The Machine Age

[Docwaukee]

watching him decline is like seeing Michelangelo at the zoo doing those giant headed caricatures.  

[Ace-Of-Diamonds]

7 hours ago, wopphil said:

There is no way he is only 36. Great hitters can still crush the ball until 40. He has been a shell of himself for four years now, since he was supposedly just 32.

If he is 40 like you allude to, he would have been 22 when he played baseball for Fort Osage High School in Independence MO. Do you really think a 22 yr. old Albert could have fooled everyone into believing he was 18?

Edited May 9, 2016 by Ace_TommyJohn

[bloodbrother]

2 hours ago, yamsi12 said:

He may have a longer career but according to career numbers Pujols has better numbers across the board. Not defending Pujols and his sucky play for the halos but its a long season, he may still turn things around, or hopefully knock 30-40 HRs. Albert may be 42 but at lest he isn't a juicer like Ortiz.

 

One can pray.....right?

 

Pujols peak was obviously far better than anything Ortiz had done. I mean, Pujols peak was top 15 all time type production. With that said, the Angels didn't get any of that and are stuck with this crazy and sudden steep fall while Ortiz has just been steadily great in the twilight of his career. I figured a great hitter like Pujols would be able to sustain good production with the bat. All he is now is an aggressive hitter who sells out for power. It sucks

Edited May 9, 2016 by bloodbrother

[tdawg87]

Pujols is a turdface and he makes me sad

[Docwaukee]

Ortiz never changed his approach.  He didn't suddenly start swinging at pitches he never used to.  Albert turned into a totally different player relative to what he used to be.  It actually started with the Cards his last couple of years.  Albert swings outside the zone almost twice as often as he did during his peak.  That has translated into him making contact on balls out of the zone for about 25% of his at bats whereas it used to be 15%.  Considering that a good hitter doesn't make an out 30% of the time they make contact, that accounts for nearly the entire difference.  

[Billy_Ball]

Anyone think Phat Albert will be motivated to hit well against the Cardinals?  Naw, didn't think so.  How embarassing for him.  Took the money and declined faster than my credit card.

[Inside Pitch]

8 hours ago, CALZONE said:

What is it with Albert, I thought he was healthy and 100%. There's obviously something we don't know about Albert. Both past and present.

He's healthy and his legs are shot.   I know you desperately need for there to be something more than that but really it's no different than Weaver losing his fastball, despite his arm being fine...   AP's legs are just not what they used to be.

Edited May 9, 2016 by Inside Pitch

[tdawg87]

His legs don't have anything to do with his pitch selection and approach at the plate though. 

By all rights he should be hitting fewer homeruns and doubles, but still putting up a good OBP.. 

[CanadianHalo]

What's frustrating is that for a guy who supposedly takes pride in what he does allowed his body to physically turn into shit. Since joining the Angels Pujols looks like he's on the same nutrition plan and workout plan as CJ Cron. 

36 or 40 there's no excuse for a guy making 30 million dollars a year to look the way he does. It's been pretty clear for quite some time Pujols is just coasting and enjoying his 30 million dollar a year vacation

[Ohtaniland]

Even 36 year old fat ass Babe Ruth hit .373 

[yk9001]

9 hours ago, Ace_TommyJohn said:

If he is 40 like you allude to, he would have been 22 when he played baseball for Fort Osage High School in Independence MO. Do you really think a 22 yr. old Albert could have fooled everyone into believing he was 18?

looking at the picture vladdy posted, the answer is yes.

[Stradling]

I don't know how old Albert is, but him being 4 years older doesn't pass the smell test.  I have explained this in the past but because he sucks guys want to make it something it isn't.  So he came over here from the Dominican at 22 according to you guys or is it 18, whatever it is in your mind.  Then goes to high school as a 16 year old.  Only to be drafted after Alfredo Amezaga (or however you spell his name).  Then becomes the best right handed hitter in the history of the game for 10-12 years. 

Remember when you guys were 22 and you wished you could go back to high school and be a sophomore or junior again, just so you could get paid more money when you got out of high school? 

If he was so good, then why didn't he come over as a senior?  Why wasn't he drafted much earlier? 

[Stradling]

27 minutes ago, hangin n wangin said:

I don't think Albert is older than he claims. He could be, but I just don't think he is. I just thinking he's declining, like most people in their mid to late 30's do. It's just unfortunate that we have to watch him play into his 40's and that he will be eating up a good amount of payroll for his lack of production.

It was a bad signing, simple as that. We paid prime money to a guy who's giving us his worst career years.

Yep.  You were hoping for a few premium years and you got one very good year.  His legs are shot. 

[Chuck]

37 minutes ago, Stradling said:

Yep.  You were hoping for a few premium years and you got one very good year.  His legs are shot. 

His legs and EYES.

What happened to this guy's plate discipline?

[Angel Oracle]

It's not like all of the pressure is on him, with Trout excelling since Pujols arrived.   That can't be the cause of the swinging at bad pitches that he never swung at in St.L., can it?

[DMVol]

2 hours ago, hangin n wangin said:

I don't think Albert is older than he claims. He could be, but I just don't think he is. I just thinking he's declining, like most people in their mid to late 30's do. It's just unfortunate that we have to watch him play into his 40's and that he will be eating up a good amount of payroll for his lack of production.It was a bad signing, simple as that. We paid prime money to a guy who's giving us his worst career years.

^^^This^^^....as a general rule, guys used to decline in their mid 30's....Then, the steroid era gave us Bonds and Clemens with the explanation that it was "workout regime".....Pujols and Weaver are prime examples that the human body hasn't really changed all that much....guys decline, sometimes precipitously, when they get there....Arte foolishly paid for the declining years of Pujols.....

[Jobu]

Plate discipline could still be related to physical ailments or deterioration. If you lose bat speed, you have to start thr swing earlier and therefore have less time to judge the pitch. 

[vlad27]

Snake bit by injuries this team can only hope to sell fans a chance at seeing Trout be Trout and .... Watch Albert climb the all time home run list - even if he is batting .190 ... Little bit of value there not much though 

[Mark68]

Ex Machina

[Mark68]

He IS a machine. He is a machine that is consistent at hitting ground balls to short and third.

[ScottT]

21 hours ago, GrittyVeterans said:

Making $154,320.99 per game to absolutely suck this year

 

I feel terribly for Arte.  He's trying the best he can and guys are stealing money from him.  

[halomatt]

55 minutes ago, DMVol said:

^^^This^^^....as a general rule, guys used to decline in their mid 30's....Then, the steroid era gave us Bonds and Clemens with the explanation that it was "workout regime".....Pujols and Weaver are prime examples that the human body hasn't really changed all that much....guys decline, sometimes precipitously, when they get there....Arte foolishly paid for the declining years of Pujols.....

Yep.  I will always put this disaster of a club on Arte's shoulders. 

[Lou]

At some point these guys 

56 minutes ago, halomatt said:

Yep.  I will always put this disaster of a club on Arte's shoulders. 

Sorry, but at some point these guys he's paying a boatload of money to have to take responsibility for their performances

[Angel Oracle]

14 minutes ago, Lou said:

At some point these guys 

Sorry, but at some point these guys he's paying a boatload of money to have to take responsibility for their performances

True, but Arte should have known better than to throw mad money at two guys who were 32 in their first season here.   Seems like he does understand that better now.

[greginpsca]

I know Pujols denies he it trying to hit a hr every time up. But watching him swing each ab, tells another story. He is trying to pull everything. He appears to have nothing on his mind other than reaching 600.