Baseball Offseason

[DangerRoss]

Im kinda new here, but i saw this areas of the forum and thought it was really cool. I no we are still in the middle of football season, baseball has been done for over a month, and basketball is about to get going, but what do you guys think about the whole Pujols signing and/or other players signing?

Im a Giant fan but am also a baseball fan. I still cannot believe hes not going to be in St. Louis. What do you guys think???

 

[SamuelKhan]

Right now, Cardinal Nation is fuming, and that is an understatement. Not sure if it's anything like Cleveland after LeBron left, but it's intense.

 

[milagros317]

I wish he had signed with the Dodgers. (Not possible until the a**hole Frank McCourt finally sells the team.)

 

[DangerRoss]

yeah, McCourt really screwed them. I read that if fielder cannot get a deal he want's hes going to take a 2 year deal and try to sign with a team like the dodgers when McCourt is done "occupying" them.

Cards have to be going after Fiedler. I just done understand how u let a player like pujols just up and leave. There has to be something else there.

 

[unclebill]

Right now, Cardinal Nation is fuming, and that is an understatement. Not sure if it's anything like Cleveland after LeBron left, but it's intense.

I live in St. Louis, a 15 minute drive from Busch Stadium and I don`t sense any of this fuming. Sure everyone`s disappointed, but at the end of the day this was simply a business decision. The Cardinals would have been hamstrung for years if they would have paid that much money to one player. Albert will be 32 next month, but has a bad back, an arthritic elbow and is in constant pain in his feet and legs according to a few of his now ex teammates that spoke today. I attended several games in 2011, and noticed he seems to be laboring much more when he runs the bases than in past seasons, and his statistics were in decline. The Angels were stupid and reckless to sign him to that long of a contract. Pujols could have been a hero in the best baseball city in America for the rest of his life, but an extra $54 million is awful hard to turn down. I think most people would thank him for 11 fabulous seasons and wish him well.

 

[Mitchell]

As a Braves fan, I've experienced this with a superstar/Hall of Famer leaving my team, after a very long stretch of success. As baseball fans know, the winters of 2002 and 2003 were brutal for the Braves, when Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux, who are both certain future Hall of Famers, left town via free agency, and Kevin Millwood, another very successful pitcher, was forced to be traded. I know exactly how Cardinal fans are feeling right now. I was furious when Glavine and Maddux left Atlanta.

As for Albert: I definitely think that the Angels went into overkill with the length of the contract. Even at 32, how can they predict what his production will be in even two, three.. or four years from now? The guy is a great player, but.. to say he will still be producing at.. 40, 41.. 42.. is a very, very big gamble.

Albert will likely be in the Hall, unless he completely collapses. He's only 55 homers shy of 500, so he should make that easily. It will be interesting to see if the Angels have halos, or egg on their faces, with the size and length of the contract. Only time can tell that.

Mitch

 

[FlockOfSeagulls]

As a Braves fan, I've experienced this with a superstar/Hall of Famer leaving my team, after a very long stretch of success. As baseball fans know, the winters of 2002 and 2003 were brutal for the Braves, when Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux, who are both certain future Hall of Famers, left town via free agency, and Kevin Millwood, another very successful pitcher, was forced to be traded. I know exactly how Cardinal fans are feeling right now. I was furious when Glavine and Maddux left Atlanta.

As for Albert: I definitely think that the Angels went into overkill with the length of the contract. Even at 32, how can they predict what his production will be in even two, three.. or four years from now? The guy is a great player, but.. to say he will still be producing at.. 40, 41.. 42.. is a very, very big gamble.

Albert will likely be in the Hall, unless he completely collapses. He's only 55 homers shy of 500, so he should make that easily. It will be interesting to see if the Angels have halos, or egg on their faces, with the size and length of the contract. Only time can tell that.

Mitch

Pujols could retire today and he is a 1st ballot Hall of Famer .

Mitch I do agree with you that a 10 year deal is a HUGE GAMBLE and the magic number seems to be around 35 when great players start to decline rapidly . lets give him the benefit of doubt and say he starts to decline swiftly at around 38. That is alot of time and money left to pay a guy who is on the back side of his career. Plus he is already a base clogger when running and that will become worse quicker than losing his hitting skills

 

[SamuelKhan]

unclebill, I think Cardinal fans should show some class and move on. We have David Freese, Lance Berkman, Chris Carpenter, Jason Motte and the best fans in baseball.

Meanwhile...fans got creative

Not exactly wishing him well...his statue has an armed guard (far right) to protect it from angry Redbird fans.

 

[unclebill]

^^^ Funny stuff. I did notice on the news how Alberts restaurant placed a security guard next to his statue just as the announcement of his signing with the Angels was made.

It will be interesting how long the honeymoon will last in L.A. I personally think Pujols has another 3-4 years of greatness left in him, although the numbers will continue to decline along with more frequent trips to the disabled list. After age 35, all bets are off, and things could get ugly with the Angel fans. As painful as this is for Cardinals faithful, its probably the best thing financially that could happen for the franchise. A team with Pujols, Matt Holliday and a bunch of low paid rookies would be no fun to watch and I think ownership realized that. A 5 year deal for a higher salary would have been better for the Cardinals, but in the end Albert and his agent turned their backs on tradition and went for the $$$.

 

[PiedPiper]

At least the Angels are in the AL, and DH'ing will be an option as Pujols gets older,.... but it was still too much money to pay,......