slip during an interview and why he didn’t sign with the marlins. Like really, you never heard of players from poor countries lying about their age to get a one up? Even Fernandos own teammates to this day think he really wasn’t as young as he was..
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.sportingnews.com/us/amp/mlb/news/former-mlb-exec-albert-pujols-age/1munpjji15ukb1w1jj1o05kjhc
Yes, just google Ubaldo Jimenez (or whatever his legal name was)…
Ron. Ok, so you have to believe that one of the greatest hitters of all time went virtually unnoticed in high school even though he was three years older than the competition,
He wasn’t a prospect when he came to the United States, yet he got someone to alter government documents?
Not to mention, the USA has cracked down on Visas, and players who leave this country often have Visa issues, that’s because this government does a much better job checking.
And finally, you are calling him a felon. You are saying he lied on his citizenship application. Which is a deportable offense. And by the way, they don’t rubber stamp those applications either.
Who was the last player to get busted for lying about his age. It’s been awhile because the US does a much better job of checking
But people say it on a message board so it must be true.
What am I suppose to find out about him?
But if Arte had proof Pujols lied about his age, he’d save this years salary. Players are suspended one year for lying about their age.
And name a single player that went to high school and college who lied about their age. And who did he pay off?
People lie about their age when they are trying to get signed. Not four years later waiting to get drafted.
It defies logic. Who was his handler that waited five years.
His path doesn’t match the path of someone who lied about his age.
It wasn’t like he was a 17 year old kid signed in the DR that was really 20. He one wanted to sign him after high school. No one even offered him a scholarship.
The path defies logic.
Remember when Rafael furcal lied about his age.
Halo11fan – Go Angels! Yes sir all great points.. but you are not talking about how money and a broken system in countries like DR, PR and Venezuela can easily produce these documents. What’s the US going to say if they paperwork is falsely legit. Besides dig into the stories of rafeal furcal, Wandy Rodriguez, miguel Tejeda, Bartolo colon, Fausto Carmona and so on. And as far as Pujols being older in in HS.. look up Danny Almonte.. dude was 2 years older than he was.. in little league! He sir was also from the DR. Money talks..
He grew in In The D.R. He was very good ballplayer and new he wanted to make the majors when they came to the U.S..
He was immediately All State High school player. He also had a full beard and a wife and child. i dont really care he lied. but its even more amazing he has been able to hang on if he’s really 42 or 43
Fausto Carmina/Roberto Hernandez
Fausto Carmona/Roberto Hernandez
You mean there’s no evidence that he’s anything but the age he claims he is. His documentation was good enough for U.S. Citizenship, and there’s been zero evidence to the contrary.
Besides, hardly anyone ever manages to put up an All-Star season at age 38, nor do they manage to hit even as well as Pujols has recently at ages 43 and 44.
Halo11… I respect all your posts but this is very well known information. Pujols himself said he lied about his own age. He isn’t the 1st. Many have. Julio Franco did the same thing. The fact he was drafted so low or was a “late bloomer” doesn’t change the fact that he openly lied about his age. Anyone that believes Pujols is the same age he said he was when he signed with the Angels is being intentionally ignorant. I don’t blame Pujols for lying about his age. I might have done it too in the same circumstances given the opportunity. It’s very true and very well known that Pujols was in his MID 30’s when he signed that deal with the Angels. Don’t be such a homer. Your team already got rid of him. Why do you care? From your perspective you should feel like “Screw him. He specifically did NOT want to be with the Angels even though the Angels were the only team willing to pay him even close to as much as he was making!” I think Pujols wanting out showed no loyalty for the one organization that was willing to pay him. he cared about himself and no one else. The idea that he is an everyday starting 1st baseman on a team like the Angels is ludicrous and selfish.
Try 4
Ii can see the Cardinals Fans wheels a turning!!! Ha!
A trade of Matt Carpenter for Albert Pujols so Pujols can finish his last season with the Cardinals!!!
Fans see Pujols revitalizing himself through the trade——- then Pujols makes it back to the World Series this season with the Cardinals ———
7th game of the World Series 2021. Game is tied in the bottom of the 9th. ——- Pujols comes off the bench and blast a 3 run homer in Big Mac Land and the Cardinals win the World Series!!!!!! End of Story.
Wait——- after the World Series—- Pujols signs a multi million dollar contract out of Hollywood for the Movie rights for his biography movie!!
I
remember mark mcgwire, he got pinch hit for by kerry robinson
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Lay off the meth
Except that the Cardinals aren’t going to the WS….lol
Albert poojols
Is that the best you can do when phonetically his name is poo-holes?
Ahahahaha sfes! Nice
The tigers should not only sign him ,but signnhimnfor 2 years plus a team option for a third year -as PLAYER-MANAGER. Let him bat himself and Miggie first and second, and try to hit homers to the Al Kaline corner……
Why not Hinch obviously uses trash cans…….
It was a fun ride to watch. Thank you, Albert..
You obviously hate the angels
LOL!
It wasn’t fun but expensive and gut wrenching to watch especially the last 4 years. Another in the long long long bombs of Artie “I know nothing about baseball” Moreno.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
Holy crap.
One of the worst contracts in baseball history
13, you’re wrong. Baseball wise, sure, however that signing led to a 3 billion dollar TV deal.
Halo11Fan, That deal happened at the same time. Pujols had nothing to do with it.
458, you are incorrect. the angels and fox agreed on $2 billion contract initially but then they added an extra $1 bil for signing pujols.
Fox Sports told the Angels they would give them significantly more money annually if they were to sign a few superstars. I don’t know how much exactly, but it was at least $30 million more annually.
This would explain why the Angels came out of nowhere and sighed Pujols to that record deal at the time. It was a few days after the Angels signed pitcher CJ Wilson. And no, Wilson was not one of the superstar signings by the Angels to help get them a huge television deal.
I know CJ Wilson. We went to high school together and remained friends ever since. He is the person who told me about the deal between Fox Sports and the Angels.
How does that make sense? The Angeles didn’t even have the highest offer for Pujols. They would have had the highest offer, which was 300 from Miami, if signing him meant getting a billion extra dollars.
You don’t follow the Angels. He had a lot to do with the 3 billion.
He didn’t sign with Miami because they would not include a no trade clause.
Don’t forget it was the largest offer but he did sign in one of the largest tv markets.
Miami didn’t guarantee a no-trade clause from what I remember.
Now that it’s switched from Fox to Balley sports, you’ll notice the Angels own 25%. They made a good deal of money thanks to Albert.
@Halo11Fan WHERE IS YOUR PROOF THAT ALBERT HAD ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE $3 BILLION!?
You are correct, they also wanted to backload the contract (Just like they did Jose Reyes and Mark Buerhle) was only gonna pay him around 7 mil for the first season. He recognized it as the publicity stunt it was. The structure of the contracts Miami signed at the time just screamed “FIRE SALE” once the year was up.
CJ Wilson? Yeah I went to high school with that guy.
He didn’t sign with Marlins bc the GM knew his actual age. Google it. The guy was their GM till 2017 and has since talked openly about it. Not the money or the no trade clause. It’s bc they knew his production would fall flat sooner than his age would tell.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.sportingnews.com/us/amp/mlb/news/former-mlb-exec-albert-pujols-age/1munpjji15ukb1w1jj1o05kjhc
Angels used the TV deal to sign Pujols
What amazes me is people who don’t follow the Angels talk about situations they know nothing about as if they do. That contract paid for itself. Good business move, bad baseball move.
Can you provide the source that states this? I’d like to read it.
What source are you looking for. The Angels signed Pujols and then signed a 3 billion dollar tv deal. You can easily google that.
That was a very high deal at the time.
All this stuff is easily obtained, but I followed it as it happened.
1984 — I’ve asked him for proof a bunch of times, but he has none. Deals that big get hammered out over a matter of years.
There is plenty of documentation that Arte knew in advance he was getting the $3bil and that is what spurred him to spend the money. I know this for FACT.
My sources: 1. The multiple news articles from the week of the signing of the tv deal and the players. https://tinyurl.com/2u9we4px
2. Friend of mine was one of the attorney’s on the Fox side of the deal.
I know my #2 source isn’t worth a hill of beans on this board, but at least it is line with what was actually reported during the time. By the LA Times, SportsProMedia, Business Insider, etc.
More than the complete lack of any evidence to support Halo11’s contention that Fox suddenly threw another $1 billion into a TV deal on a day’s notice.
@Halo11Fan that’s not proof! It’s not even evidence. It’s a post hoc ergo propter hoc logical fallacy.
Unless you have some concrete source that says the Angels don’t get $3B without Albert Pujols you have no case.
Your position is a man who made a billion dollars marketing was not able to make any additional money after signing one of the biggest free agents in history. It is your position he reacted to the contract rather than do something to help his position
That’s your position?
Arte did the same thing with the Trout signing. Sign Trout, negotiate a huge Stadium deal, but the Trout signing was not used to aid the stadium deal?
You people are geniuses. It is you position the guy who made a billion dollars marketing doesn’t know how to leverage acquisitions into a bigger contract. No one with a brain believes that
Why are you lying? I never said they threw in an extra billion.
So if you are lying about that, what else are you lying about.
“Your position is a man who made a billion dollars marketing was not able to make any additional money after signing one of the biggest free agents in history.”
I never said that. I asked you for proof that the Angels wouldn’t have gotten $3B from their TV deal had it not been for the Pujols signing. Like, official reports, etc. You refused to provide it.
Strawmanning is a hallmark of a weak argument.
My position is that the Angels do not sign the same 3 billion dollar deal without Pujols. Any other position is simply absurd.
I know for a fact that Moreno “is”. That the word that was used, not “was” happy with with the Pujols deal.
But you believe the absurd, which defies common sense if you like.
“My position is that the Angels do not sign the same 3 billion dollar deal without Pujols. Any other position is simply absurd.”
Seems like a pretty absolute stance there. You got any proof of it?
