Not sure that helps them much. They have some spectacular arms in the high minors; Perez is no joke. Worse still, Garza is an extreme fly-ball pitcher; Arlington in the summer would eat him alive. With Feliz making a move to the rotation as well, it seems like they probably need to answer with a little more firepower in the order.

Napoli really proved himself to be a hell of a receiver. Make him the catcher for 115 games instead of the DH and put Fielder at 1b. At that point their worst hitter would be Elvis Andrus.

Fine by me.

We got his best years while underpaying him, Anaheim will get his worst years while overpaying him. Glad Mo didn't do something stupid and match.

Now use the money you had earmarked for Albert and go get Fielder, MIF or OF depth.

I have a dumb question. Does FULL no trade clause mean that the no trade clause is effective for the entirety of the contract?

Yes.

Wow. Terrible move for the angels. He's 32 right?

They'll just pay him to DH. It's really not as bad as Cards fans are trying to make it out to be.

In reality... Pujols will likely being paying himself with all the money he's going to bring in with records being broken, etc...

Hell, I forgot about the DH thing. I'm a tard. But locking yourself into that kind of money for such a long period of time is still an epic risk. Particularly if revenues decline. Maybe in 10 years, $25M a year might be farm league pay, it's hard to tell, but they are certainly putting themselves out there for a long time.

31, theoretically.

32 when the contract starts; that's why you keep seeing that thrown around.

Again - he just hit .299 w/ 99 RBI while batting 3rd in the order of the most potent offensive team in the NL.

Emotionally, this sucks pretty bad. From a baseball standpoint, it was the right decision.

Since baseball is a game and nothing but entertainment, the emotion does matter. But if the Cardinals go out there and win ballgames, all will be forgiven.

Dude. Superturtle. Party foul.

Sorry =(

I'm pretty sure they can still trade him, but he'd have to agree to the deal, so they don't have much leverage if it came to that.

There are a ton of Mexicans there in L.A., they will buy shitloads of Pujols jerseys, I'd imagine.

LMAO

Can't blame him for taking it, but sure tarnishes his image in my mind.

That's better than not being able to trade him at all.

Pujols is Mexican?

well he speaks mexican

Nah, I think he's French.

Alberto Delpujolso!

Dominican-American

His decline is pretty evident. You keep mentioning all these records that are going to be broken. Which records are you referring to? The ML homerun record? That is many years away. The DH designation will help but he will have to play out that entire contract to even come close at the pace he is on.

Angels = Dumb

Hes 31, can probably add 2 or 3 years on to that.

As a third-party observer who is a Royals fan, it's very clear that you are by far the douchiest person in this thread.

The only bad thing I can see happening for the angels is if they find out pujols had been roiding all these years, like Manny.

haha ok, i tell it like it is and shit louis fans pussies are hurt and now a royals fan has come to their defense.

Or he keeps have declining years? Or his wrist starts bothering him again so he has to go on a prolonged DL? Or his heel requires surgery?

All of those risks would make this questionable signing (in terms of years and amount) look even worse.

if he can give them 4 to 5 really good years then that contract wont mean shit. sure he could get completely injured and be ****ed but if he gets suspended and disgraced thats a different story.

not to mention the two titles shit louis won would be tarnished forever

Ya... No.

Pujols is averaging 44.5 HR's a season right now.

To finish out this contract he would only need to average 31.7 a year to tie, 31.8 to hit 763. Pujols has never hit less than 32 HR's in a year.

Thats a pretty heavy decline while still ending up as the home run king.

I see LA Queeffan's still taking out his "doyer :whackit:" frustration out on us poor Cardinal fans. Must suck to be a fan of a pathetic organization.

I would be very surprised to see him last more than 3 years as an active player and 2 more as a DH.

Dont worry dude it wont be that hard to watch maybe the greatest player since babe Ruth leave your pathetic city and play for another team

Pujols also led the league in being thrown out on double plays last season IIRC. That stat was shown during the World Series. You know.....the 7 game series where he only hit in one game. The new contract may motivate him but up to this point there is no denying the decline in his physical abilities.

If I were a Cards fan, I wouldn't have a big issue with letting Pujols go under these circumstances. However, I would be pissed if the team didn't make a major push for Fielder.

:hmmm: Too bad we don't have a recent World Series win or 2 to hold us over

You nailed it.

Dark times are ahead. It's going to be years before we even sniff the playoffs again.

wow didn't see this coming. I feel bad for you Cardinal fans. The team made a very fair offer and he decided instead of being a Cardinal legend he took the easy way out. He already would have made enough money to take care of 4-5 generations of his family how much more does he need?

Also don't let LA Chieffan fool you if Kobe Bryant left the Lakers for another team he would be crying all over the place.

Ruth didn't end his career with NY.

Unless you peg his baseline at 37, which is what he hit last year.

