A Salty Take on Albert Pujols

[disarcina]

Just don't bat him fourth every game.

Mr. GIDP is killing the rallies that Trout starts.

[JustATroutFan]

10 minutes ago, disarcina said:

Just don't bat him fourth every game.

Mr. GIDP is killing the rallies that Trout starts.

Too bad Scioscia can't see that. He's probably impress with Pujols having a lot of RBIs despite the poor OPS tha Pujols has put up for the past year and a half, or close to it. 

[Troll Daddy]

4 hours ago, Angel Oracle said:

It’s like Sosh is infatuated with Pujols!!!!

It is probably time to move on from Sosh after this season.

Wake up and smell the coffee ️ ... it’s not Sosh 

[eligrba]

At this point, the Angels owe Pujols nothing else but the money.  Finish the year celebrating his greatness and then ease his ass into retirement.

[ten ocho recon scout]

4 hours ago, failos said:

How is this team going to release Pujols when they can't even move him down the lineup?

To be fair, anyone remember when we dropped cecil fielder? It was in july or so? Was leading the team in rbi at the time, too.

Different times. Then again, fielder was probably cheap as hell, and we had tons of better hitters. Just no pitchers.

[disarcina]

a Halos fan friend of mine insists that Pujols has some clause in his contract where he has to be placed in the fourth spot in games he starts.

I kind of doubt that, but with each new GIDP killing a potential run scoring rally -- I begin to wonder.

there's no real logical explanation for not moving Pujols down the line up a bit. At least try it for a few games.........

 

[eligrba]

4 minutes ago, disarcina said:

a Halos fan friend of mine insists that Pujols has some clause in his contract where he has to be placed in the fourth spot in games he starts.

I kind of doubt that, but with each new GIDP killing a potential run scoring rally -- I begin to wonder.

there's no real logical explanation for not moving Pujols down the line up a bit. At least try it for a few games.........

 

That would suggest a level of narcissism and selfishness that would rival ARod.  I can't believe that contract language actually exists.

[disarcina]

I don't think so either -- but then Albert hits into another GIDP and it drives me nuts watching the game.

I can't figure out why he hasn't been moved from the fourth spot long ago -- even for a few games -- for a change to see how it works.

this Albert always batting fourth and killing rallies has been going on for at least two years now -- it makes ZERO sense.

If it's not a contract term (and I don't think it is ) then someone must be telling Scioscia where to bat Pujols in the line up.

does not take a genius to see what all of us see game to game........like Pujols , it gets old.

[eligrba]

3 minutes ago, disarcina said:

I don't think so either -- but then Albert hits into another GIDP and it drives me nuts watching the game.

I can't figure out why he hasn't been moved from the fourth spot long ago -- even for a few games -- for a change to see how it works.

this Albert always batting fourth and killing rallies has been going on for at least two years now -- it makes ZERO sense.

If it's not a contract term (and I don't think it is ) then someone must be telling Scioscia where to bat Pujols in the line up.

does not take a genius to see what all of us see game to game........like Pujols , it gets old.

I agree.  It makes no sense to me either.  I am actually really scared that Pujols will continue to bat 4th regardless of his stats based on how Scioscia has handled other under performing veterans.

[Roy Hobbs]

3 minutes ago, disarcina said:

I don't think so either -- but then Albert hits into another GIDP and it drives me nuts watching the game.

I can't figure out why he hasn't been moved from the fourth spot long ago -- even for a few games -- for a change to see how it works.

this Albert always batting fourth and killing rallies has been going on for at least two years now -- it makes ZERO sense.

If it's not a contract term (and I don't think it is ) then someone must be telling Scioscia where to bat Pujols in the line up.

does not take a genius to see what all of us see game to game........like Pujols , it gets old.

There is no way it is in his contract as until Upton got here he always was in the third spot.That being said , he should probably be hitting sixth or lower.

[Stradling]

45 minutes ago, JustATroutFan said:

Too bad Scioscia can't see that. He's probably impress with Pujols having a lot of RBIs despite the poor OPS tha Pujols has put up for the past year and a half, or close to it. 

Jesus you’re a broken record.  

[Stradling]

He’s hit into 6 double plays this year, or one every 8 games he plays.   We are blowing that out of proportion when discussing his problems  this season.  

[Dick B Back]

[Warfarin]

2 hours ago, beatlesrule said:

Pipe dream.  Why is it so difficult to accept that Pujols is going to be playing for the Angels for another 3 1/2 years? Angels just need to win in spite of his presence. I also don't understand the constant bitching about him hitting clean up. As long as Scioscia is here, he's gonna hit no lower than cleanup. Also, why can't you just accept that Arte is not going just simply release Pujols? He's Latin and Arte is Latin so I'm pretty sure he's going to do whatever Pujols wants. Albert is incredibly delusional and Arte believes every word.

Our owner has made some huge boneheaded decisions.  The sooner you just accept that Albert will be here for another three and a half years, the sooner you can start trying to enjoy all the other players the Angel's have. Yes, Albert is owed a lot of money. Yes, Albert stinks.  We will just have to hope all the other guys can pick up his slack. It's really that simple.

