Comments on: The Pujols contract: great for now, an albatross later

By: rbupp

rbupp — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 17:43:54 +0000

This contract along with Wilson’s gives me another “HUGE BUCK INSANE CONTRACTS team to root against beginning in April. The “SYSTEM” is soooooooo broken and no one cares. The system of forty-fifty years ago that paid Stan Musial no more than 100 grand certainly did need tweaking. Serious OVERREACTING to this need by coming up with the system of today is unfortunate.

By: sld123

sld123 — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 13:43:14 +0000

Exactly. And those who are from “the Lou” can tell you that he has been playing with a bumb arm (and foot problems) for the last several years. The Angels better hope it doesn’t blow this year! And if it does, how is management not to mention their fan base (if they have one) going to take it? I couldn’t care less. Now the Cardinals can spend their money on more than one player and hopefully none of those may not be able to play for the length of the deal the Angels made with Albert. The Cards still had him in his “best” years – and it is a known fact that there is no baseball town like StL!

By: klownboy

klownboy — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 03:55:26 +0000

Totally agree with the article. I understand why LA had to do it, but it will hurt them in the long term…

http://theklowntimes.net/2011/12/08/pujols-signing-wreaks-of-desperation/

By: dbinps

dbinps — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 02:20:30 +0000

Albert has as much chance as anyone ever has to be good/great late with the lifestyle he lives, (socal) has changed alot of people??? But if you are going to go after 10 years you have to think about the aspect of health, and 25 degrees warmer 5 months of winter sure helps the old body last longer. I moved out of so cal and my joints are pissed off at me. Huge difference…HUGE. Definately has a shot at 7 great and watching him DH for 3 as a hero may just pay the bills and keep the fans.

By: jbandit2116

jbandit2116 — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 22:35:19 +0000

He can never be called El Hombre again

By: cintiphil

cintiphil — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 21:40:04 +0000

Chris my man, it takes more than 1 W-S to make up a/4 Bil. But, saying that, I think the big deals the Yanks have made turn out better than most.

By: cintiphil

cintiphil — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 21:37:54 +0000

I have to agree. Most big deals as this one, never turn out as hoped. We will see in about a year or less if this was a good one.

By: cintiphil

cintiphil — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 21:36:03 +0000

That is a lot of IF’S. You know that Albert is injured almost every year, right? One of these years he won’t be healing in two weeks. I follow him closely as he is my favorite player in the game after Votto. i will continue to follow him in the AL.

By: rathipon

rathipon — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 21:13:08 +0000

Maybe the Angels are expecting inflation. Seriously. A lot can happen in 10 years. For all we know, 25 million dollars won’t buy nearly as many widgets 5 years from now as it does currently.

By: Brian Donohue

Brian Donohue — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 21:04:09 +0000

My comment is getting downtwinkles. But the AP acquisition is getting major uptwinkles from Bobby Abreu and the rest of the aging, weak, Halo offense!

Ah, no one here understands: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gPLSu_sTHPFjxAYWzbWTXV6bhLWH-jtJY734zOJL9xw/edit

#OccupyEverywhere !

By: 1historian

1historian — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 20:42:41 +0000

Al, you’ve got the right to go where you want and make as much as you can, but you’re a traitor.

Ever hear of Lou Brock?

By: Brian Donohue

Brian Donohue — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 20:38:21 +0000

mic check!
MIC CHECK!!!
Albert what are you thinking?
ALBERT WHAT ARE YOU THINKING???
Ur now hitting btwn…
UR NOW HITTING BTWN…
Torii and Godzilla
TORII AND GODZILLA
for a lousy quarter billion
FOR A LOUSY QUARTER BILLION
wtf???
WTF?????!!!

By: umrguy42

umrguy42 — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 20:30:07 +0000

Somebody should point out that it seems like Pujols has one, maybe two big games per postseason series (at least lately), and disappears for the rest…

By: PanchoHerreraFanClub

PanchoHerreraFanClub — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 20:27:54 +0000

Craig you a simply wrong. Having the best player in a generation as part of your franchise for the next ten years will look real good. To try to put in “pure” baseball terms is silly. Pure baseball left town at least 40 years ago. Baseball is a business and to evaluate a player’s contract on any other bias simply isn’t the way it works.

I wish Pujols well. Three MVPs in the AL to good with three in NL.

By: Mike Luna

Mike Luna — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 19:53:23 +0000

You could probably just call me Mike.

I honestly forgot about the Ianetta deal, so that’s another. My point, though, was that the Angels players are pretty much either pretty old or pretty young. Prime age is roughly 27-32, which Pujols is almost beyond himself.

If I were an Angels fan, I would really be curious (and concerned) about this window and how long it can be left open.

By: florida727

florida727 — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 19:41:35 +0000

Really disappointed, Craig. 67 comments on here and not one person played off your headline and referred to this as teh Angels’ future “Alber”tross. Where’s everyone’s sense of humor?