Based on the history of baseball as well as Pujols performance over the last 4 years, there's an excellent chance that he peaked 3 seasons ago and the 'average' of 44.5 is long gone.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index...r-hitters-age/

Worse, most guys will tell you that players will decline about 5% in overall production from years 31-34. Starting at about age 35, players start a precipitous decline; generally about 15-20% less than their previous year's performance.

For the last 3 years, Albert's followed a pretty standard curve. If he continues to follow it over the next 10, he won't get that record. He'd hit 35,33,32,27,22,20,17,14,11,10 for a total of 221. The decline models account for injuries, so I don't believe Albert will ever hit 10 HRs over a 600 AB season, but by the time the man is 39 years old, he's not going to be coming back from injuries like he used to. He's not going to have those 600 AB seasons anymore.

Hell, even assuming a 'young' decline curve of 5% annually over every year of that 10 year contract (even though he's declined by 10% annually over the last 3), he'll hit 35,33,32,30,29,27,26,25,23 and 22; or 282 total. He'd still come up short.

I think he'll get it, personally. I think he'll have a couple of years in there where his pride takes over and he explodes (maybe even next season). So I'm not sure the standard curve is fair to apply to him at all. Aaron had the best season of his career at 37; Musial had one of his best at 36. Proud men are wired differently.

That said, his health issues are well known. He has heavy legs that are constantly nagging at him. His heel is an issue on and off every year. Nobody really knows what kind of shape his elbow is in. While I think he's a very different breed of cat, there are also signs that suggest he could be slowing down just as many players before him have.

Just goes to show that even for almost the same amount he'd rather play some where else.

And Kobe gave la five titles and alot of good years I wouldnt be hating on him. His Jersey will be hung on the wall next to all the other great lakers. Meanwhile you have cards fans saying "good riddance". Stay classy shit louis

By all accounts, we won't.

And yeah, I'm kinda pissed about that.

We're going to do a really really stupid thing and throw a bunch of money at Jimmy !@#$ing Rollins.

Albert could've at least done this 2 weeks ago so we could have Reyes instead. Ugh, I'm already preparing myself for the Rollins deal and I'm not happy about it. I'm thinking we'll see 4 years/$64 million.

{sigh}

No shit. Whats your point

The point is that this board, this country and anyone that has ever met you would be much better off if you had died yesterday. The next best would be if you were to off yourself today, if it wouldn't be too terribly much trouble.

My thoughts and points to ponder.

As much as I enjoyed Albert's time as a Cardinal, I am very glad they didn't match this offer. It would have handicapped the team for years to come.

I'm damn glad he's not Cub.... or any other club in the NL.

Does Berkman take over at 1st base, and do they try to sign another outfielder.... or do they make a push for Fielder?

I now have a new team to hate in the American League, but still probably not as much as the Yankees.

What the hell do I do with the print on my office wall, that has Musial, McGwire, and Pujols in it?

We'll still be the best team in the division next season. Alan Craig is no slouch himself and we're going to get the best pitcher on the staff back next season.

We won't be as good as we were last season, but neither will the Brewers. Marcum might be toast and Fielder is gone. The Cubs are the Cubs and the Pirates are the Pirates. I don't think the Reds have the arms to rebound either.

The Cards have just as good a shot as anyone to win the division next season. And in 2 or 3 years, we'll have Miller and Martinez getting ready to take on the NL, not to mention Jenkins. Oh, and we're about to get 6 picks in the first 75 or so picks of the MLB draft due to the loss of Jackson, Dotel and Pujols.

The Cardinals will be just fine. The only time the franchise has ever struggled is when the Brewery didn't show a commitment to winning in the early 70s and again in the early 90's. I see nothing to suggest that the DeWitt group plans to walk that path.

Why do you have to do anything with your print?

LMAO
who is this chick anyway? i'm thinking she must have lost her quarter in a kotex machine at busch stadium at one time.
sec

stop sounding so ****ing sad failpass, jesus

LMAO

"Kings and their Castles"?

Burn that bitch...Mac's a disgrace and Albert's a ghost. Get yourself some powder blues and get ready for Spring.

No LaRussa, no Albert; it's a whole new era. Nothing says it has to be a disaster so lets get ready for it.

We'll see, DJ. right now, i'm not optimistic. we had a rare chance to repeat as champions.

Did a Cardinals player Sandusky you in your formative years? Your irrational hatred of the Cardinals is astounding.

I don't get the sour grapes here. This isn't a LeBron situation - the guy brought you two World Series championships. He's done what he was supposed to do and he deserves to be able to chase the money.

All this sour grapes over the contract is ridiculous. If he brings the Angels a championship or two it's all worth it. And if he's approaching the HR record in a few years, the TV ratings/attendance/merchandise sales, etc. will be so far through the roof that it will make $250 mil look like a bargain.

He's a butthurt lowlife dumb**** loser. A fan of a big market team that hasn't won dick since the 80s. Envious of anything successful. I'll bet the only thing he hates worse than St. Louis is the guy who gets to drive the garbage truck while he gets stuck loading the trash cans.