“I know for a fact that Moreno ‘is’. That the word that was used, not ‘was’ happy with with the Pujols deal.”
Unless he told you that personally, you couldn’t possibly know that.
“But you believe the absurd, which defies common sense if you like.”
Not only making absolute claims and then refusing to provide proof, but then going with the “Mrs. Garrison from South Park” technique is inevitably going to leave you open to rebuke. At this point you are turning into another Koamalu. We don’t need another Koamalu.
Correlation is not causation.
Yep. Absolute. But I have common sense. When you add an asset, you increase value. There is no doubt in my mind that increased the value of the TV deal. I have no way of knowing how much, but I know from someone on the inside that Arte “is” happy with the deal.
But even without the last piece of information, I’m still able to understand when you add one of the best free Agents in history, you increase value.
This is a no brainer. Any other position defies logic
“Yep. Absolute. But I have common sense.”
That’s what you think.
“When you add an asset, you increase value.”
Pujols isn’t an asset. And he never was for Anaheim.
“There is no doubt in my mind that increased the value of the TV deal.”
Exactly. It’s all your opinion. So stop purporting it to be absolutely 100% true.
“I have no way of knowing how much,”
So you admit it. Game over lol.
“… but I know from someone on the inside that Arte “is” happy with the deal.”
I’m gonna call BS on that, just like I do any time someone on this site says “I know from someone on the inside that x, y and z will or did happen.”
“But even without the last piece of information, I’m still able to understand when you add one of the best free Agents in history, you increase value. ”
By no metric was Albert “one of the best free agents in history.”
“This is a no brainer. Any other position defies logic”
How does it feel to be so wrong yet simultaneously so sure of yourself?
Pujols was not an asset? OK.. Thanks for playing.
Some people were born without the ability to think.
So Moreno, who made a Billion dollars in marketing, signed one of the biggest free agents in history and yet it had NO IMPACT on the TV Deal.
LOL funny.
What’s pathetic is you believe that.
“Pujols was not an asset? OK.. Thanks for playing.”
Not for Anaheim he wasn’t.
“Some people were born without the ability to think.”
Like you?
“So Moreno, who made a Billion dollars in marketing, signed one of the biggest free agents in history and yet it had NO IMPACT on the TV Deal.”
I never said it had no impact. Just asked for proof that it had an impact. Proof that you refuse to provide despite ample opportunity to do so.
Word of advice to you brother: Put down the shovel
@jimthegoat The Angels signed the best position player and best pitcher available in the same season they signed a $3B TV contract. They went from a $50M/year contract (10yr/$500) to a $150M/year contact (20yr/$3B). The Angels were the “mystery team” in on Pujols. No one expected the Angels to be in on Pujols and people were scratching their heads on how. It was later revealed that they did sign a $3B deal. We are not privy to the negotiations of the TV deal, but I would find it shocking if Pujols name was not brought up during the negotiations. To me it doesn’t matter, either way Pujols contract was covered by the new TV deal.
@Hoss so you’re saying your friend broke attorney-client privilege and so we should just believe you?
Dayn – No.. Attorney client privilege only applies to a client’s secrets. It was widely reported (by the LA Times, etc.) that the TV deal allowed Arte to spend the money. Not the other way around. So no secret. And the attorney told me this several years after the fact. https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/attorney-client-privilege.html
And I’m still waiting on Halo11 and others to post a shred of evidence that Fox Sports, decided, on December 8th, 2011, to increase their “offer” to the Angels by $1 Billion. You would think that if one (or two or even three) player(s) impacted the bottom line of any team in any sport by $1 Billion there would be plenty of coverage. There is NOT.
@hossmandu If YoU aCtUaLlY fOlLoWeD tHe AnGeLs At ThE tImE yOu’D kNoW tHaT tHaT’s WhAt HaPpEnEd!
Hey @Jimthegoat. Not sure exactly what you’re trying to prove with the KidNaPiNg message. Kinda psychotoc, But I I was a season seat holder At ThE tImE. AnD HaD BeEn OnE SinCE 1991. What are your Angel Fan credentials.? Have you been a RaBiD FaN SiNcE 1979 WhEn YoU WeRe TeN YeArS OlD?
Are you still 10 years old? I’ve forgotten more about Angels baseball than you or Halo11 will EvEr KnOw.
@MrAngelFan that, again, is just speculation.
Halo you are drugs!!!!! Have you ever heard of a guy that wears #27? You think maybe he had a little something to do with the Angels getting a big expensive TV deal. Albert had nothing do to with that deal. That’s like saying the Dodgers got their big huge deal because of Kenley Jansen.
As I said, people who don’t follow the Angels. I really don’t think the number three prospect in baseball who fell flat on his face and didn’t make the opening day team had much to do with that 3 billion dollar contract,
Thank you for proving my point.
@Halo11Fan where is your concrete proof that the Angels wouldn’t have gotten that TV deal if they hadn’t signed Albert, all other things equal? I know you see this comment. Either provide proof within the next hour or delete your account.
Concrete proof, I don’t have it. I just have strong evidence, knowledge and common sense.
Just like when everyone was writing about Trout becoming a free agent and I said it wasn’t going to happen.
What’s I wrote repeatedly what was going to happen, and what did happen was Moreno was going to extend Mike Trout and then sign a stadium deal.
I understand the Angels much much better than non-Angel fans, just like you understand your team much much better than I do.
That’s what Moreno does.
It’s defies knowledge and common sense to not understand Pujols was a precursor to that TV contract.
Why you people fight against the obvious blows my mind.
@Halo11Fan…
“I really don’t think the number three prospect in baseball who fell flat on his face and didn’t make the opening day team had much to do with that 3 billion dollar contract.”
You think. You don’t know. Which is the point I have been making this entire time.
“I just have strong evidence, knowledge and common sense.”
You don’t have any of those things! All you have are speculation and logical fallacies.
Again. Provide proof that the Angels wouldn’t have gotten $3B without Albert or delete your account. Not speculation, not logical fallacies, proof.
Yes,
I don’t think the number three prospect in baseball who hit 220/281/390 had much of an impact on that contract… especially compared to the Pujols signing.
Trout didn’t even make the team out of spring training.
But use your brain… if you are capable. Moreno, made his billions in marketing. What marketer WOULD NOT LEVERAGE those signings into a bigger TV contract. The answer is NONE.
Only someone COMPLETELY CLUELESS, would not understand that.
There are a lot of clueless people on these threads. What gets me is they celebrate how clueless they are instead of actually trying to learn something.
“I don’t think the number three prospect in baseball who hit 220/281/390 had much of an impact on that contract… especially compared to the Pujols signing.”
Exactly! You think Trout had no impact on the TV deal. You don’t know that Trout had no impact on the TV deal. Just like you don’t know that Albert had any impact on the TV deal. So for you to so adamantly insist that he did and so jacknuggetedly fight against anyone who says otherwise is…
Well… weird to say the last.
Yes and No. Great ticket draw. Still is.
Kevin Brown
Mike Hampton
Gerrit Cole (overpay)
Trevor Bauer (huge overpay)
All come to mind when I think of bad contracts
Cole and Bauer really?
What was wrong with Kevin Brown’s contract?
Gerrit Cole – How is this an overpay? on a yearly bases its in the same escalating range as every #1’s previous yearly pay. If you want to argue 10 years is too long sure I could see that but nothing is wrong with the AAV.
Trevor Bauer – Its a 2 year contract, hard to go wrong (although I don’t think he’s worth it either)
Your mind isn’t in line with reality. Kevin Brown was very good for most of the contract and a reliable SP. Dodgers season would be in deep trouble without Bauer. They were content paying him big money for 2 years and it has worked out fine. Probably too difficult of a concept for you to understand.
Trevor Bauer Gerrit Cole seem like fine contracts when you look at Chris Davis, Vernon Wells, Hamilton Josh, or many others where they didn’t even supply good production the beginning years
but t is so obvious they are using foreign substance when they pitch. though most i have seen are using stuffs
Unglar you really think Coles contract going to look good last couple years? Man I sure wouldn’t bet on it!
ZERO – ZILCH – NONE of these 10 year contracts are designed to look good over the last couple years. When are fans going to get this concept through there heads. These massive length contracts are given out to spread out the AAV. That is why Bauer got 40mil per year, because he only took 2 years, if he had signed a long contract he might have got something closer to what Strasburg got.
Someone hasn’t looked at Bauer’s production hmm BillyBaggins… what a joke
Brown put up more WAR in 5 seasons in LA then Pujols did in 10.
How is Bauer a bad contract when it is only for 3 years? 3-1 with an ERA of 2.44 is a bad contract?
Robinson cano, kei igawa, and jason bay say ” whats up”
Ryan Howard.
Cole has been lights out so far.
Yeah, right up there with Vernon Wells, Josh Hamilton and Gary Matthews, Jr.
Arte has done a great job when it comes to those.
Dont forget he also has a 10/10M deal with the Angels after he retires. Great contract, both sides got exactly what they paid for!
Chris Davis and Miguel Caberra disagree.
Pujols contract was bad, but Angels made more money then they lost with Pujols.
Guess what Dunk? They lost more games than they won with Pujols too.
Pujols…”I am 12″
can we get some real proof before we assume a guy is lying about his age?
No. We’re going to keep making the jokes buddy.
his birth certificate is written in green crayon
it’s legit
There’s actually lots of proof.
The Angels probably knew his age when they signed him, so it really doesn’t matter.
Arte had to know or simply didn’t care. Have you seen Pujols high school picture?
Take a look at the high school junior here: https://www.maxpreps.com/news/e7KQPGXm902Q_dadifVTYw/albert-pujols-fast-rise-to-500-home-runs-mirrors-prep-career-at-fort-osage-high.htm
that woulf be terribly idiotic.
I thought the birth certificate with a taped on headshot and green crayon writing stating “I am 1Z” would be all the proof you need.
