Pujols Signs With Angels

[ilstu24]

Nightengale tweeted that the Marlins offered more $ to Pujols than Anaheim.

I don't buy this for a second. I think this is out there to make it look like it wasn't about the money.

[Socnorb11]

“Some debate about what hat Albert wears into Cooperstown. Barring career-ending injury in 2 years, though, after today, has to be ANA, yes?”

I don't understand that at all. His next 10 years there are probably going to have to trump the 11 he had here, or at least come close. That means 3 pennants, 2 WS titles, 3 MVP awards (and 4 second place finishes), 2,073 hits, 445 HRs, 2 Gold Gloves... Does anyone really think his next 10 years are going to be more fruitful than that? Or even come close?

I was thinking about that, too........ but does he get to pick?

If he gets to pick, then it's pretty clear where his loyalties are. It's not with St. Louis. (I hope that doesn't sound too whiney)

[EastonBlues22]

An extra 65 million can do a lot of good in this world in the right hands, and I'm sure Pujols will be putting that money to work for some really good causes.

I've never understood this rationalization. It's not like the $65 million was created by Pujols signing this contract. If he did not, the money would have been spent elsewhere. So, it's really about the fact that Albert gets to decide what to do with it rather than someone else. Is Albert really going to direct the majority of this gain to charity, or will more go to large houses, luxury consumption, and family members? And how effective are athlete run charitable organizations really? Not that I really want to criticize what Pujols does with his income, I'm sure he means well, but I think it's kind of silly to believe there is any great social good done by giving lots of money to already rich athletes.

Albert's heavily involved in a number of charities, more than a few of which he founded himself...surely you're aware of this? It seems incredibly silly to argue about the "relative effectiveness" of charities, when most of the work he does is with disadvantaged kids of some sort (Down syndrome, impoverished children, etc.). He's not trying to cure cancer.

I'm of the opinion that Pujols funnels a greater percentage of his sports income back into the community/good causes than his average athletic peer. Almost certainly more than his employer (or whoever is directly fronting the money that's paying his contract). Do you have any cause to disagree?

I'm not going to get into some big-picture great economic argument over this, because I'm not in the mood, and your objection seems more like a general one than one that's all that particularly pertinent to this particular situation. You have a social "thing" against athletes making a lot of money? Fine. Whatever. Look up what Pujols does with his money, then get back to me with specifics if you want to argue about him (or my comment that was directly related to him).

(EDIT: Also, FWIW, the underlying point that I was making was that the difference between 200 and 250 million isn't much to someone who's just going to sit on it. It's clearly more than any "normal/reasonable" person can spend in a lifetime. If the plan is to give a good chunk of it away, or put it to some constructive use--and it certainly seems plausible given Pujols' actions in the past--then it becomes a more "significant" difference to the person signing the contract. An extra 50 million can truly do a lot of good in the world for a person with that motivation...it doesn't necessarily have to be all about "personal greed". It's speculative, sure, but a reasonable possibility at the same time.)

[ilstu24]

For anyone in STL, how is it there? I'm in the Chicago area and have been getting harassed all day by Cub fans because that one guy left us. How are the people?

[JL21]

For anyone in STL, how is it there? I'm in the Chicago area and have been getting harassed all day by Cub fans because that one guy left us. How are the people?

Liquor sales are way up!

[MDCardsFan]

Anyone else find it a bit ironic that the Blues play Anaheim tonight?

[ilstu24]

Article from 2/15/09

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd ... Id=rss_stl


"Do I want to be in St. Louis forever? Of course," Pujols said. "Because that city has opened the door to me and my family like no other city is ever going to do. I don't want to [go to] any other city, but if that time comes I'm pretty sure wherever I go they are going to do the same way -- hopefully, open the doors. But I don't think it's to be anything compared to St. Louis.

"People from other teams want to play in St. Louis and they're jealous that we're in St. Louis because the fans are unbelievable. So why would you want to leave a place like St. Louis to go somewhere else and make $3 or $4 more million a year? It's not about the money. I already got my money. It's about winning and that's it. It's about accomplishing my goal and my goal is to try to win. If this organization shifts the other way then I have to go the other way."

