Posted on 12/08/2011 10:28:32 AM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach
The Los Angeles Angels swooped in to win the Albert Pujols sweepstakes with a quarter-billion dollar offer the superstar slugger just could not refuse.
With his old team the St. Louis Cardinals and the Florida Marlins engaged in a bidding war for the first baseman's services, the Angels appear to have blown everyone out of the water with a 10-year offer that may be as much as $260 million.
Pujols led his team to a World Series title this past season, but his longtime manager, Tony LaRussa, announced his retirement and Pujols previous contract expired. At the beginning of the season, the Cardinals exercised a $16 million option, which allowed them to keep their star at a below-market rate for the season. But Pujols rejected a multiyear extension and broke off talks during the season.
The Angels' rookie general manager Jerry Dipoto pulled off the deal, but with Pujols set to turn 32 in January, the deal may last longer than his days as a productive player. He's actually coming off the worst season in his illustrious 11-year career, having failed to bat .300 or drive in 100 runs for the first time.
(Excerpt) Read more at nbclosangeles.com ...
Sports Illustrated reported that the Angels had a big advantage in chasing Pujols, after signing a new TV deal that raised television revenues by $100 million per year.
Pujols isn't the only ball player set to reportedly join the halos. Texas lefty C.J. Wilson has accepted a five-year $77.5 million deal with Anaheim, MLB.com reported Thursday.
Is there an Occupy Anaheim to weigh in on this?
No.but HGH testing is coming!
Orange county has NO Dowtown,...so where might they locate?
Hmmmmm... the Rangers did something similar with A-Rod. Seems to me it took them years to recover.
I’m an Indians fan, so I don’t have to worry about such silliness. The only salary concern for the Indians ownership is the effort to underspend the Pirates.
Ask the Rangers, how good that deal with A-Fraud worked out for them.
Are they going to sign Willie Mays Hayes?
I don’t think Billy Beane would have made this deal...
No one is worth that kind of money, not a good idea. I’ll bet anyone that in 2-3 years time he’ll be underperforming, his contract will be looked at as an albatross and they’ll be looking to unload him. Anyone remember Mike Hampton, Denny Neagle, Carlos Zambrano?
Just wondering where this will leave Mark Trumbo....
I agree, or I think I agree without reading the contract.
In ten years he’ll be 40. A smaller, wiry-er man might be nearly as good at 40 as at 30, but a big hulking power hitter (who WON’T be seeing Barry Bonds’s trainer for mid-30s help)?
It’s possible that the Angels protected themselves with performance minimums/ incentives, but I doubt it.
On the commentary part of the Atlas Shrugged Pt 1 DVD one of the film’s producers says if a batter can hit .300, if a basketball player does well with three-pointers, they can get a huge multi-million dollar salary. An actor who’s popular can earn $40 million per film. So why shouldn’t CEOs get a big salary?
People will not bat an eye at Pujols getting the money,
but a corporate CEO? “OCCUPY!!!”
Paid too much. I don’t think he’s worth that much at that age.
Make that, In ten years he’ll be forty-TWO, my mistake. Which makes the deal even more questionable.
Other than “Downtown Disney” (a space in between Disneyland and 2 other similar parks). Shopping areas and restaurants (went in there briefly).
Well, it’s a small world, after all.
>>Downtown Disney® District
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That was my thought,....I am sure he can find a home though!
“Are they going to sign Willie Mays Hayes?”
Only if for a bonus he accepts one of those Rolls / VW cars!
Pujols has been hurt at least once a year for the past few seasons...he’s in the downturn of this career and the Angels will regret it in three years when they want to get rid of him...
Look @ the Indians Top Prospects from 2003. Sabathia was not included, but they were incredibly loaded! The only other team even comparable was the Angels. The Angels compete perennially. The Tribe stinks. IMHO, Indian fans have way more to complain about than Cavs fans.
Oh, I think Acta should've been Manager of the Year. He kept a team with no talent in the race most of the way.
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