Just listen to Albert’s own words. He’s given it away so many times, like this one when he had allegedly just turned 38::
““I actually hit it off Octavio Dotel, I think I told you that,” Pujols said. “I was about about 12, 13, almost 13 years old.”
“And we go back, you know, 28 years later, and here I am.”
“He then, of course, doubled down, saying that Dotel is “three or four” years older than he is.” (Dotel is now 47.5)
evidence admissible in court? or just hearsay?
Hearsay is perfectly fine if the person the statements are about does not deny them. And since this issue will never see a court, it remains in the court public opinion.
Pujols past statements and career arc can be presented as evidence. Now besides the birth date that is put out for public knowledge, no one knows his birthday besides him. I haven’t seen anything of pujols denying he is older, dang I’d take a laugh and head shake to the question to be convinced of his innocence.
Not true. When non citizens enter the United States, they need a Visa. Those things are not rubber stamped. It’s how they caught all these guys.
So we have Pujols, who lies about his age to play baseball, yet doesn’t sign a contract in the Dominican. Comes to the United States, plays three years of high school ball. Is a man among boys, yet is so ordinary, he doesn’t get drafted. Doesn’t even get a baseball scholarship….. talk about a super late bloomer, plays for a nothing junior college, gets drafted in the 13th round.
This guy has the most unprecedented baseball journey of all time. And is a mastermind because he must have had this planned years before he became any good…and he fooled our government in the process.
It makes some sense if he’s an Ok, player. Ok players can develop late. But for one of the greatest hitters of all time to develop that late, that’s so unlikely it boarders the impossible.
But it’s easy to say he just lied.
Weird you say it’s harder for someone that doesn’t have the spotlight of being an international free agent to lie about their age.
You saying he’s a man among boys when he gets here is absolutely hilarious because that’s what he was. Draft order means nothing and it’s not like high school and JUCO are going to do a deep dive into his life.
All I’m saying is a public statement would do wonders since it seems like every few years this issue comes up.
Internet trolls don’t need an ounce of evidence, let alone proof. Trolls are trolls.
11, there’s overwhelming evidence Pujols lied about his age. For good reason at first, no doubt. But he had plenty of time to come clean and didn’t.
Give me a link. And why do people confuse the word evidence with proof?
I think he is older than 44/45. I think it’s funny how people act like pujols is a saint when he opted for more money/greed over cardinals legacy. Then threw a fit when his poor play warranted his team to not play him and still pay him.
Halo just like Angels fans are delusional thinking their team will be any good in the next few years.. Two of the best players in baseball in Trout and Rendon and they still stink.
And yet the Dodgers are only 2 1/2 games better than the Angels.
@Halo11Fan YOU give us a link that says the Angels wouldn’t have gotten that TV deal without Albert!
Oh brother. Google the timing, then use your brain?
Did you follow this at all. Even a little?
You mean Trout and Ohtani? Rendon will be another Arte mistake
“The Angels had the second-lowest local television ratings among major league teams last year, according to Sports Business Journal. In addition to the potential for high ratings with Pujols and the Angels, the new TV deal also gives Fox guaranteed programming and prevents Time Warner Cable from running the table with Southern California’s top franchises.”
How do you think they got the 3 billion dollar TV Deal? Use your brain.
@Halo11Fan lol I love how you think others have to provide a link to Albert lying about his age but you refuse to provide a link that says the Angels wouldn’t have gotten $3B if they hadn’t signed him.
The timing proves nothing. Not. One. Thing.
“How do you think they got the 3 billion dollar TV Deal? Use your brain.”
It doesn’t matter how I think they got it. I’m asking for concrete proof. You are the one who stated absolutely and affirmatively that the Angels wouldn’t have gotten that TV deal if they hadn’t signed Albert. Prove it.
I linked both his high school picture and quotes from his own mouth above.
He looks a little young than a guy I went to high school with.
The guy who failed 10th grade 6 times?
It’s not like his actual age matters.
Wow, I thought they’d keep him on out of respect. I mean, it totally makes sense but still shocking.
In todays baseball with teams carrying so many pitchers teams need versatile bench players. AJols was an anchor helping sink the team.
I think they want Walsh fulltime at 1b and Ward to get a shot in the OF before the boys (Adell and Marsh_ come up. Now that the minor league season is starting the clock is ticking.
Completely agree. And Ward can also play 1B/3B.
It’s the right decision, but it still feels wrong. It isn’t tho.
No he will not be signing with the. Brooklyn Nets but could the Yankees sign him?
Yankee’s??? Hmmm …… Brian Cashman went into the season thinking that Jay Bruce was some form of the answer for the Yankee outfield, so I got to believe he is absolutely salivating at the prospect of adding Albert Pujols. You saw how fast Cashman scooped up Odor from the Rangers. Pujols fits the talent profile of the guys that Cashman has been throwing money at since the end of last year. Brian Cashman!
I wonder if this is a retirement thing or maybe a chance to go back to St. Louis for one last ride.
As a Cards fan, I think it would be fun to bring him in (it would cost next to nothing). But they can’t waste roster spots on both him and Carpenter. Carp can play some defense still, at least, but you’d basically have two guys who are just pinch-hitters.
I’d trade some cash for him, put him on the 40 man, let him play one game or one at-bat at Busch with the expectation he’ll retire after that game. I’d be fine with that. Just don’t take someone off the 40 they can’t afford to lose.
If he’s really ready to retire, I’d love to give him a three-game set as a farewell, preferably in the 2nd half of the season (assuming more fans will be in the stands). I don’t know how that would work out though. Presumably he’s either done-done or he’s going to be in a new uniform within a week.
Yes and No. Great ticket draw. Still is.
No thanks!
Who is moving to the outfield? Goldschmidt or Pujols????
Thanks Albert. See you on the HOF platform.
10 years was absurd. Seven or eight would have been more reasonable.
$1 bil extra in tv money was cool. and remember when he was signed going over the threshold was nothing. penalty even now should be higher but then when he signed nobody really worried about it.
10 years was absolutely necessary. It was the only way to get him. If I remember correctly, the Cardinals offer was also for 10 years with a little less money and I think the Marlins had a similar offer on the table. If the Angels offered 7 or 8 years, he would have re-signed with the Cardinals or went to Miami during their strange free wheeling offseason. Remember they signed Jose Reyes, Mark Buerhle, and a couple of others to big deals that year.
The Angels needed a splashy signing. The Pujols deal was not excellent, but it was hardly awful either. In 10 years with them he had 1180 hits and 222 homers. That was the downside of his career and it was better the entire career of most players.
0 defensive value.
He stopped taking walks and we’re talking about a 1B/DH here.7.5 WAR in 10 years for 210 million dollars. That smells like a terrible contract.
He was probably the 2nd best hitter/power hitter of his generation. Only behind Barry Bonds. But he wasn’t that guy in Anaheim. He stunk after a couple seasons and he cost a ton of money to do so.
Yeah and if contracts were judged exclusively on WAR, then you would be right. But WAR is only one piece of the puzzle, not the whole thing. The amount of money that Pujols generated through TV deals, ticket sales, and just added buzz surrounding his milestones was more than worth the deal.
Plus walks are overrated and 1B is still a position on the field that needs to be filled. It is no less valuable than any other position, no matter what Fangraphs say.
He didn’t replace those walks with hits…….It doesn’t matter if you think they’re overrated. No one is going to argue that an out is better than a walk…He has 0 defensive value because he was not a good defensive 1B.
He wasn’t a good player in Anaheim. That’s really just it.
He’s been an an adequate defensive fist baseman. That’s actually the only area of his game where he is still considered league average
In fairness, it doesn’t matter if you think he has 0 defensive value either. So basically we have figured out that neither of us really matter in the grand scheme of things. I’m okay with that, but I think you might be disappointed.
Plus an out can be better than a walk. Bottom of the 9th, down by one, runner on third, one out. Which is better, a walk or a long fly out?
Sigh. Anecdotal HiFlew. See ya.
Pujols deal has been one of the worst contracts in history. There is no justification for it, it has simply been a disaster.
On the field yes. Financially it was a brilliant contract. Moreno made tons off of the Fox TV deal and shirt sales.
That’s the funny thing. Arte made 5x or more back in profit compared to the cost of Albert. It’s impossible for this to be the worst contract ever, no matter his production. It was a win on day 1
Arte saw that plantar fasciitis and said “meh, give me that pen!”
I do wish we got to see the true Albert+young Trout together. Alas
Cosmo2, A disaster? Over 100 RBIs 4 years & over 90 in 2 years – that doesn’t spell disaster. Sure he was better in StL but his tenure in LAA is nothing to sneeze at.
Curly really? I always thought the bottom line in baseball was to 1)Have a winning record, 2) Make the playoffs and 3)Play and win a World Series. That just goes to show you how little Artie cares about the product on the field.
Bart: yea I’m only looking at it from a roster/payroll baseball perspective. Whether or not the owners made money on the investment isn’t my concern.
Horrible baseball decision.
But Moreno make his billions by making great marketing decisions, not great baseball decisions.
DODGER JR, it takes more than 1 person to 1) have a winning record 2) make the playoffs 3) win the world series. It wasn’t Albert’s fault he was surrounded by mostly inferior players (especially pitching).
Fire the Angels gm…. dude is having an elite career give him a proper farewell
There’s no chance there wasn’t a conversation with Pujols, the coaching staff, and management about this. He was dead weight on the roster that they’d already carried for too many years.
From Mike Giovannas twitter
“Mike DiGiovanna
@MikeDiGiovanna
According to source, #Angels slugger Albert Pujols was upset that he wasn’t in lineup to face #Rays bulk LHP Ryan Yarbrough last night, and that the decision to bench him came from front office, not MGR Joe Maddon. Pujols was 6 for 9 with 2 HR, 2 2Bs, 7 RBIs vs. Yarbough.’
