“The heart and balls to be a playoff pitcher.”? What does this even mean? Greinke and the Brewers made the playoffs in 2011. On account of him not having a heart and/or balls I guess. And yes Greinke called Carpenter a phony a long time ago. Because Carpenter always seems to be around when a Cardinals contrived controversy arises. Let it go. Greinke is a seemingly pleasant human being who plays a game wearing a different jersey than the one you wear to Busch Stadium.

2) Why do people assume that his quality of life is worse in Anaheim than St Louis? Its entirely possible that his quality of life is superior. Milder winters, more upscale communities, cultural differences that he may prefer. Plus a huge metro area thrilled that the best player in the game signed with thier team.

3) If after 11 years of being the best player in the game for a substandard salary, multiple pennants and two world series rings are not enough to make him never have to buy a beer for himself again in St Louis, then St Louis fans are some of the biggest assholes in baseball. If this is really true, then all the Philly fan bashing needs to cease, there is a new contender in town and they wipe the floor with the Philly fanbase in terms of being assholes. Seriously, this would be the dumbest reaction ever, and quite frankly I don’t think their loyalty would be something I would care to have.

From Joe Posnanski:
“‘Zack,’ a teammate once said to him, ‘I’m having this charity golf tournament. Was hoping you might play in it.’
Greinke paused, as if considering the request. Then he said, “No. Why would I do that?”
The teammate shrugged, laughed, walked off. Just Zack being Zack.”

Players (and other people) throw unbelievable amounts of money away on cars, houses, etc. So if a guy wants to make $20MM less to play on a certain team, or in a certain place, what is the difference between that and throwing away a gazillion dollars on fancy cars, houses, and pretty ex-wives?

I guess if you haven’t lived anywhere but where you grew up, perhaps you don’t understand the importance of where you live compared to what you make.

Maybe the Cardinals were being shrewd (one year into the Angels contract, Pujols is already looking overpaid) but I wouldn’t blame Pujols for not re-signing with the Cardinals. It’s their own fault.

But no one has ever offered me anything like that, so how knows?

And, apparently, business is good.

Pujols now spends 1/2 the year living away from his family. He’s also persona non grata in StL (where he still lives) when he could have been local legend and all-time Cardinal great (now, he’s just a guy that played great for 11 years and then left for more money, much of which he’s losing due to playing > 1/2 his games in CA instead of MO), and the Angels are second class team in LA (despite signing Pujols and Wilson, they had their lowest attendance since Moreno bought the team)…..but then, when Jesus tells you to follow the money, I guess you don’t have a choice, do you?