Comments on: If Albert Pujols hits free agency, it’s a near certainty that both the Yankees and Red Sox will pursue him…

By: rcmartel

rcmartel — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 18:44:36 +0000

Type alert: “The net result, if 2001 is Posada’s last year…” should obviously be “The net result, if 2011 is Posada’s last year…”.

By: rcmartel

rcmartel — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 18:31:10 +0000

The Yankees are paying Posada $13 million. If they sign Pujols, they can have him share time at 1B and as DH with Teixeira and unload Posada. Pujols’ fielding is at least as good as Teixeira’s (he has greater range than Teixeira) and both of them would stay fresh all year.

The net result, if 2001 is Posada’s last year with the Yankees, would be to add about $17 million to the payroll for Pujols (assuming a $30 million per year contract) and probably improve the batting performance of both Pujols and Teixeira.

Of course, the Yankees need pitching too, but what team wouldn’t want Pujols’ bat in the lineup?

By: tcostant

tcostant — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 15:01:03 +0000

Look for the Nationals to offer 10 years and $300 million and then see if Pujols says no. He might not, if the next offer out there is only 8 years or less.

By: frankyd1214

frankyd1214 — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 21:53:18 +0000

The yanks FO should just persue so they drive up the market and make the Redsox (likely the place he lands) overpay like the Yankmees always end up doing. Atleast they are handcuffing a big chunk of change for the next 10 years that the Redsox cant spend somewhere else.

By: frankyd1214

frankyd1214 — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 21:49:39 +0000

Stupid yankmee fans. Jeter to the outfield next year…. tex and gay rod and fat albert splitting time all over the infield. U yankmee fans are clowns. U’ll get him just like you got Cliff lee.

Red SoX get him period.

By: primohomeinspections

primohomeinspections — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 14:42:56 +0000

2012
Posada bench player or takes catcher spot after great year
1b tex 125 games, pugols 37 games
2b Cano
SS jeter
3B A-Rod 100 games Pujols 62 games
DH pujols 50 games, arod, tex the rest
= pujols super utility player
or arod in the outfield, pujols 3b

By: uyf1950

uyf1950 — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 15:43:23 +0000

Gentlemen, while I do not believe what I am about to post will actually happen I do what to throw it out there as a remote possibility and also as “food for thought” about the Yankees and Pujols.
Currently the Yankees have team options on 2 outfielders. Granderson for 2012 and 2013 and Swisher for just 2012. What if the Yankees were to do the following:
. Go after Pujols (assuming he does hit the FA market) hard and actually sign him for say 8 years at $30MM per.
. The Yankees then trade either Granderson or Swisher. Freeing up a spot in the outfield.
. They move Jeter to right field or left field and put Gardner in one outfield spot and whichever person the didn’t trade (Granderson or Swisher) in the other spot.
. That leaves the SS position open. The Yankees can move Nunez in that spot or move ARod back and move Nunez over to 3rd base. Either move it doesn’t matter.
. Then the Yankees for 2012 have to work out Pujols and Tex. Perhaps not as difficult as it seems. If Tex struggles in 2011 with his BA as he has the past 2 years. Then Pujols plays defense 60 to 70% of the time and DH’s 30 to 40% of the time with Tex filling in the difference. If Tex doesn’t struggle then they split the time 50/50.
Summary, the Yankees saved approximately $15M in salary by trading either Granderson or Swisher moved Nunez to the infield permanently at minimal cost and found a spot for Jeter to finish out his contract/career.
I’m not saying this is a real possibility, but it does present an interesting concept or like I said “food for thought”.
BTW – I am apologizing in advance because I’m sure there is probably a mistake or two or three in this post.

By: uyf1950

uyf1950 — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 09:26:28 +0000

smokehouse56 – I’m sure the poster is referring to WS titles and he would be absolutely correct.

By: dan1111

dan1111 — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 09:11:26 +0000

Hope springs eternal.

By: dan1111

dan1111 — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 09:10:22 +0000

Point taken with regard to Soriano. If the Yankees had a hole at first base, I could indeed see them offering much more than anyone else.

But in my opinion, offering him such a contract just to DH would take it to a whole different level. Most players with excellent defensive reputations want to stay in the field. If this is true of Pujols, the contract would have to be that much bigger to lure him, and the Yankees would get less value in return. I can’t imagine even them valuing the DH spot that much.

By: spudchukar

spudchukar — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 04:53:20 +0000

And who might that second best team be?

By: smokehouse56

smokehouse56 — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 03:41:24 +0000

fellspointbird – Feb 10, 2011 at 7:36 AM

If he thinks the Cardinals are the second best team in baseball history he’s not much of a histoy buff.

By: mrcowpatty

mrcowpatty — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 03:35:55 +0000

Dear Albert.

Baseball has been played in St. Louis for a very, very, very long time. Players come and players go. You will be just another player that played for the Cardinals.