Yes, averagejoe. I have nothing but respect for AP but he has been an anchor for years and a huge part of the problem. Perhaps he gets the contract paid out if he’s released but not if he retires. In any event, I applaud management for making a hard decision. Based on his Angels performance only, he would have been relesed a long time ago if his name wasn’t Albert Pujols. Love the guy.
Fire Perry Minasian that just was hired…because he’s cut dead weight that he’s having to clean up after? Do you think the owner had no say in the cut?
Ridiculous to think that if the guy hasn’t been performing for awhile, no playoff spot to speak of during his contract, they’ll still be paying his ridiculous contract — and they should have take up a roster spot…? Look how Ruth ended his career. Either you choose your end or someone else chooses it for you.
Not only did the owner have a say in the cut, but in the original terrible signing as well.
Fire the owner is what should have been said.
Trout will be seeing that ending in a few years. At 30 he possibly has 5 good years then his slide will begin.
Problem is we can’t fire the guy who keeps signing the Pujols, Wilson, etc contracts and that’s the owner.
NO Halos but stupid Angels fans can stop going to games and spending your $$$$$ to support Artie and then maybe he would get the hint.
Got a little cross town hate DODGER JR?
What the ??
The contract was hideous, but not his fault. A GREAT, GREAT player; we should never forget that.
Lol I remember some commenter on here a while back said that Albert’s contract increased the Angels’ TV deal by more than $300m
At least 300 million. They signed him and the following week the Angels signed a 3 billion dollar TV deal
Where is your concrete evidence that they wouldn’t have gotten that much TV money if they hadn’t signed Albert? I’m not seeing any.
come on, you really think that after they signed him they suddenly were offered another billion or more? That isn’t at all how this occurred, the TV deal was signed and details were leaked before the winter meetings. You have it backwards, they were able to sign Pujols and Wilson that winter BECAUSE they signed that TV contract. This was when all those regional TV contracts came due over the course of 5 years and we started seeing astronomical numbers being thrown about. The Dodgers, Phillis, Angels, Mariners and others signed TV deals much bigger then originally anticipated (in the billions, 8.5b for the Dodgers alone) and went on spending sprees.
That is concrete evidence, it’s not concrete proof. Bot if you followed the Angels, that amount was well beyond what was expected and virtually everyone thought Pujols had something to do with that amount
It is much much more likely he did than did not.
@Halo11Fan No it is not concrete evidence. What it is is a post hoc ergo propter hoc logical fallacy.
Again. Concrete evidence. Not speculation.
Jim because there isn’t any evidence that the Angels made more TV money from Albert. 10 years ago they had a young buck named Mike Trout that was just getting ready to take off.
Dodgers. A man who made more than a Billion dollars in marketing didn’t leverage the Pujols signing into a bigger TV contract?
Do you have any idea how clueless you must be to believe that?\
You people are hillarious.
$1 billion.
Jim. This is very well established in and around LA. And I’m no Angel fan. But I’ve lived in OC for basically the entire Pujols deal
He got them A LOT more money from Fox
@BeforeMcCourt I need concrete evidence. Not speculation.
Jim, I understand your frustration. You need proof before you are willing to believe a speculative claim. While there is more circumstantial evidence that Pujols was signed because the TV deal was going to be larger than previously thought, there is SOME circumstantial evidence that it COULD have been increased or at leased “cinched” at a higher amount during negotiation because Pujols had signed his contract (or was known to be signing it). I don’t know how one gathers “concrete” proof for this (whatever that means) unless some insider comes out and admits things. That doesn’t happen very often in this business and even when business people “admit” the truth it doesn’t mean they are telling the truth due to a large variety of legal and PR reasons. So what kind of proof are we looking for? A media exec admitting the Pujols deal pushed the TV deal into a higher bracket? No one is admitting that if they ever want to get hired again (if that even happened).
I think it is okay to speculate that it was likely a little of both happening. The Angels are in Pujols market because of an impending TV deal they know will be larger than expected, and signing Pujols ensures the TV deal will be at a higher amount than without Pujols. Why would that not be the case?
@Begone Spenglerd (parody) if I were to tell you that the Earth is flat, it would be up to me to provide proof. I can’t just say “Use your brain, it’s common sense.”
Well… I guess technically I could. But not without sounding like an idiot.
So, once again, without sounding like an idiot, what would constitute proof?
Links to official reports from those involved or if you personally know someone involved and they told you gimme their name to confirm
“I want multi billion dollar companies to release detailed steps of their negotiations, when I know damn well Fox would never allow that to actually be publicly confirmed because they were about to fight for the dodgers TV rights”
Or. Better yet. I want someone to break their non disclosure agreement over a multi BILLION dollar deal, and I want their name to be spewed over the internet so they can get sued for breach of contract!
You know damn well this is impossible even if Halo is correct. You’re a waste of time Jim. You have no interest if this is actually correct. You don’t actually care, you’re just being a troll. You will only accept impossible evidence. Fox will NEVER allow that to be leaked, because they’d be played like fools in every future negotiation.
You’re not worth the time.
Fox can do what they want. It just seems weird for Halo11Fan to so vehemently insist that Pujols alone got the Angels that $3B TV contract with absolutely ZERO evidence. And then bang his head against the wall and scream “It’s common sense!” when asked to provide evidence.
Cmon Jim. You know everyone in those negotiations have insanely tight NDAs, Fox and Moreno and everyone in between. You’re parading around that Halo11 couldn’t find something that likely cannot be legally printed.
Proud of you. Great stance
Odd of him to so steadfastly insist that Pujols increased the value of the Angels’ TV deal at all (let alone by over a billion dollars) if that stuff can’t legally be printed as you say. When you make claims like that, you are expected to back it up. Like if I were to say that the Earth is flat, I would be expected to back it up.
Sign with the Cards for fun
Now release Moreno, please. Thanks I’m advance.
No one releases Moreno
So what changed?
Should sign a 1 day contract with St Louis and play 1 more game
Cardinals need to sign him…just to have him in clubhouse!
Surprised no one would take him if the Angels ate most of the remaining salary. Says what MLB thinks of Pujols. Not a great contract. Should have been an 8 year deal. The Cards weren’t going to sign him.
Wow. So does he just hang it up or will he play somewhere else that needs a DH? Sad to see him go out if its not on his own terms.
A DH should be able to hit. From 2017 through today his OPS+ is 85.
I know it’s hard to see it now but one day it will be a Braves/Angels World Series.
48 the only way you will see a Braves/Angels WS is on your playstation 5 playing MLB 2021.
He had 5 home runs. Team leader. Weird.
Team leader with 5 homers??? Shohei has 9, Trout 8, Jared Walsh has 6. He’s tied with Upton for 4th on roster but he has a .622 OPS even with the 5 homers
Speaking of Upton…..He should be the next one to go but he has one more season to go after this.
Otani has 9
I think he meant he’s a leader for his team…
Why all the negativity? hes probaly the best hitter any of us have seen in our lifetime whos under 30 years old, multiple WS wins, over 600 home runs, the worst thing he did in his career was agree to be paid a ton of money? i wish i had that problem of someone throwing xx amounts at me$, his problem simply as age and injurys, i hope he does retire, just for the fact he can no longer play. Great guy, awsome player, Even though STL lost the 04 world series against my red sox, it was fun seeing how talented he truly is.
Because it was an awful contract. That’s not his fault, unless you believe the age thing, but it’s still a reason to be negative about his tenure if you’re an Angels fan.
I don’t see how the age thing would make it his fault anyway. 10 years was a mistake the day it was signed no matter how old he was.
It’s his fault if you believe he lied about his age because he’s misrepresenting himself. Do you think he’d get the same yrs or $ if his age was different?
I think giving him 10 years was stupid whether he was 31 or 33. It’s not like it was a good decision that was made worse because of his misrepresentation.
“ It’s his fault if you believe he lied about his age because he’s misrepresenting himself. Do you think he’d get the same yrs or $ if his age was different?”
He was hurt. That’s the real Crux. Arte signed him when he had a chronic injury and thought he could play through it. His decline had nothing to do with maybe being a couple years older or not.
About his age, after 9/11, it’s very difficult to lie about your age. You pretty much have to assume the identity of another person. Until I see evidence recharging that, I believe he’s 41 years old. And he’s aged like a 41 year old. His last good year was 2016.
cards “offended” his huge ego by initially offering 6 year cheap contract. in the end marlins, cards and angels all offered 10 year contracts.
Not diminishing his accomplishments, but his teammate, Mike Trout, is a better hitter under 30 than Trout.
Uhhhh, no Trout isn’t. Pujols numbers are better than Trout across the board before 30
You are actually wrong about that StlCardsfan. Stat line, sure. If you take into account how others were playing at the same time (using OPS+), Trout is the better hitter. Hitting was much better around the league during Albert’s peak. Albert’s OPS+ through age 29 was 172, Trout’s is 180 (same calculation method). Trout’s best hitting season (not including this year) is 198 OPS+, Pujols’ was 192. Albert’s WAR through age 29 was 73.8 and Trout’s is already 76.1 with 121 less games played.
Fair enough
Wasn’t it part of the deal that he would be a special advisor for another 10 years after he retired?
He’s 45 and well past retirement age.
Thankful for his charity work but he did get his last two contracts under obviously false pretenses.
One of the greatest hitters of all time (pre-LA days). Always thought he’d finish second all time on the homer list.
Wow. I thought they’d keep pushing him out there helping him to get 700. This is surprising to say the least.
that’s impossible. he’d have to play until he’s 60.
No doubt it was an amicable decision. He’s likely heading back to St Louis for his farewell.
There is no way Perry, Arte, or any other MLB franchise that would simply release one of its all time greatest players just because.
Helluva career, sir. Thanks for coming to Angels and delighting us fans. Wish it could ended differently, but much respect to Albert and his family. Thank you.
“There is no way Perry, Arte, or any other MLB franchise that would simply release one of its all time greatest players just because.”
