I get why Cardinals fans would be a little bitter, but it takes a lot of butthurt to put this on the scoreboard... LMAO

<iframe width="480" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/gt3G9ei5NZE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I don't know. If someone offered me $30k more a year to do the same job I was doing except it was across town I don't have to tell you what I'd do.

More power to ya' Albert. :clap:

Given his "cheap" contract already paid him $111 million and he was set to get over $200 million in the next contract, I would stay put and retire a legend in St. Louis. Over $300 million is just a reeruned amount of money. He has enough money for a thousand lifetimes, taking more money is just saying, "hey, look at me I am the highest paid which means I am the best". If Albert actually meant all the BS he talked about just wanting to win and loving St. Louis and all that, he would have fired his agent and taken a fair deal to stay in St. Louis.

Pretty much sums it up. He needed another $40MM? Yea ok.

The Blues are ****ing geniuses.

Can we stop acting like sports is exactly the same as every other job in the world?

If Albert just cares about money and could give a shit about his legacy, sure. I think most of the disappointment is from people who believed him when he said it wasn't about money, it was about the fans.

I'm not even an STL fan and I would have liked to see him stay a Cardinal. I just like great franchise players, especially when it's someone as great as Pujols. He went for the money, fine. But it's not like a software developer or something simply changing companies.

We can also stop acting like sports players are living in $100,000 homes. Millionaires have millionaire lifestyles.

Are you implying Albert's lifestyle demanded $25 million/year? $22 million/year wouldn't do it?

Most, not all.

I have no idea what his lifestyle demands. I guarantee its more than anyone on this board.

Well... not all are millionaires. :)

Yeah, that's great. He's the one who said it wasn't about money. I'm sure he'd say that even now. He's still lying.

Won't load for me for some reason.

Dude gets more then 1/4 of a Billion dollars...geez.

I can't blame the Cardinals for not paying that much and I can't blame him for taking it.

Huh, it's just youtube. :shrug:

As you probably know, the Blues played the Anaheim Ducks tonight... on the scoreboard, they had "Random Local Athlete" with a Ducks logo in the background, then went to a pic of Pujols with an Angels' cap and Angels background. Then the same thing for St. Louis, with a pic of David Freese during the WS. The crowd reaction was... well, less than enthusiastic.

Blues scoreboard showing a picture of Pujols in an Angels jersey.

Segment was "Random local Athlete in Anaheim-Albert Pujols. Random local Athlete in St. Louis- David Freese."

I'm just gonna go ahead and bump this in case any of you missed it the first time.

I think you have perfected the troll.

You were the one who said the Cardinals would only play three more games than the Dodgers.

Stay down, bitch.

Only since Dane left

He probably started on the back nine.

Saw this on facebook. :D

I thought this was an interesting take. Hmmm. If this article is accurate, then f##k him!

http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/09/opinio...ols/index.html

Interesting. Sounds just like Tony Gonzalez.

Sounds like extreme butt hurt to me.

Well I can't say I blame Albert, cardinal fans are annoying as **** and he had to deal with them every day of his life. Mustve been hell on earth for him. I mean the guy won the world series for chrissakes and couldnt wait to get the **** outta there, hahahaaa

My God, 1988 was a long ****ing time ago, wasn't it?

Yeah...if he's always been like this, why weren't such stories written before today?

They were written about Bonds all the time.

Pearlman seems to write this kind of story a lot. Here's one where he talks about how awful Randy Johnson was: http://www.jeffpearlman.com/the-big-unit-bids-farewell/

A) Pearlman doesn't have an axe to grind here; he has no ties with the Cardinals. There's no 'butthurt' to it - Pearlman doesn't care.

B) These stories aren't written because STL is a softball media town (welcome to the glories of one-paper media markets). There have been plenty of rumblings about STL of Pujols being a surly jackass.

I've never experienced it personally, so I can't speak to it. When I went to Jupiter for a week, I can say he was the least approachable of the guys there, but I wasn't offended by it. He had a job to do, he did it and that's it. He was also the most professional in his preparation. Wainwright made me his biggest fan while I was down there (one of the nicest people you'll ever meet) but I came away in awe of Pujols' dedication to the game.

But as far as being personable or fan-friendly, I've certainly never seen anything to suggest that he is. I know someone I trust a great deal that has met him and his story was the same as Pearlman's, Pujols didn't look up, didn't say boo, just signed a picture and turned away.

Most firsthand accounts from folks kinda suggest that Pujols is an asshole. It doesn't detract from his focus and intense desire to be the best out there, but it is what it is.

The one thing Pearlman has never lacked is credibility. He's one of the few guys in the sportswriting world that has had the stones to peel back the layers of the 90's Cowboys (the accuracy confirmed by many of them), as well as the journalistic chops to do an in-depth book on Walter Payton (truly an amazing read). If Pearlman wrote it, he did his homework.

HAHA, Angels sign 3 billion dollar deal with fox for tv rights. thats billion with a B kiddies.

what a dumbass this moreno guy is

Great. Now parking at Disneyland will go up from $15 to $20.

There are pathetic losers and then there's you who is somewhere beyond that.

I'd really suggest getting some semblance of a life.

You're an ID10T who just says shit to say shit. Cardinals fans love anyone who puts out max effort no matter how much they contribute. We loved Rex "the wonder dog" Hudler and the guy couldn't hit .270. Probably the most popular player of the last 20 years except Ozzie was Willie McGee who was only rarely of All-Star calibre. One thing is clear Albert always put out max effort.

A market the size of St. Louis attracts 3 million fans every year. I think that says a lot about the fanbase.

STL is one of, if not the greatest, fanbases in baseball. Theres no disputing that. It is known for baseball and Budweiser. Period. Nothing but respect for The Cardinal organization, and I root for the team everytime they've been in the WS. Class act.