By: uyf1950

uyf1950 — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 03:01:53 +0000

Ari, my friend not to call into question your numbers but I think I am probably a little better judge of Yankee spending then you are. But I think this is all a moot point because as I’ve stated before I seriously doubt the Yankees will do anything more then kick the tires on Pujols. Besides if you took the time to look into the anticipated Yankee roster should they seriously go after Pujols other then the players I’ve mentioned, most are or would be Yankee prospects such as Gardner, Montero, Nunez, Robertson, Nova, Logan, a “Killer B” etc… all relatively inexpensive Yankee prospects and other roll players and relievers. All relatively inexpensive even come 2014. I stand my my original numbers. Then when you consider ARod’s salary drops from $26MM in 2014 to $21MM in 2015 I see the Yankee payroll pretty much remaining constant from 2014 on at about $225M+/- if they did sign Pujols.

By: Ari Collins

Ari Collins — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 02:31:26 +0000

Teams generally don’t do, like, $10 million the first year, $20 million the second, $30 million the third. (And when they do, people call that “heavily backloaded”.) They generally do what those contracts I mentioned do, which is to backload by a couple million each year. That’s your pretty standard backloading, here. Nothing wrong with backloading, mind you. It helps the club out more than the player.

Anyway, dude, I haven’t argued with you about the Yankees’ payroll figures. I was saying that the other guy’s statement, that the Yankees’ payroll would stay basically the same in 2012 even if they added Pujols, is wrong. Both of my posts in this mini-thread were just making that point. Sorry if you inferred that I was arguing with you about team payroll! Your figures seem spot on.

Although, having just said that your addition looks right, I’d say your projection seems off to me. Giving $190M to 11 players means you are not going to spend only $225M overall. That’s only $2.5M apiece for 14 players, and the Yankees haven’t spent that little on 14 players in many many many years. If they signed Pujols and had $190M in 11 players, their payroll would probably be well over $250M.

Whether they can do that or will do that is another question, and one we’ll just have wait and see on. But you can’t expect the Yankees to be spending (relative) peanuts on 60% of their roster.

By: spudchukar

spudchukar — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 00:44:52 +0000

Teixeira is no Pujols.

By: uyf1950

uyf1950 — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 00:34:27 +0000

Ari – my friend you are surely stretching it when you consider $1M or $2M difference back loading. If you bothered to read my earlier post (see the one I posted at 5:24am above) you would have read that I admit that for 2012 and 2013 the Yankee payroll would probably be about $240MM. Then come 2014 when other players payrolls come off the books, etc. the payroll for the Yankees come 2014 was likely to be about $225M+/-. I even explained how I arrived at the $225MM number in that post and again in a reply to Jonny5 for the 2014 season below. Considering inflation, etc…not significantly higher then 2010 and considering the added revenue having Pujols in Yankee pinstripes would mean/generate to the YESNetwork and to the Yankees for “other marketing opportunities”.

By: bh0673

bh0673 — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 00:08:14 +0000

If George were still alive and running the team I would say the Yankees would be a player for Pujols but with Hank and Hal and Levine and Trost running the Business I can only see it happening if Texiera or A-Rod end up hurt and unable to play or if the Red Sox did make a major move to sign him and the Yankees could keep him from playing in Boston. George would do anything if he thought it would help the Yankees win however the current group are running it like a business with no emotion. I am a Yankee fan and I don’t see them digging deep for Pujols at this point. I see them looking for pitching. I will add when they traded Alfonso Soriano to Texas for A-Rod they did sell alot of additional season tickets however that was in the old stadium which had a higher capacity then the current stadium and with them averaging 42000 plus a game they don’t have enough extra seats to make a real difference in revenue.

By: katanaguy

katanaguy — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 23:55:17 +0000

Regarding Pujols….everyone please just settle down a little. Albert will eventually resign with STL. He is a big family man & already loves STL,a basic loyal guy & he already has a comfort zone in STL-he, would not like the spotlight of a mega city team & it’s over zealous media & his charities are located in STL.

Don’t get sooo rapped up with this deadline business-that’s really his agent shooting craps. His wife does not want to leave & she just may be the darkhorse factor in all of this.

Royals?…..now that one really almost made me fall out of my chair laughing so hard.

By: Ari Collins

Ari Collins — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 23:54:52 +0000

Pujols cannot play 3B. And if you’re waiting for A-Rod to be off the books so Pujols can DH, you have a long long wait ahead.

The fact is that the Yankees do not get every player they want. Pujols is worth a lot more to teams with an actual 1B opening, and there are a lot of teams out there who make more sense for him.

And dude, really, you’re not getting King Felix. (At least not until he hits FA.) There is no reason for the Mariners to trade a Cy Young candidate signed to a below-market contract for the next four years.

Just wait until after 2012, though, and the Yankees will have a ton of SP options in FA. The Yankees have great players that will ACTUALLY become available, unlike Felix, and are much much better fits for the team than Pujols.