He was a great player, he wasn’t a great player for them.
Gotta believe that it was at his request. Probably a 1 day deal with the cards and then riding off into retirement.
Right, that makes the most sense.
It might make the most sense for fans, but not for the front office. Cardinals barely have the roster flexibility to have Matt Carpenter around, much less Pujols too. I just don’t see it on a 1st Place Team.
What I hope is that his release kills his 10 year post-career service contract with the Angels so Pujols can come back and wear his red jacket along with all of the other Redbird legends sooner rather than later.
I think you miss read my comment. I’m talking about a 1 day deal so he can retire a Cardinal officially.
Thanks for pointing that out. Apologies. That is a better idea for sure.
Yikes!! I’m thinking Pujol’s is not going to attend any Angel events in his post retirement anytime soon lol. Maybe having Phil Gosselin start at DH and hitting 6th while Pujols was on the bench last night was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
The Angels are just a terrible organization. Not that it is news to many…
For releasing a guy who should have retired after 2019?
For pretty much every move they make.
Bart before you make that statement stop and think: who in any profession retires and walks away from that much money (medical issues aside). If he retired they don’t have to pay. Would you leave you paycheck just because you were performing as well as 5 years ago?
Wilt Chamberlain?
Barry Sanders?
You mean ‘if you were under=performing as well as 5 years ago’? Dude lied about his age. He made roughly $250 mil on the contract after the 2019 season. He has hurt his legacy by continuing to play for $$$.
You think teams don’t exercise some due diligence before handing out those contracts? They knew what to expect and made a calculated risk that he would bring a title during the “good” years. It’s the system – don’t hate the player for playing.
Trade for Freeman now the Braves will never pay him. Maybe can get something for him.
First, the Braves won’t trade Freeman.
Second, the Angels like Walsh enough to let him show what he can do for a full season, so they won’t trade for Freeman either.
On to the White Sox with LaRussa?
[salutes]
Wonder if this was at his own request. Maybe knew time was short and he wanted to do something like play one more game in a Cardinals uniform.
Prediction… Cards get him and release Carpenter!
Prediction. Cards release Carpenter and the Angels sign him while the Cards sign Pujols.
Since Pujols was DFA’d, if something like that happens, you’d think the Cards would trade Carp for Pujols, with Anaheim paying the difference in the salaries.
Carp might help the Angel’s, pujols would be fun back in st.louis but offer little on the field value. But the cards owners like more money and pujols would bring fans to the seats
Wow, that is unexpected, but justified. Heck of a career
Whoa, this is crazy.
I can’t say I’m upset about it, but why do this now? The only thing has to be that he has some opportunity somewhere else. I find it hard to believe they just would drop this on Albert without him being part of the conversation. Maybe the White Sox? At this point, he’s below replacement-level so there is a bit of addition-by-subtraction here, but he meant a lot to the team and to Trout personally, so what kind of fallout happens there? I’ll be interested in seeing how this develops. Feels like this might be more for Albert than the Angels…
Apparently, Pujols was upset not to be in the lineup last night. It was at the order of the front office. Only my opinion but maybe he was turning into clubhouse poison.
If this is the end then thanks for the exciting times, Albert! Class act guy, would have liked to see his final chapter have a lil happier ending.
I’m watching the Cards game and Brad Thompson is saying that he’s “hearing” that Pujols wants to keep playing. I don’t know if Thompson has ties to anyone who could actually speak to that. Give that whatever credit you want, but it would suggest that Pujols didn’t want to be released so he could retire.
“Shocking end.” Shocking to who exactly? I feel 90% of people who paid attention knew this would happen towards the tail end the moment the contract was signed, and the remaining 10% knew it would happen after watching him over the past 5 seasons.
its shocking in the sense that “why this soon in the season?” if the angels just liked a better lineup after the sample games so far, makes sense. the angels came out hot to begin the season, but have limped back to their old ways. maybe Albert could of pitched a bit seeing how horrible the pitching is. Find him some playing time there lol.
He’s producing more than Lindor. This seems harsh. Also this is clearly sarcasm. Sorry Mets fans. Lindor will be fine. Just let me have my moment.
He should try cheating like Stanton is this year
CWS? LaRussa connection? Someone’s gotta pick him up right? It’s just not right to let this be the end of what has been one of the best MLB careers ever.
Reds without Votto….Brewers 1B is a black hole….he could resurface playing AGAINST the Cardinals.
lol yeah why not have him resurface with the Brewers at 1b, the team already has one -0.7 war 1b and another -0.5 war 1b. His -0.5 war would fit right in to the teams seeming philosophy at first. lol. It’s not like the bar has been set very high. haha.
Miguel Cabrera should be next, but alas dear Tiger faithful…
It was their late owner’s dying wish that Miggy completes his contract, I believe.
That’ll never happen. His contract, no matter how ridiculous for the end of the Big Man’s career, was a gift from late-owner Mike Illich. He knew the contract was lopsided, but wanted to be sure Cabrera was a Tiger for life.
Plus, look what they did for Victor Martinez. Dude could barely run and the Tigers still played him and treated him with the utmost respect. The Detroit Tigers and Angels of Anaheim are not the same organization.
No particular reason. The Tigers are rebuilding, playing sub-.300 ball, and they don’t have an Ohtani or a Walsh to fill the 1B and DH spot. They’ll hang onto him until they have better options and a better team. Question is, will that happen before his contract runs out?!
I mean, he’s been terrible. But, on his final year of a Hall of Fame career?
Not sure which is more disgraceful.
Will he file for unemployment in two weeks?
He can just wait a few months and get Social Security ha ha.
Probably, because based on the policies of the socialist state of California, he would make more on unemployment than if he stayed working.
Muting a fool
No one cares, you don’t need to announce it.
Caitlyn Jenner will turn it around.
Not sure why people are surprised, this is what happens with players who cannot produce at the end of these sorts of contracts. Chris Davis will be next. There have been rumors they would eat the rest of Pujols’ contract and release him in the final year for a while now. I personally thought it was going to happen last year, but then the pandemic cut into the total value of the deal, which gave them an incentive to keep him around. You wish they’d keep him out of respect, but they want to try and compete.
CD isnt a first ballot HOFer who is chasing some all time milestones in HR. I think it shows disrespect to one of the greatest to ever play the game. If you didnt want the end of his HOF career dont sign him till he is 41 or else live with the consequences of that and let the man take his curtain call.
If Pujols didnt want out the Angels suck. Shocking I know that a team owned by AM sucks. Guess the owner doesnt give two figs about the history and majesty of the game. He apparently doesnt like winning either since it takes work to miss the playoffs that much with Mike Trout for the league minimum. (I mean really if 29 other teams tried to suck that bad with Trout 10WAR/500k they couldnt do it on purpose.
This is ridiculous. The Angels owe him nothing but the money.
If this guy didn’t have his mega deal he would’ve been out of the league 2 years ago. He’s a DH who bats 20% below the league average. A guy like that isn’t sniffing the big leagues.
You play to win. Not to play around with nostalgia. He’s not good anymore. And he never was a superstar in Anaheim.
More ways you are wrong. The Angles know this is about legacy thats why they signed a future HOFer to a deal paying him till he is 41 with a bunch of other legacy stuff attached to the deal. They sure want to market AP the HOF with his 10 year retention agreement, but letting him play out the string on a season when he would become the all time no steriods HR leader is to much for a sub .500 team from a season ago mired in the basement of the division.
Stop worrying about AP and try to build a rotation that doesnt look like a AAA castoff party.
Your not making the playoffs and just lost all the marketing of Pujols final year. So yeah LAA should have embraced the legacy since thats all they have. Enjoy watching OAK/SEA/HOU play in OCT since you wont be there. Hope Mike Trout likes NBA pre-season games since thats his OCT.
If he “didn’t care about winning”, he’d keep Pujols in the lineup, so there goes your first argument.
If Pujols really wants to get those milestones, then he’ll do it on merit and shouldn’t have a problem getting playing time elsewhere. If he struggles to land a decent gig, is it still Arte Moreno’s fault?
The Angels are already paying him millions of dollars to either sit at home, or play somewhere else – what more do you want? They don’t owe him playing time, because he’s bad at baseball right now, and has been for a while.
I wonder what Trout is thinking right now. Pujols was his mentor.
Agree. Trout and Pujols were bud’s. Hard to believe this didn’t have Mike and Albert’s stamp of approval. If not, Mike’s going to be pissed.
To me Trout has been playing a little angrier this year. Not towards the fans of course, but just in his gameplay. I wonder what he will say tonight after the game, not sure if he will address it prior to the game. Currently in a 4 game slide, multiply injuries and roster changes, and now this. There’s gotta be more to the story here.
Trout is thinking he may suffer the same fate in the last year of his contract.
Weird. Did they offer him the graceful exit of announcing his retirement as the Yankees did with A-Rod and the Red Sox did with Pedroia?
He doesnt want to retire! DUH. Pujols was smelling the all time HR record and had to correct people this spring when they thought his wife was implying he was done after this one. Dude really wanted to pass Bonds 100% and now we get the sad situation where he looks for another gig while everyone watches and knows we’re only in this sad state because the LAA couldnt take there medicine on the deal they signed.
Jesus Christ every time I read one of your posts on this it’s worse.
The Angels, who want to make the playoffs, should “take their medicine” and play Albert Pujols because he wants to pass someone on a HR list? A truly idiotic comment.
No team with the hopes of being competitive is giving this guy everyday at bats.
Jbig your an idiot I never post on here, including barely at all on this one, and I havent commented on an article in months. GJ being both wrong and a d*uch!
Yes you dont tell Jordan to F off or if you do you end up with the last dance. You should show respect to one of the most respected players that will ever wear an LAA uniform. How many other greats get a chance for a farewell tour before the first ballot HoF. Also my comment was about APs obvious state of mind. I just think if you trade for Vernon Wells you have to take your medicine. Keep Staning for Arte though Baseballs worst most meddlesome owner appreciates your super fandom. CJ says high Hamilton too, but you cant let AP pass hammerin Hank this season on his way to Cooperstown.
