My position has been three-fold (and I understand the confusion).

1) That Moe should've done this prior to the Holliday extension and all of this gets done for less than $25 million/season, IMO.

2) That barring that, I think the owners should've sucked it up and paid the extra money. They should've given him about $27.5 over 8 and raised payroll by $10 million. That increase should not have been met with an increase in ticket prices and should've been considered a "Pujols-Tax" paid by the owners as a payback to the fans for packing the seats and approving the stadium.

From there, they should've built the team as though Pujols has a $17 million 'payroll' figure as opposed to a $27 million one. That puts that 'tax' on them and ensures that the Cardinals remain competitive.

That's the PR argument I'm referring to. I absolutely understand that position and it's the one I'd have preferred. In the 'Berkman/Carpenter' response, I qualified my whole argument by saying that "If the owners make the right decision and raise payroll...." then it's easy to incorporate him into their budget.

3) That if the owners refuse to make the PR conscious decision and instead approach it from a purely baseball perspective, not signing Albert to that deal is the right decision. That contract is a poor baseball decision; he's simply not going to live up to it. If they believe they can take that money and build a better ballclub with it, I absolutely respect that and am fine with it. If, however, they take that money and pocket it in lieu of building the ballclub, I'm gonna be mighty pissed off.

With regards to 3), what about DeWitt's past makes you think that he won't pocket it?

ROFL yep

Very little, unfortunately.

And with Edmonds retiring today, I have one less thing to look forward to this season.

I just can't get excited about baseball this spring.

WTF?! Jimmy retired? That SUCKS A FAT COCK

Doesn't suprise me. As soon as Edmonds signed that deal I kept saying he only signed it to retire a Cardinal.

I think he could have beaten out Jay because Tony tends to have man crushes on old players that are past their prime.

Tony also shit all over Edmonds after they didn't resign him.

I don't think that was his sole purpose. I think he did it thinking his foot would come around and he'd have a crack at 400 HRs.

But the foot never healed and his Achilles is evidently barking. So he shut down the comeback.

That just blows, IMO. I really really wanted a chance to see him in the BOTB one more time. I think he was under-appreciated in his time here and I wish the Cardinal Nation would've had another chance to show him how much they appreciate what he did for some truly special ballclubs.

This offseason has sucked so hard.

If Jimmy made the roster, I wouldn't have been pissed. He hit okay last year. Now, if Berkman butchers the OF badly, I'm going to be pissed.

c'mon now...lohse says he's back.:( so we've got that going for us.
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My point all along. Yes, on the back end we will be playing Pujols as if he has a legitamate shot at a triple crown, when its obvious that history says age will catch up to him by then. but there is more to the issue than on the field production. There could easily be a "Pujols " tax on seats no one is gonna bitch about and if he's hitting .280 and 15-20 dingers people will still come out to the ball park to see the great Albert Pujols in person, even if its not in his prime. Just to see if he can rekindle the moments we all saw when he was in his prime.

So you guys happy with this TR lineup?

Theriot
Rasmus
Pujols
Holliday
Berkman
Molina
Freese
Pitcher
Shumaker

Who would bat 2nd? Rasmus is just to have cut down on his strikeouts if he bats 2nd.

Bat Berkman 2nd and Rasmus 5th. Berkman does a good job of drawing walks.

IMO, you should have as big of a gap between Molina and the pitcher as possible. Batting the pitcher 8th is just stupidity.

Not my lineup, Tonys. I'd bat berkman 2nd too for the higher on base %. Supposedly Tony is thinking rasmus in the 2nd hole.