Having said that, Im happy we signed Pujols. The Angel organization needs him for so many reasons. The TV deal just went thru which has now paid for him, ESPN and FOX have already requested to max out Angel games this season, which they never do. It heats up the rivalry between Texas and LA which is awesome for us fans and of course we needed a MOTO bat real bad.

Apparently, Pujols was upset with STL for signing Holliday first, and not getting this done before ST last year. There are many reasons he chose LA over STl, money is up there Im sure, but Ive read alot of things and heard things from "analyst" (grain of salt) about ow he felt disrespected by the organization well before offseason negotiations began.

He has his rings.... Can't blame him for going for the cash... Not a huge Cards fan but had a great time at game-2 of the series this year, didn't find their fans bad at all (but I was in a box too!!), their stadium is AWESOME, so I think it's fine. Go for it Poophole, sometimes it is about the coin... Maybe now we can win the I70-series!

From what I've read, he might have felt disrespected that they didn't get a deal done in 2 or 3 years when they had the chance to.

Anyways, I can't hate Albert. Not after what he has done for the community and his performance with the Cardinals over 11 seasons. However, I can root for him to lose to the Cardinals in the World Series.

Sure would be sweet to watch him make the last out in a four game sweep, swinging like fool at a Wainwright curve ball.

With the bases loaded, bottom of the 9th. 3 run game or so. Full count.

The curse of the machine.

Cards don't see the WS for another 80 years.

You wish.;)

With our projected pitching staff in 2013....I highly doubt it.:harumph:

Phillies didn't make it last year.

The potential of Martinez/Wainwright/Miller/Carpenter/Whoever in a rotation is great, sure.

But they'll need to address first base in the long term soon. I hope they give Adams a look or go after Votto after the 2012 season(he's put up identical statistics to Fielder since he came into the league in 2007 and the Cards will have potentially both Lohse's and Westbrook's contract off the books).

And just who was it that beat the dream team of pitchers??? :hmmm:

The curse of the machine would have been paying him 25 million a year to pinch hit six or seven years from now.

I doubt Votto ever reaches FA. He's either going to reup with the Reds or he's going to be traded because the Reds have another stud 1B prospect right behind him.

I wouldn't say Alonso is a stud. Decent, sure, but not a stud.

I can see them keeping Phillips or Votto, not both.

Phillips is in the middle of contract talks. Votto will be traded, because, unlike Pujols, he doesn't have 10/5 rights.

Does 2007 count as his rookie season?

Wouldn't he have 10/5 rights if it did?

Votto only has 4.027 years of MLB service.

Ah.

So you are right, there is a chance they trade him off.

I don't think that would happen unless the Reds are out of the Central division race or Wildcard when the trade deadline comes around. If they are within 1 or 2 games of whoever the leader is, I think there is a chance they hold onto him for the rest of the season.

He's got 2 years left on his contract, though.

I'm hoping we can get one solid year out of Berkman at first and worry about filling that spot the following year. Right now I'd like some outfield help.

I haven't read the entire thread.
I would of liked to see Pujols retire a Cardinal. That isn't going to happen. I did not want to see the Cards spend $250 on one player. NO. So positive side is we can sign a few different to get better all over the team.

I swear that he was a FA after 2012.

My mistake.

Onto Napoli!

OF has to be addressed. I want to see the guy they got in the Rule 5 draft get a look in the OF, Kamatsu. I would love if they signed Beltran to a 2 year deal and some RP as well.

I am curious about Matt Adams. I hope that he makes the squad. Him and Berkman can rotate between outfield and 1st base. The Cards sites have been talking about the team playing and teaching Adams outfield in spring training.

I do hope that Adams gets some shot at 1B in St. Louis, but not right out of Spring Training.

I would like to see how he handles AAA pitching first, then call him up if he is raking.

So do you guys not like Jon Jay in center?

Dude can't hit.

Jay would be better suited for the 4th OF role than starting in center, I think.
When Craig would be back, Beltran could be in the game for the majority of the time with Jay as a late inning replacement, similar to what Craig did with Berkman.

He can hit, but twice now when he has been given the starting job for the 2nd half of the season(in both 2010 and 2011), he faded.

.300 avg from a 4th OF isn't bad, though.

Sounds like the Cardinals Fukudome to me.

Huh????? Dude he hit .297 with 10 homers after we traded Rasmus. So he did that in a half a season. That is not good enough for you? He didn't do well in the post season but it was his first year in the post season.

Except not over paid and old.

Low blow.

Are you a Cubs fan????

I have nightmares thinking about Carlos Pena playing 1B for the Cardinals this season.

Nah... I'm a Cardinals fan :rolleyes:

Some Chicago fans want him back. :facepalm:

I've actually seen people compile a lineup where the middle of the lineup hits no higher than a whopping .240.

Ahhh hahahahahahahahaha. It must suck to know that "next year" will never come.

Says a Chiefs fan.

He has a decent bat, but he's declining and Ks ways too much for that type of production.

Stewart/Baker could make a decent platoon at 3B(assuming Stewart isn't as terrible as he was in 2011).

The Cubs were pushing for Headley. I'm more hoping Stewart plays 2B and the Cubs nab Headley.

Do they have the prospects to pull that off?

Oh yeah we are a long ways from being over 100 years since we won a title.

I can't beleive that they did not sign Sandberg. Epstien better do something fast. But what is the chance that the GM that broke the Bambino curse will break the curse of the goat? I don't believe in these "curses" but as long as the players, fans and team believe it, it will not be overcome.

Not sure. Depends on how much SD wants for him. His home splits are kinda bleh.

How good is Barney?

Not very. He'd be a solid backup.