50 YEARS FROM NOW BASEBALL FANS WILL STILL TALK ABOUT ALBERT PUJOLS NOBODY WILL GIVE A FIG OVER WhoTF ARTE MORENO IS!
Mike Trout 78WAR/189M 0 Playoff wins in 3 games over 9 years. So with that level of ineptitude you would think you could give Pujols a good sendoff in a year they again wont be in the playoffs ;P do right by your HoF thats all you get this year once Sept ends.
The guy who isn’t going to go in an Angels hat? In a year when you have Rendon and Trout under mega deals? They aren’t trying to make the postseason? They should instead cater to a washed up future HOFer, who never played that way in Anaheim?
I’m sure minasian, who did not ink that contract, would love to bow down to Pujols and make his team worse. That is next level stupid. Pujols would not have been on a major league roster last year if he did not have a mega contract. Nobody owes him anything.
p.S. Michael Jordan never stunk at basketball. So that’s a tangent that really doesn’t work. Albert Pujols stinks at baseball right now.
Miggy next.
Yes, please!
I would have released him after he tried to tag up from 1st base on a lazy fly ball to left field on Monday
Hell, the Reds could use him for a few weeks. Dude loves GABP
First Ballot Hall of Fame player. I hope the Cards pick him up at least on a 1day contract and start him that game.. He was at his best in the NL
Would really like him to stick around if he thinks he can pull off 30 more HR’s the next year or two to pass A-Rod…
Cabrera, Cano and Davis should be next.
Robbie might pop for roids again and save Cohen a ton of money. Wouldn’t blame him for waiting.
Cano was still very productive in 2020. They won’t cut him until he shows he no longer has anything in the tank. Miggy is on a bad team with no replacement for him, so he’ll likely survive the next two years. Have no idea why Davis is still on the Orioles.
Davis only 5 HR’s short of 300 for his career. Orioles have to pay him anyway and aren’t going to make the playoffs even if they cut him so might make sense to just let him get to 300.
Should have been DFA’ed 6 years ago
Wow! Didn’t see that coming! Miggy is still hanging on in Detroit.
Miggy’s legacy is in Detroit. The fans there can point to him and remember when he was great. They can say they brought their kids to see Miggy before he donned a Tigers cap in Cooperstown. He’s a draw on a team that didn’t have designs on winning.
Pujols is none of those here in Anaheim. He’s a hired gun who never performed and will not wear an Angels cap in the Hall.
Miggy also a hired gun. Came up through the Marlins’ system and it was with them that he won his only ring.
If I’m Mike Trout, why would I stay with the team that I know for a fact is going to treat me like garbage at the end. No matter how good and loyal I was.
See above. Trout is an Angels legacy player through and through. And he’s a great player.
Pujols was a hired gun who never performed. There’s a huge difference.
And it was Pujols who said he’d rather be released than see his playing time drop. The franchise granting him his wish isn’t treating him like garbage.
Says the Angels fan…Angels should consider themselves lucky Trout is such a great guy….no one would blame him if he demanded a trade
Most of the time people say Trout doesn’t want to win because he signed a huge deal here.
Now the team makes a move to drop dead weight and try to win and you say he should demand a trade.
I get it, you all want Trout, but he’s here and he’s the best player in generations. It sucks Arte meddles and blows the budget on guys like Pujols or else Trout would have a better team. I’m more frustrated than anyone else here.
But Trout’s not leaving. He loves it here. And hopefully his loyalty is rewarded with a better team. This is a start towards making that happen.
Like Trout has a choice about staying with the club.
Yeah dude is under contract for a long long time. This also isnt the NBA where he can just tell Arte to F off Harden style and trade him.
Doesn’t trout have a full NTC and 10-5 rights? He surely controls his destination
Not shocked
Understand why, but its an underwhelming end to an incredible career.
Wish Albert had gotten a “retirement season” send off like Mariano Rivera or Jeter to cap his career.
Jeter and Rivera only played for 1 team though
It’s unfortunate he had to be DFA’d but his contract is a sunk cost and is a liability for the team to win. Great career though, Albert!
Would they take Chris Davis?
At least Pujoks can still swing the bat
Hoping he catches on with the Cardinals and finishes it out there
One of the BEST EVER! He will still get his money! If you remember we went to bed low those many years ago thinking Albert was coming back to St. louis. Then some owner person wanted a NAME PLAYER, so they OVER PAID, got what he was at that time. If a STUPID HUMAN shows up at your place today and offers you STUPID MONEY you would do the same. I would love to have him back in St. louis but do not see it happening at all. Release Matt Carpenter sign Albert, vanity on my part. Best action would be to sign the one day contract, retire a St. louis Cardinal. LA CANNOT possibly appreciate Albert as a Cardinals fan did, does and will!!!!
It had to come eventually. Sad to see him go. A great player and person. HOF is next.
Can he play Centefield? Right now that slash would be an improvement for the Phillies.
He can’t play CF or any field. lol
that’s not necciraily worse then what we already have.
I thought his contract contained a deal where he would remain with the Angel’s in the front office beyond this season? I wonder if that is still a thing or was it even ever a thing….?
Yes, it does $1M per year for 10 years once he’s retired
We’ll probably get more details, but as I referenced above, teams will give HOF players the graceful exit. Hal Steinbrenner flew up to meet with A-Rod and offered him the option of announcing his retirement in season, and keep in mind the Yankees and A-Rod had a choppy relationship. That indicates to me that Pujols was offered retirement and declined, saying he still wants to play. Fine for him to want that, but he should realize he’s done. Running into the occasional HR won’t keep you at DH or 1B, especially with Ohtani and Walsh on the team.
Good point, but let’s not compare A Rod to Pujols….A Rod caught twice with steroids…he was lucky the Yanks gave him that option
One was caught, one wasn’t? 🙂
Regardless, that’s the point. The Yankees gave him respect. Maybe Albert wouldn’t let the Angels do the same. Hard to say though. Anything is possible with Moreno as owner.
Surprised, but I guess I shouldn’t be. And I certainly don’t blame Pujols for the contract: no one forced the Angels to offer him that many years. I can’t imagine that any team would take him at this point, with or without the contract.
wasnt it the Marlins crazy as it sounds that were the runners up in FA for AP? I want to say it was only slightly less then the LAA offered. STL I remember was down to have him back but only at the price they wanted that was much lower.
Hello Rick Hahn! Could use his bat for the White Sox. Plus he knows Tony LaRussa.
Freeman here we come
The angels should really focus on their farm system instead of free agents. For over a decade now they seem to focus on free agents that have used up the majority of their prime on the teams that drafted and developed them. It’s almost as if they’re planning on lucking into another Trout or something, who’s prime is soon coming to a close.
Would love to see StL pick him up but understand with no DH in NL it might be rough.
Great Career, he changed the game of baseball forever. Came out of Dominican Republic with not much, and changed Cardinals history during/after the steroid era. Truly created a dynasty for the team, and baseball will always cherish his presence. Sign with the Cardinals as a tribute, then retire. One of the greatest of all time, and I am honored to watch him play. God bless
Just goes to show how many of these mega contracts are going to be so horrible.
Miggy and Pujols were prob the best pure hitters of our generation and they haven’t even been able to hit their weight in recent years.
They didn’t get paid for their recenr years though.
Exactly. They get paid for production at the front end – the down years balance that out. If Pujols was going to be productive for 10 years, he’d have negotiated for 12, and someone would have paid just to get him. Teams signing guys for 10 years, are really only expecting 6 or 7 years of plus-plus production.
Some fans genuinely have the expectation of guys on mega contracts being positive value for the entire length of it – things just don’t work like that.
Until Trout.
“For nearly half of his Hall of Fame career”
Yeah, the crap half… I’ll admit as a Mariners fan, I was terrified when he signed with the Angels. However, he’s been more kitten than lion and for that I am thankful.
Mariners fans have so much more to worry about with there own team before thinking about the rest of the devision bub. Make a roster that can make the playoffs that doesnt have Arod and Griff on it finally and then worry about the competition. I have always been fond of the M’s, but its criminal to miss the playoffs every season with a player of king Felixs calibre for that decade there.
The last line of the article suggests that maybe it wasnt a mutual agreement. You would think that the Angels would allow him his last game in an Angels uniform in order to say goodbye and for fans to snap some pics of a historic player.
Again, a desperately needed move, but he deserves nothing but respect as he leaves.
You’d like to know what went on behind closed doors, but in the end it’s irrelevant. He hasn’t been an asset for a long while (negative cumulative BWAR since 2016). Assuming he’s done, those are some fancy lifetime numbers, and a certain trip to the HOF. As much as people ridicule his recent past, at his (sustained) peak, he put up stats not often really seen in decades.
A lot of the big contracts are going to end this way.
A negative -0.5 WAR in 24 games wasn’t helping his cause..
Long overdue. He’s broken and terrible – yes terrible. He was a god in St. Louis but flat out P00 in Anaheim. Later!
Just because Babe Ruth is out of gas he is still Babe Ruth, and you treat him and his career with the respect that greatness deserves. Pujols has also always been a good person with none of the Ty Cobb esq baggage.
There is circumstantial evidence that this is not so. In Monday nights game Pujols tried to tag from first to second on a lazy flyball and was easily thrown out. Last night he threw a fit because he wasnt in the lineup. It could be that Pujols forced the Angels hand.
Do you have any idea how much disrespect dude has probably already received from MLBs worst owner. Arte thanks you Loria and McCourt for leaving the title to him!
The Yankees traded Ruth at the end of his career to the Boston Braves. Ruth Wanted to manage and was mislead in the deal about him managing in the future for the Braves. It appears that the Yankees were aware of the deception. Not exactly treated with respect.