More seriously, a lot of the posters bring up some very good points about power hitter’s performance as they age. This is a great PR move for the here-and-now. A business disaster for at least the second half of this contract. Shows how poor a GM what’s-his-name is. Very short-sighted.

By: Francisco (FC)

Francisco (FC) — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 19:24:38 +0000

Nolan Ryan.

By: hackerjay

hackerjay — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 19:14:25 +0000

For what it’s worth, payroll inflation in baseball has been about 3.75% over the last ten years. US inflation has been about 2.4% over that same time. So unless inflation skyrockets in the next ten years (a possibility) I don’t think Pujols will get all that much of a benefit from it. At 3.75% inflation he will still need to be worth 3.5 wins in the tenth year of his contract to be “worth” the salary he is getting.

Of course, when signing this deal I’m sure the Angels aren’t expecting to get their money’s worth in years 8, 9, 10. They are just overpaying for those years so that they can have the years that they think he will be good.

By: frug

frug — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 19:12:40 +0000

Name one player who remained elite in his age 36-41 seasons. Now name one not named Barry Bonds.

Randy Johnson?

By: rdssc

rdssc — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 19:08:45 +0000

Edgar Martinez was serviceable and made a few AS games and won 2silver sluggers between 36-41. The DH has a way of prolonging careers.

By: Kevin S.

Kevin S. — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 18:26:10 +0000

I’m not the one who brought up A-Rod’s first deal. And despite paper’s protestations to the contrary, I don’t think 5% salary inflation/year is unrealistic. In that scenario, Pujols would have to be worth a little more than three wins in the final year of his deal for it to be fair value, and that is working on the $25 million/year figure, not whatever frontloading the Angels have done.

But since we’re bringing up A-Rod, that same 5% inflation means he, too, would need to basically be a three-win player in the final year of his deal to make that year fair value. A little tougher for him, since I have his true talent at roughly four and a half wins right now, but only losing a win and a half over the next six years wouldn’t be completely unheard of, and if he falls off in the last year or two, that wouldn’t be the end of the world. The worry obviously is if he hits the cliff sooner than that.

By: Francisco (FC)

Francisco (FC) — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 18:20:48 +0000

HA! I was right after all, He DID go for Disneyland!!!!

By: djpostl

djpostl — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 18:11:54 +0000

The end of Arod’s first deal is a hollow argument lol. He was Pujol’s CURRENT age at the end of it. Now let’s talk about how he is already looking in his big ten year deal signed at same age as Fat Albert? You know, the only one that applies here.

By: djpostl

djpostl — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 18:09:24 +0000

If by prime you mean over-rated and can’t win in the playoffs then yes.

By: djpostl

djpostl — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 18:08:02 +0000

And then when Boston threw tons at it in 2010 and 2011 they didn’t win squat. Nor did the Yankees the 10 other times they tried to “buy a title”. You won’t win this argument unless you just plan on revising history.

By: mrfloydpink

mrfloydpink — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 18:06:50 +0000

Name one player who remained elite in his age 36-41 seasons.

Hank Aaron: 35 (8.3 bWAR), 36 (4.9), 37 (7.3). 38 (3.5), 39 (4.8), 40 (1.9), 41 (0.0)

Willie Mays: 35 (8.7), 36 (4.3), 37 (6.6), 38 (3.4), 39 (5.3), 40 (6.5), 41 (0.2)

Given that Pujols can DH, which will spare him both wear and tear AND the -.2 to -.5 WAR annually that declining defensive skill cost Aaron/Mays in the latter part of their careers, it’s not impossible Pujols puts up similar numbers. If so, with the cost of 1 WAR at free agent prices, it would make his last five seasons worth roughly $150M. The Angels, of course, will pay $125M. So it’s not impossible that the contract is actually a fair value, even in its second half.

By: djpostl

djpostl — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 18:06:15 +0000

Execpt they won’t win one with this team. Pujols can still be pitched around because of that putrid offense they have and Wilson can’t do anything other than pitch batting practice in the playoffs.

By: Kevin S.

Kevin S. — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 18:05:06 +0000

The end of A-Rod’s first deal didn’t look bad. Not counting the additional time-value of the salary he deferred, A-Rod was to be paid $27 million/year over those last four years. According to Fangraphs’ $/WAR calculations, he was worth… $25.7 million/year in ’07-’10. Pretty much right in line. To be that close to getting even value on the back end of a ten-year deal is not bad at all, especially since most long-term contracts expect to extract their surplus up front in exchange of dead-weight on the back end.

By: djpostl

djpostl — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 18:04:33 +0000

Old food for thought. Was used 2 years ago when Boston gave all that money to John Lackey lol.

By: djpostl

djpostl — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 18:04:01 +0000

Smart fans care, that’s who. Not everyone is a short-sighted nitwit ya know.