By: Ari Collins

Ari Collins — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 23:45:15 +0000

The Yankees do tend not to backload contracts as much as other teams, but I’m afraid you’re wrong that no one on the 25-man roster is backloaded. It seems like maybe you just have a different definition of backloaded, though; it doesn’t mean SEVERELY backloaded, just that there’s more money in the back then the front. Here’s the list:

1. Jeter will be making $1M more.
2. Cano will be making $4M more. And then hit FA and either leave (unlikely) or get a raise to prolly at least $20M.
3. Soriano will be making $1M more.
4. Swisher will be making $1M more.
5. Granderson will be making $2M more.

So that’s $9 more from backloaded contracts, then arb raises to Gardner, Joba, Hughes, Martin, and Logan, which I’d estimate to be another $8M or so. Minus the $2M frontloading of A-Rod, and the $21M in contracts coming off the books, and you’ve got only $6M coming off the books. And that’s assuming the Yankees don’t pick anyone else up.

Anyway, the point is that the Yankees would definitely be spending a significant amount more overall if they grab Pujols than the $201M (est. from B-R) they’re spending now, which was the main thing I was disagreeing with.

By: Ari Collins

Ari Collins — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 23:25:26 +0000

Yeah, that’s not far off from what I was saying. Could’ve been clearer by saying, “starting within the next two or three years.”

By: bigharold

bigharold — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 21:04:29 +0000

Or, you just put Pujols in at 3B. His arm might not stand it every day but it won’t be needed every day either. By the time A-Rods contract expires Pujols can slide right into the DH slot.

There is still a pretty good chance that the Cards will sign Pujols. Keep in mind hat things got pretty nasty between the Yankees and Jeter needlessly. But, if not it’ll be because the Cards contract offer wasn’t big enough. Apparently the man feels like he’s earned it and considering that he’s essentially been under paid in past contracts he might well have a point. If that’s the case then ask yourself who does 10 year hundreds of million dollar contracts better than the Yankees? Who understands the need for on field production as well as star power better than the Yankees? The only limiting factor is the Yankee themselves.

If the Yankees find a way to trade for King Felix and sign him or some other ace to a long term expensive deal then they might take themselves out of the running. Otherwise, look for the Yankees to counter with the next best thing, the best hitter in the game. It becomes even more of an imperative if the Yankees either do poorly in the playoffs or don’t make the playoffs. Infact if Pujols becomes a FA and the Yankees don’t make the playoffs you can bet the Yankees will sign him.

I’m sure somewhere somebody in the Yankee FO has figured out that if they ever do sign Pujols they have a very good chance to end up with three of the five all time HR hitter. All of who began their career elsewhere but spent significant time as Yankees. And, even perhaps all of them owning the all time record at one point or another.

By: uyf1950

uyf1950 — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 20:41:22 +0000

Ari – I have to disagree with you just a bit. First while it’s true the Yankees would have eat a portion of AJ’s contract I don’t think it would be as bad as some would suspect. Just look at what Vazquez turned down. I was my understanding he turned down a $20MM 2 year contract. The only reason he took the contract from Florida was to improve his chance of getting a better deal in 2012. I have no doubt that some team especially a NL team would be willing to offer $10M per for AJ (especially if he rebounds slightly this year). That means if the Yankees did absorb some of his contract it would be for about $6.5M per for 2 years. He’s with the Yankees this year for better or worse.
As for what comes off the payroll actually aside from Posada’s $13.1M contract Igawa’s $4M and Marta’s $4M will come off the books as well in 2012. So that’s over $21M. One other comment that I must disagree with you. The only contract that is priced higher on the back end in Soriano’s and that’s only for $3M in 2013 versus 2012 not exactly what one normally consider back loaded. The Yankees don’t back load contracts and there is no one on the Yankee 25 man opening day roster that has a back loaded contract (except if you consider Soriano’s $3M which was designed that way more because that’s when he’s anticipated to replace Mo). In fact if you check baseball-reference ARod’s contract was front loaded.

By: bigharold

bigharold — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 20:34:33 +0000

The estimates on BR are including Hamilton’s increase wich is why they went up. And, aside from the already mentioned Rodriguez contract that got the Rangers their current owners, the team has a lot of debt. I can see how they take a real run at Pujols.

By: Ari Collins

Ari Collins — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 20:29:11 +0000

Yes, except that two years from now, none of them will be able to play 3B. So that’s three players for 1B and DH.

By: bigharold

bigharold — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 20:27:18 +0000

The O’s didn’t even try hard for Teixeira so I doubt it. The Jays, maybe. If I were wagering I’d bet the Yankees or Angels.

By: bigharold

bigharold — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 20:22:50 +0000

Between, 1B, 3B and DH there will be plenty of ABs and playing time for al three.

By: uyf1950

uyf1950 — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 20:18:51 +0000

Ari – Actually the Yankees could probably slot Pujols into the DH in 2012 and 2013. I think ARod’s good for a majority of his at bats at 3rd base until then. Probably come 2014/2017 is when ARod will get the most DH at bats.

By: Ari Collins

Ari Collins — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 20:10:51 +0000

Where on B-R’s site? I’m curious to see what estimates they have.