Look for An A.L. team to sign him for prorated minimum. He still has power. He could DH, occasionally start, and pinch hit.
I’d wonder whether another team would really want him….it’s a lot of publicity, releasing him would be more publicity, and it’s not like what he offers couldn’t otherwise be found elsewhere. He hasn’t had an OPS+ of over 91 in six years. Some of the older sluggers like Frank Thomas and Thome retained more value late in their career,
Doesn’t he have a 10 year FO deal when the playing deal ends? Or was that a rumor years ago that I hung onto? Lol
Yes..his contract includes a 10 year personal service contract. Pays him 10 million when he retires….however if he represents another team it is void. If he wants to go in hall with cards hat..it is void. Its a choice he will have to make.
Straight-up trade Pujols for Chris Davis.
More like Chilli Davis 🙂
Sucks to see it happen, but this was an absolutely necessary move. Now that the shock has worn off this is a sign that Angel GM
Perry Minasian is not playing any games. This is his roster and his team and he’s Doing what needs to be done
Trouble in River City. Trouble starts with T and that rhymes with P and that stands for Pujols.
“41 year old…” haha that’s hilarious!!!
If he’s 41 I’ll eat my shorts.
So he goes into the hall wearing a Halo cap, right!?
I joke I joke. Pretty unceremonious exit, especially if it truly centered around a lineup decision
And Monday nights little league baserunning mistake trying to tag up on a lazy fly ball.
Hall of Famer as a Cardinal. A wash, typical free agent as an Angel, where the team shells out megabucks and the player becomes mediocre. St. Louis already has Door Matt Carpenter, they don’t need to waste a roster space for another DH type who can’t produce. Just saying good bye to Albert. is good enough.
Maybe he will just retire instead.
what i am angry at is team’s terrible records and pitching. minasian had a chance to make the angels really great but totally blew it. and he is trying to put that on pujols. perry the dumb caca!
Back to the cardinals
The Reds need a 1B for the next month or so, while Votto’s thumb is on the mend. It could be a good fit, plus when Votto returns he’d be a good platoon.
Another well-past-his-prime slugger who can’t get on base? That’s Reinsdorf’s specialty. Dunn, LaRoche, Griffey, Jr., and more can attest to that. The real problem is Reinsdorf seems to always be living at least three years in the past, more often 5-10. He likely doesn’t see what Pujols currently is, only what he was.
Somebody let Arte Moreno know that Pujols is now available. If he hurries, he can sign him to a 10 year deal quick! Oh, and Josh Hamilton and CJ Wilson are available too! Make a splash, Arte!
Would be a complete waste if the Cardinals didn’t sign him to play one series at home. I’m looking at May 21-23 vs the Cubs. Too much money to lose not to do it.
You are limited to the amount of fans there. So no money at all to lose not to do it.
If a team takes him,wouldn’t it be for 225.000 or the league minimum?..why would a team not take a chance on him, change of scenery could get him to hit 270,, imagine him being a d.h./1b in Colorado, or Baltimore.
I understand some Cardinal fans hard on for Pujols, but the team has no need for an underachieving 1st Baseman when we already have one in Matt Carpenter. I think his playing days are pretty much done.
The Cardinals really parted ways with him exactly at the right time.
that’s exactly why cards offered pujols a 10 year contract in desperation! yeah, so right!
I’m crying and shaking and convulsing and pulsating right now. This is not how first ballot Hall of Famer Albert Pujols was supposed to go out. I think I’m gonna vomit
Lately at the end of the season its the Angles, Mariners and the Rangers in some order at the bottom of the West…kind of think that will be this September also. The Ms and the Angles want to fool us into thinking they are better than the Rangers…and that is about it.
So this move will vault us into September in May…But it had to be done. We had to look the other away when Felix pitched his the last few years in Seattle.
Wow. Kinda shocking but not shocking at the same time. Look, Braves always need a bench presence. Would love to have him at league minimum … doesn’t make a ton of sense, but Freddie is struggling and I wouldn’t mind having that pop on the bench.
As a fan, it stinks to see a living legend be treated this way. We all want to see him reach 700HRs in a game where stats are all that matters .
But can’t expect much more from a team that is already wasting the career of the best player in our generation . Keep up the good work Angels .
Pujols aged like a guy not on steroids
Unlike Cano 🙂
Steve, I’m sure you and others will bristle at this suggestion, but he is certainly not revered by me. He is a cheater, plain and simple. once he signed the big money deal he stopped and that explains his sudden drop-off. I have no proof, of course. And I know that speculation will piss people off. But I strongly believe it.
There really wasn’t a sudden drop off. Had a fairly standard looking decline for a great hitter. He peripherals were showing signs of decline his very last year as a Cardinal. Nothing alarming, but his swing percentages had some red flags, but certainly in line with a guy who was now in his early 30s. The signs of some age were showing up. A collapse wasn’t imminent, but decline was. His OPS+ had dropped to 148, the lowest of his career. Dropped further his first year as an Angel, at 138. Still productive, but he was showing age. His first six years as an Angel he had a 127 OPS+ through his mid-30s. Once again, good, but not prime Albert. He was in decline. Collapse didn’t hit until his late 30s, and that’s exactly what you’d expect from a player NOT on PEDs.
I wouldn’t bet my life he didn’t take PEDs because I believe most players did during that period. Just saying there is no proof. He never failed a single test over two-plus decades.
Nice post. The only player I would bet my house that didn’t take PEDs was David Eckstein.
Not because he’s a saint, but one of his kidneys was going to be used to save a family members life.
I know of some players that took roids that others don’t. But I don’t know for a fact any player that didn’t take roids.
There was probably a wide range of some experimenting, and some turning it into a science like Bonds. I think it was a former Angel, Wally Joyner, who said he tried it but then stopped. Just wasn’t for him, yet I can understand the temptation as an athlete to stay great, or certainly remain relevant. It’s the guys on the fringe who should be most tempted if they believe they’re competing for a job against other fringe players on PEDs. MLB’s tolerance (read money) of PEDs drove PED usage by creating both the perception and reality of an uneven playing field.
Frank thomas for 1, braves big 3 pitchers for another
Strongly believing things that you have no proof of is ok in church, but you should re-evaluate adopting this strategy in the rest of your life.
Terrible contract! Arte is still hurting about that contract. Pujols had a great career. However, he was “looking a gift horse in the mouth” by shooting off his mouth about playing when he could no longer produce at the MLB level. Pujols should have kept his mouth shut. Angels would have given him a “victory tour” around baseball for his retirement year…..Pujols ticked off Arte big time for it to end like this…
The contract was tied into a huge regional TV deal he signed. That’s what pushed Moreno to give out that deal. Financially, Moreno did fine. So did Albert.
Wow. The end of an error…..errr….era
Finally the angels do something right lol
a-heh-heh, you said “poo-holes”, a-heh-heh!
Without Fowler they don’t have a major league caliber right fielder. Not that Fowler was great either. The young guys aren’t ready and Walsh was good enough in right to stay there. The other options aren’t any better than Albert, should have let him ride out his final year.
Fowler is terrible.
Let me tell you what will happen by Memorial day.
Adell or Marsh, whichever one is doing better at Salt Lake City, will be the Angels RF.
I’d be shocked if they both struggle, but if they both struggle, neither will be up.
Adell outhit Rojas this spring and everyone raved about Rojas’ hitting.
Albert seemed to always have a chip on his shoulder. It likely drove him, so it’s part of who he is and what made him great, yet it probably also drove him to make a couple of decisions that weren’t necessary. He didn’t need every last dollar. He was a legend in St. Louis and they offered a very lucrative nine-year deal. He should have taken it, retired a lifetime Cardinal, and avoided being cut in the end. I think the ego, that chip on his shoulder, that drove him to the Angels also didn’t allow him to recognize it’s over now. He could have had the money, the lifetime deal to stay a Cardinal, and his dignity at the end.
Pujols was unhappy
====================================
Amazing. The dude hasn’t earned a penny of the $150,000,000 he made over the past 6 years, with a cumulative bWAR of -0.1, and he is unhappy?
Boo-fracking-hoo! And I have no idea why it took the Angels so many years to realize that he could no longer play.
I hope the Mets figure it out earlier with Lindor
JoeBrady: “I have no idea why it took the Angels so many years to realize that he could no longer play.”
Because he still had great marketing value. And that is what Arte Moreno values above all else. One the field, he’s ben a very expensive anchor.
So, what about that 10-year personal services contract he has with the Angels?
Shocking might be a bit of an overstatement.
This move makes little sense. If you’re going to cut the guy and put a wrinkle in the relationship, it should have been done 3 years ago. You’ve lasted this long, might as well finish it out and let him complete his contract.
One could argue that they were still hopeful he would find a good season or two at the end. At this point, it’s 100% clear he’s done, so out he goes.
They invested a lot in him, so it makes sense they would stretch their patience as far as it could go. You, me, and most others would have cut him already..but it’s not our money.
“Shockwaves through the baseball world” – how much hyperbole can we pack into one article? It’s not like he’s being cut at the peak of his performance ability. He’s a has been.
“Would no doubt give Cards fans chills” – chills in what way? That the team would be carrying another useless, immobile bench bat in addition to Carpenter? Who is clamoring for that?
“In a shocking move…” Is it, really? This is a move that was going to happen at some point this year. Hardly shocking. Walsh can it, they need his LH bat in the lineup and Pujols just isn’t good at doing any baseball things anymore. As an Angels fan, I have wanted this for some time.
Not shocking. More like overdue.
crazy
All the suggestion of him playing somewhere else is just polite talk right? He’s not really going to go play at a negative war level and embarrass himself more is he?
So Arte valued (Fox) money more than a quality contract upon ink …
It certainly fits the mold….I have no clue why Angel fans still support Arte Moreno today …..
If he wasn’t in Always sunny in SoCal he’d have a hard time eating out on the town : but here, he probably signs autographs to a smiling audience before his steak is served
Cap & Crunch: ….I have no clue why Angel fans still support Arte Moreno today …..
