Pujols to Angels - 10 years / $250-60 million

[CheezWizHed]

I have to wonder, will St. Louis fans react the same way about Pujols leaving, that Cleveland did when Lebron left?

 

Pujols didn't get an ESPN special...

[monty57]

Long-term, the Angels probably did the Cardinals a huge favor, but short term it sure helps the Brewers' chances to win the division. I wonder if this is enough reason for Attanasio to up the payroll if he & Melvin really believe Aramis Ramirez would really help us.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

There's so much STL can do now without all that money tied to one aging, fading player. Still very good, but he is aging and fading.

[Patrick425]

Well...here's to hoping the Brewers can continue with the "82 post-season connection" in 2012. This year with was the Cards, next year the Angels and hopefully, like in 82, they beat them.

[jjkoestler]

I have to wonder, will St. Louis fans react the same way about Pujols leaving, that Cleveland did when Lebron left?

 

Pujols didn't get an ESPN special...

That would have been one classy special. I can see it now.... Dimly lit room, over-sized leather chair, fireplace. Camera cuts to Albert who sets down a leather bound copy of Illiad and announces that he is taking his baseball prowess to Anaheim.

[TooLiveBrew]

Wow, this is excellent news. So long, Pujols. I'm going to enjoy you continuing to be a sanctimonious prick in a division my favorite team doesn't play in.

[hawing]

I have to wonder, will St. Louis fans react the same way about Pujols leaving, that Cleveland did when Lebron left?

 

Pujols didn't get an ESPN special...

That would have been one classy special. I can see it now.... Dimly lit room, over-sized leather chair, fireplace. Camera cuts to Albert who sets down a leather bound copy of Illiad and announces that he is taking his baseball prowess to Anaheim.

Don't forget the heavenly choir singing in the background.

 

How long before STL nation refers to the now-concluded TLR-Jesus era as Camelot?

[BCZF]

Just when you think owners learn, they dont really learn. I agree it stings to be a classies fan, but in the end, would want that kind of contract holding down your team.

[chadomac]

I didn't think of that. Now I'm afraid that Fielder will become a Cardinal. They had been planning to spend 175-200 million on Pujols this offseason... you would think that money is there for another 1B now.

[owbc]

I agree that the division is wide open right now, but once the Cardinals figure out what to do with all that money they were about to spend, I imagine they will go back to being the favorites. But the Brewers are certainly still within striking distance.

 

I think it's a good move for the Angels, the LA market is theirs for the taking right now and Pujols can DH in a few years.

 

Boras must be loving this deal. $250 million for Pujols when Fielder was arguably the better option.

[TooLiveBrew]

Yeah, Prince actually makes a lot of sense for the Classies now. Maybe he can go in & actually class that team up -- no more whining, no more self-righteous crap... just baseball & fun.

[reillymcshane]

Pujols barely makes more than Vernon Wells. Man, that was the fleecing of the century.

[burnzy24]

The Cardinals will still be good w/out him, but lets not kid ourselves, you can't lose the best player in baseball and the best manager in the game and not take a significant step back . The Cards are a much different team w/out him and TLR.. Carptenter is 36 and will start to decline fast, Wainwright is 30 and coming off Tommy John, and Holliday is 31 and had some nagging injuries last year. So if you take last year's WS team who needed a magical end of the season to even get into the playoffs, subtract TLR and Pujols, add Matheny (who has no little to no managing experiance) and give them Wainright back, I don't see them running away with the division. The Cards are also putting a good amount of stock in the fact that the break-out year for the 28 year old Freese wasn't a fluke and that Berkman won't come back down to earth.

[drezdn]

Haudricourt says the Cards aren't interested in Fielder.

[burnzy24]

Haudricourt says the Cards aren't interested in Fielder.

I remember reading early on that they said Fielder was not plan B if Pujols left. They already have Berkman who can play 1B (and should rather that in the OF).