If there are any sour grapes, it is because of Albert's neverending lip service the last few years about loving the midwest and wanting to retire a Cardinal.

From a practical standpoint, as many others have said, that contract would have been an anchor on the organization. Given the ownership is planning to keep the salaries capped at around $110 million, it limits the ability of the club to fill holes during that contract. It would have been nice to keep him, but I also want the team to stay competitive long-term, and paying a 40 year old Pujols about 20% of the team's salary was going to hurt the chances of that.

90% of cardinal fans probably dont even live in shit louis and other than maybe busch stadium wouldn't even think about going there, so in a way they are the midwestern version of a bandwagon pussy fan.

not to mention, ironically, they think for some reason that they are the small town underdogs that always overcome the odds to win even though their payrolls are usually in the top 5 to 10 every year consistently. and they bitch and whine about everything. case in point the player who delivered 2 WS titles and 10 years of great baseball being attacked and criticized they way lebron was

this post is a perfect example of a bitch cardinal fan. lives somewhere else and thinks the cardinals are a "small market" team

Hey dumb****, tell me again how the 2011 Cardinals are only going to play three more games than your sorry ass broke dick Doyers. LMAO

I guess your mom and Hootie's mom ****ed the same wino.

Still an ID10T

Angels fan here....

First, Torii is off the books next year, Vernon sucks but will be gone in 2? The best we can hope for is he does better than last year, and how could you suck more?

But this is beyond contracts and yearly payroll. This is about OWNING the LA market. The Angels are predicting about $100 mil more a year just in TV revenues. The Marketing campaign is going to HUGE in media market #2. Fernando Mania revisited. Angels had to do this to cement themselves in Big Boy Baseball.

Im glad they did obviously. o:-)

no no carlota your an idiot. that contract was ****ing stupid! its an albatross. the angels will be banrupt by august! dont you know anything?

Tell me, genious, what's the population of the Los Angeles metropolitan area compared to the population of the St. Louis metropolitan area? Even if you cut it in half and don't count the illegals, I think we're talking a fairly wide gap there.

And it seems like I live a lot closer to St. Louis than you do to Kansas City, you window-licking reerun. Got anything else?

Which is perhaps why its better he's now in the AL with the DH so he can rest more. Nobody has a better work ethic than Albert. The only way I see that he doesn't get the record is if ARoid sets the bar too high when he breaks it.

your making my point for me. even though the "size" of your city is smaller the amount the cardinals spend on payroll is even higher which makes your argument even stupider. goddamn man how ****ing dumb are you?

let me ask you frazhole, did you used to live in shit louis?

That's the one.

oh wait let me guess, your one of those old timey fans that used to listen to jack buck on the radio and the only station you could pick up was the cards game right? gimmie a break

Yeah, I guess I'm so dumb that I think $104,000,000 (Cardinals 2011 payroll) is less than $138,000,000 (LAA 2011 payroll). LMAO

What else you got, cockchugger?

Short term there is no doubt this hurts the Cardinals. I think the last two years were off years as he was pushing, not the old Albert. I expect him to come back and be that dominant player for a few more years. That said, not signing him opens the Cardinals to be able to afford another pitcher and outfielder. It probably allows them to re-sign Furcal at a lower price than the $12million they did not excercise on him.

Really? Ugh. Not a back-breaking contract, but it's also far from great.

We'll have to see what he ends up signing for, but I honestly believe that Fielder is getting undervalued in a lot of discussions amongst fans because of his body type. Though he looks the part of the fat slob, his performance, athleticism, and longevity argue otherwise.

He's one of the few FA whom I believe could actually earn the type of FA dollars that he's going to see.

i thought we were talking about the broke dick dodgers you dumb****?

if you compared dollars spent on payroll to actual size of population i bet shit louis is right up there with ny and boston

Losing Albert (unless they sign someone like Fielder) gives the Cardinals the ability to get Allen Craig's bat in the lineup every day, either at first or in right field if Berkman plays first. While he wouldn't put up typical Pujols numbers, if he picks up from last year's postseason, they won't be too far off, especially given Craig basically makes minimum wage. And he hopefully won't ground into 3,925 double plays like Albert did.

oh and i like how you completely ignore your origins of being a cardinal fan. maybe because your a pussy bandwagon fan? HMMM??

dont worry you still have time to come up with story about how your great grandpappy took you to go see bob gibson or some shit

This assumes an absolute cap on the payroll this year.

Been to LA once, hated it

garbage and illegals everywhere

how insightful

**** him. He's an entire tier below Bronco Neil. At least Bronco Neil was chasing a title.

I'm sorry, but last time I checked it was the Angles that signed Pujols, not the Dodgers.

And while the Dodgers have the lowest payroll of the "big market" teams, they also had a moron owner who bankrupted the organization. I don't think you can pin that one on St. Louis.

What else?