I don’t support Moreno. He’s basically an out of towner who bought a successful team with massive fan support in a baseball-crazy community and slowly turned it into a joke. The team hasn’t won a playoff game in over a decade….and he just blackmailed the city into giving his a stupidly huge deal to keep him from moving the franchise elsewhere.
It’s sad to see the end of his great career.. but he has not performed well in a long time.. the angels are goi g to pay all that money till the years over anyway, so why not find someone that can out perform Albert.. I’m not saying it should be adell I’d like to see Marsh try.. or someone that can at least hit
Wow. I have to believe someone will sign Pujols for the league minimum. A reunion with Tony LaRussa perhaps?
One word: trashy. Shame on you Artie.
For not cutting him earlier?
I’d rather have Pujols than Carpenter.
No you wouldn’t. Pujols can’t play any position, and it’s the NL. Carpenter isn’t a good defender these days, but he can at least take the field.
Congratulations to Pujols on an amazing career. There comes a time for every player where their mind and their body are on different pages. The Angels let it drag on for a bit too long and it hurt them.
It’s time for other teams to make similar moves, eating contracts of washed players and simply moving on. Cabrera in Detroit, Davis in Baltimore, Heyward in Chicago…
…,Lindor in NY
Nobody ever talks about his true age. I’m 50 and he’s at least a couple years older than me. It explains why he started regressing significantly in, according to his reported age, in his early to mid 30’s.
too much geritol
I would’ve got rid of Upton before Pujols…
See you in Cooperstown, Albert……
…..tickets are $24.99.
……wait a minute…..
Still more walks than K’s for his entire career.
angels screwed the pooch holes
no final at bat send off
They chose a desire to field a winning team over being sentimental. Pujols forced their hand by not retiring.
AP refused a reduced role and forced the issue. That’s on him.
“shockwaves through the baseball world”
Next host of Jeopardy
The proper move. Fans can be negative if they want, but this couldn’t have been an easy decision to make. Kudos to the Angels for getting it right. With the Callaway ruling probably coming soon, here’s to better times in Anaheim. Now go out and win some ballgames while Mike Trout is still the best player on the planet.
White Sox and Cardinals would be ideal destinations for Pujols but they do not have suitable positions for him, that’s sad to hear. Maybe he can be a contributor from the bench.
Have you watched him play lately? He would be a waste of a roster spot. If you have room for Pujols, it’s because your team isn’t any good.
Retirement is the ideal situation. Sign with the Cardinals for a day and ride off into the sunset.
Retirement is far from ideal when he clearly wants to chase 700
And to further that point. He has 5 bombs in 1/7th of the season in 2021. While I don’t expect him to maintain this power all year, that’s a 35 HR pace and would have him passing 700 at the end of this year or beginning of next year. There’s a lot of reason to expect him to sign a legitimate contract with a subpar AL team that is willing to deal with his below average play to try to get fans in the seats
THANK GOD the debacle is over.
I understand he was super-human in St Louis and a high character guy his whole career. But he’s been dragging the Angels down both financially and on the field for a very long time now.
Turn the page!
Love Albert but no MLB team wants or needs him. It would be fun to see what he could do in the KBO or NPB
PMac: “Love Albert but no MLB team wants or needs him. It would be fun to see what he could do in the KBO or NPB”
Not going to happen. AP’s motivation for years has been to add as much as he can to his counting stats. Can’t do that in the KBO or NPB. He’ll waive his no trade and Angels will pay him to go to any team that wants him for the marketing value.
What marketing value? If his marketing value wasn’t worth a roster spot in Anaheim why would it be worth more somewhere else?
A smaller market team with a tight budget, low attendance, and little chance of competing this year could take him just for a small bump in ticket sales and/or tv ratings. And he’ll basically be free to them salary-wise.
And he is a first round HOF guy who is internationally known and a national hero in the DR. He still has some marketing value. Thank God that isn’t the Angels problem anymore.
It didn’t help the Marlins when they brought in Ichiro.
I can’t see any MLB team bringing him in. I think he will just stay home before he goes to Asia. I was just musing that it would be fun to see. He could probably still mash decently over there
Pujols will never get in the Hall of Fame based on all the comments in this thread. Never realized he was hated so much.
formerdrdaftpick: “Pujols will never get in the Hall of Fame based on all the comments in this thread. Never realized he was hated so much.”
He’ll get in first round based on what he did in St Louis. He was overpriced but not terrible his first years with the Angels too. But his last six years or so with the Angels….he’s been a debacle….can’t run…..bit of a prima dona….etc. It’s very telling that the decision to sit him in some situations had to come from the front office instead of the manager. That’s not a good situation.
Too bad there’s no DH in the NL. It’d be much easier for him to find a spot.
A DH who can’t hit is useless.
Maybe Mets can sign him. He be there best player. He can play ss.
Super thankful to Albert for all that he’s done in Anaheim. What a great dude. I wish he had a send-off game before today’s events. He’s a great clubhouse guy and a living legend. He’s been declining fast, and faster these last few years, but he did so much more than just hit. Him and his wife have been big contributors to the community both in St. Louis and Anaheim. Thanks AP!
Unfortunately this was a necessary first step and long overdue
So, he gets the $30+ million golden handshake.
If no one signs him, would he be considered a PROFESSIONAL golfer?
careful, jeter gave golden handshakes
So did Moises Alou.
Piss him off enough to void that 10M service pact. SMH
I wonder if the Angels FO approached him and asked him to retire before they DFA’d him.
Give the Angels credit for making a bold move. The play of Albert Pujols today and going forward is subpar and detrimental to the team.
They chose not to capitalize on a farewell tour for Pujols but focus on the product on the field.
Still, Albert Pujols is outperforming Miguel Cabrera but we will see Cabrera for three more years.
Pujols is the next Mets hitting instructor.
Pujols has been nothing but true professional and standout human. It’s embarrassing that the Angels (Arte) decided to DFA a first ballot HOFer on his final year of his contract—and I’m a huge Angels fan. Classless move by the Angels.
Orange2002: “Classless move by the Angels.”
An aging, immobile, hugely overpriced, sub-replacement level player (for more than six years!) prima donna refuses to respect the team’s decision and be a situational player? Pujols forced this move by putting his need to run up counting stats over the welfare of the team. No one, no matter how great they were in their youth, should think they are bigger than the their team or the game. Good riddance.
That’s the issue here. Not that Pujols can’t play anymore, he probably could be a nice bench player. But he wants regular playing time to chase personal goals.
He couldn’t do the job anymore. He hasn’t been able to do the job for four years.
That’s the way sports is, and that’s the way sports should be.
If the Angels could go back in a time machine and know the future, they should have released him four years ago.
It about time Angels did what right for the team and that release the overpaid Albert.. Didn’t do much in his time with Angels..
Will he go into hall of fame as Angels nope, (most know for World Series with St. Louis, better half of his career was st. Louis) his downside of his career was Angels..
Got to applaud their GM for doing what best for the team and since it only 2nd month of season, still plenty of time in AL west to compete for Playoff spot it best if Albert wasn’t on the team..
Seattle will find way to end up next to last that is given, too many of their fans want the youth movement even if say Jarred K ends up failing when comes up to point they will be calling for their GM & Manager head because they don’t trust the process.
Texas is Texas no chance, they only have to worry about A’s & Astros…
Should have released him 3 yrs ago. It was a no brainer to release him before this season at minimum.
Cardinals Albert Pujols was one of the most dangerous, technically sound hitters. Can’t outrun Father Time. Cooperstown awaits. A unanimous 100%.
I can only imagine how much harder it would be to manage the Angels with a guy like Pujols on the roster. Under replacement-level for over six years and only will take orders from the front office….and even then gets upset if he doesn’t get his way. Maybe someday we’ll hear what it was like from Sosh, Ausmus and/or Joe.
Miggy is next.
No such luck. I think the Tigers will continue to use Miggy batting third for all of the next three years of his contract.
We’re all told at some point in time that we can no longer play the children’s game, we just don’t know when that’s going to be. Some of us are told at eighteen, some of us are told at forty, but we’re all told.
Moneyball.
We’re all told at some point in time that we can no longer play the children’s game, we just don’t know when that’s going to be. Some of us are told at eighteen, some of us are told at forty, but we’re all told.
Moneyball
A.P. has also hit 669 doubles along with his 667 home runs.
Very impressive…..
jorge78: A.P. has also hit 669 doubles along with his 667 home runs.
Very impressive…..
He looks untouchable in another counting stat….GIDP’s. His 403 makes him the all time leader… Cal Ripken, Jr., who also played 21 years, is second with 350…..
Wouldn’t it be a blast if he asked the Angels if he could
play at AAA “for the love of the game?
Yea, I know,
I’ll show myself out…..
Wouldn’t it be a blast if A.P. asked the Angels if he could keep playing at AAA for the love of the game?
Yea, I know,
I’ll show myself out now…..
Guess it’s time for him to take that 10 year, $1 million dollar a year Angels front office job that’s specified in his contract.
You know, because he needs the money…..
Shockwaves as these 10 year deals are a waste of money. What’s to become of the 10 year service contract pujols had or had with the angels post playing time?
You can’t say all 10 year deals are a waste of money. Signing a guy to a 10 year deal at 32 is not wise. I’ll take a ten year deal for a 25 year old stud and accept the risk. Pujols was signed as much to break records in Anaheim, than he was to help win games.
We are willing to trade for him snd shuttle him to Vegas for depth purposes. Bob Melvin
99.4 career War. I told someone a few years ago when he was over 100 War that he’d end up under it. Sure enough. HOFer nevertheless.
I believe he peaked out at 101.4 WAR. Some thought he might pass Gehrig in WAR for a 1B’man, but there wasn’t enough gas left in the tank. Negative WAR the last five seasons.
The only thing I can think is Al Avila stinks…….