[crewcrazy]

Cardinals making it sound like they're not interested in a big splash now that Pujols is gone -- like the Brewers and Fielder, any offer they made was a "special case" since he was likely worth more to them than anyone else.

 

Like others have said, in the short-term they should be fine. Berkman moves over to first, but with Allen Craig likely to miss the start of the season, they might need to go out and sign a corner outfielder. Someone like Carlos Beltran could make sense, and they can pretty much pay whatever Rafael Furcal wants to return. It stinks from the Cards' perspective, but I have a feeling they've been preparing for this day once last season started and Pujols still wasn't under contract. Re-upping Berkman was a nice insurance policy, Freese should be healthy for a full season, and they still probably have one of the best pitching staffs in the division. They'll still be a winner without Pujols.

[TooLiveBrew]

I forgot about Berkman at 1B. Good for the Cards, that's a lot of money to save.

[RockCoCougars]

All I can say is, sweet. I really don't think the Cardinals are that good anymore. Does anyone think that they would have beaten the Brewers without Pujols, or made the playoffs for that matter? I don't. Sure Wainwright may be back, but does anyone think that Berkman will repeat his magic? Carp will be another year older as well. Holliday is good, but doesn't inspire any fear for me. Same with Freese. Who else do they have?

[dlk9s]

I think it's appropriate that Pujols went to a team called the Angels. Heck, I don't know why the Cards aren't called the Angels.

[PrinceEatMeat]

My initial reaction of this was just to laugh that he left the Cardinals. This helps us and hurts them in the short-term. In the long-term, the Cardinals will be really happy they aren't tied down to that horrible deal.

[SoCal Brew Crew Fan]

While it certainly hurts the Cards in '12 and I always enjoy seeing Cards fans in pain, they probably dodged a longer term bullet. Their discipline will likely be rewarded over time. They will still be the favorite in the division, but not by much.

 

For Pujols, what a dumb move. If the gap was $50-70mm, fine take the dough. Better the Angels than the Marlins where things will probably end badly. He probably felt insulted by the Cards. If the gap was $20-30mm, he'd have made that up over time by being absolutely revered in St. Louis with plenty of endorsements and a giant statue next to Stan Musial, etc. In LA, he's just another rich star...we have plenty of those out here. Maybe he wins a series, but it's not as big of a deal out here. He'll never be Kobe...but he could be Kevin Brown. Sure, he'll sign some balls at a strip mall in Irvine someday or get on a few of Arte's old billboards, but when he starts going down hill he won't get the pass he would have in St. Louis.

 

It's a larger scale of Robin Yount vs. Paul Molitor...Yount is still walks on water in Milwaukee, Molitor is a cool guy that used to play for the Brewers and was really good. Big difference. Hope the dough was worth it, because he just gave up something that was priceless.

[Warning Track Power]

It's a larger scale of Robin Yount vs. Paul Molitor...Yount is still walks on water in Milwaukee, Molitor is a cool guy that used to play for the Brewers and was really good. Big difference. Hope the dough was worth it, because he just gave up something that was priceless.

Or (to put in a more current perspective):

 

Ryan Braun vs. Prince Fielder.

 

 

[crewcrazy]

News coming out that the Marlins' offer was actually richer than the Halos' (and they have the added benefit of no state income tax in FL). Maybe proof that it wasn't all about the money with Pujols -- perhaps he just didn't want to be in St. Louis anymore. With TLR gone, it's at least a possibility.

[craigharmann]

Their discipline will likely be rewarded over time.

I don't know if it was discipline or the fact that Al didn't really want to be in STL anymore.

[PrinceFielderx1]

News coming out that the Marlins' offer was actually richer than the Halos' (and they have the added benefit of no state income tax in FL). Maybe proof that it wasn't all about the money with Pujols -- perhaps he just didn't want to be in St. Louis anymore. With TLR gone, it's at least a possibility.

We'll I don't believe the Marlins offered a no-trade clause to Pujols and the Angels did (full no-trade clause) which might have been the deciding factor.