In Pujols' eyes, the organization has not yet "shifted the other way." He expressed support for the franchise's course in recent years, while also emphasizing again that a new contract is not a big priority.

"When that time comes, then we're going to figure it out," he said. "And I told you, I'm not going to lie to you, it's not about the money all the time. It's about being in a place to win and being in a position to win. If the Cardinals are willing to do that and put a team every year like they have, I'm going to try to work everything out to stay in this town. But if they're not on the same page of bringing championship caliber to play every year, then it's time for me to go somewhere else. Where? Somewhere else that I can win.

"But we don't have to worry about that because I still have a couple of years. As long as they bring in talent and they keep drafting guys and doing moves here and there, then I don't have to worry about that. I'm happy with what I got. I play one year at a time and when that time comes we'll figure it out. But it's not always about how much money can I get. It's about winning. I've already told you guys. I've got 10 fingers and I've nine plain that I can fill up with World Series rings. I want to win."

[docellis]

Anyone else find it a bit ironic that the Blues play Anaheim tonight?

me and my boyfriend were just talking about wehter it was "ironic" or not. this spawned a conversation about what was actually ironic in life. this conversation ended with us deciding it was ironic that Alanis Morisette's song about irony being not ironic was actually in itself, ironic.

[Socnorb11]

Article from 2/15/09

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd ... Id=rss_stl


"Do I want to be in St. Louis forever? Of course," Pujols said. "Because that city has opened the door to me and my family like no other city is ever going to do. I don't want to [go to] any other city, but if that time comes I'm pretty sure wherever I go they are going to do the same way -- hopefully, open the doors. But I don't think it's to be anything compared to St. Louis.

"People from other teams want to play in St. Louis and they're jealous that we're in St. Louis because the fans are unbelievable. So why would you want to leave a place like St. Louis to go somewhere else and make $3 or $4 more million a year? It's not about the money. I already got my money. It's about winning and that's it. It's about accomplishing my goal and my goal is to try to win. If this organization shifts the other way then I have to go the other way."

In Pujols' eyes, the organization has not yet "shifted the other way." He expressed support for the franchise's course in recent years, while also emphasizing again that a new contract is not a big priority.

"When that time comes, then we're going to figure it out," he said. "And I told you, I'm not going to lie to you, it's not about the money all the time. It's about being in a place to win and being in a position to win. If the Cardinals are willing to do that and put a team every year like they have, I'm going to try to work everything out to stay in this town. But if they're not on the same page of bringing championship caliber to play every year, then it's time for me to go somewhere else. Where? Somewhere else that I can win.

"But we don't have to worry about that because I still have a couple of years. As long as they bring in talent and they keep drafting guys and doing moves here and there, then I don't have to worry about that. I'm happy with what I got. I play one year at a time and when that time comes we'll figure it out. But it's not always about how much money can I get. It's about winning. I've already told you guys. I've got 10 fingers and I've nine plain that I can fill up with World Series rings. I want to win."

There it is. That's why I'm angry.

[sighyoung]

“Some debate about what hat Albert wears into Cooperstown. Barring career-ending injury in 2 years, though, after today, has to be ANA, yes?”

I don't understand that at all. His next 10 years there are probably going to have to trump the 11 he had here, or at least come close. That means 3 pennants, 2 WS titles, 3 MVP awards (and 4 second place finishes), 2,073 hits, 445 HRs, 2 Gold Gloves... Does anyone really think his next 10 years are going to be more fruitful than that? Or even come close?

I was thinking about that, too........ but does he get to pick?

If he gets to pick, then it's pretty clear where his loyalties are. It's not with St. Louis. (I hope that doesn't sound too whiney)

I believe that the Hall of Fame chooses the hat. And as I said earlier, I agree that Pujols' career in Los Angeles is unlikely to trump his accomplishments in St. Louis. If Leitch were a betting man, I'd take that bet and wager that Pujols enters Cooperstown in a Cardinals hat.