It is unfortunate if that's how it turns out to be, because as I said earlier, we are compounding the mistake of the contract with the mistake of continuing to play him.  They are two separate issues.  A number of teams have indeed released players with multiple years left and huge salaries - Carl Crawford with the Dodgers, Pablo Sandoval with the Red Sox, etc.  There is precedent for this, and the only thing worse than making a big financial mistake such as this contract is to make the mistake of saying "well, we have him, might as well keep playing him anyway, results be damned."

This year it probably doesn't matter too much, as we have a ton of guys who aren't hitting at all anyway, but I do think this offseason, we should see a number of changes - some veterans leaving, maybe Sosh being let go (and into a FO advisory role of sorts), and maybe parting ways with Pujols.  

[failos]

1 hour ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

To be fair, anyone remember when we dropped cecil fielder? It was in july or so? Was leading the team in rbi at the time, too.

Different times. Then again, fielder was probably cheap as hell, and we had tons of better hitters. Just no pitchers.

I was about 8 years old when he was on the Angels, haha

[nando714]

6 hours ago, The Boogie Man said:

We have a team with Kinsler, Marte, Valbuena and Kole and we are complaining about Albert.   

The 40 year old brings nothing to the table besides PR for his accomplishments. Cut bait. 

Him batting clean up is in his contract and it’s ridiculous. F’n arte 

[Lou]

2 minutes ago, Warfarin said:

It is unfortunate if that's how it turns out to be, because as I said earlier, we are compounding the mistake of the contract with the mistake of continuing to play him.  They are two separate issues.  A number of teams have indeed released players with multiple years left and huge salaries - Carl Crawford with the Dodgers, Pablo Sandoval with the Red Sox, etc. 

While I agree with your point about compounding the mistake, the Crawford and Sandoval situations are completelY different. First, the dogs and sox were spending a half a billion dollars between them on salaries, thus they were easily able to absorb the loss. Also, they had viable replacements for those players, we do not. 

[Stradling]

4 minutes ago, nando714 said:

The 40 year old brings nothing to the table besides PR for his accomplishments. Cut bait. 

Him batting clean up is in his contract and it’s ridiculous. F’n arte 

Bullshit

[Lou]

2 minutes ago, nando714 said:

Him batting clean up is in his contract and it’s ridiculous. F’n arte 

[Docwaukee]

While I agree he shouldn't be batting 4th, there really isn't an obvious candidate to replace him.  Sure, there are some guys to try like JMF, Thaiss, Marte etc.  But is anyone a sure enough bet?  

Another thing to consider.  It's not just a press hit.  It's a clubhouse hit as well.  Say what you will about Albert, but he's one of the most well respected guys in the game.  Players are funny about respect.  What does it say to the rest of the team if they release Albert for Matt Thaiss?  It's not like Thaiss is Vlad Jr.  (F***!) and it's not like the Angels are the white sox.  

Also, imagine the pressure on Matt Thaiss if that happens.  Replacing a future HOFer the team just released with over 100m on his contract.  

One more thing.  It's a valid point that there are other fish to fry that would cause far less of an issue.  Like giving time to guys like Fletcher, Herm, JMF, Blash etc over guys like Calhoun, Kinsler, Valbuena, Chris Young etc.  

They are way more likely to just start phasing out his at bats.   

[Stradling]

4 minutes ago, Dochalo said:

While I agree he shouldn't be batting 4th, there really isn't an obvious candidate to replace him.  Sure, there are some guys to try like JMF, Thaiss, Marte etc.  But is anyone a sure enough bet?  

Another thing to consider.  It's not just a press hit.  It's a clubhouse hit as well.  Say what you will about Albert, but he's one of the most well respected guys in the game.  Players are funny about respect.  What does it say to the rest of the team if they release Albert for Matt Thaiss?  It's not like Thaiss is Vlad Jr.  (F***!) and it's not like the Angels are the white sox.  

Also, imagine the pressure on Matt Thaiss if that happens.  Replacing a future HOFer the team just released with over 100m on his contract.  

One more thing.  It's a valid point that there are other fish to fry that would cause far less of an issue.  Like giving time to guys like Fletcher, Herm, JMF, Blash etc over guys like Calhoun, Kinsler, Valbuena, Chris Young etc.  

They are way more likely to just start phasing out his at bats.   

With how close Albert and Trout are or appear to be, you have to handle the Pujols situation perfectly.  

[Warfarin]

5 minutes ago, Lou said:

While I agree with your point about compounding the mistake, the Crawford and Sandoval situations are completelY different. First, the dogs and sox were spending a half a billion dollars between them on salaries, thus they were easily able to absorb the loss. Also, they had viable replacements for those players, we do not. 

Matt Thaiss waves hello

But yeah, I see what you are saying.  Still, it should be about upgrading our team, and it wouldn't take much to put an upgrade at 1B/DH.  Ideally, we could just replace him with Thaiss, and use the DH on non-Ohtani days as a place we can slot other guys into in order to provide them some rest.  

So as part of this, I'd ideally call up Thaiss sometime later this year, give him a trial run and see how he performs.  If he shows he's able to be a competent 1B and post average numbers, then I would be okay moving on at that point.

[GrittyVeterans]

4 minutes ago, The Boogie Man said:

With how close Albert and Trout are or appear to be, you have to handle the Pujols situation perfectly.  

Winning cures all

[Warfarin]

8 minutes ago, Dochalo said:

While I agree he shouldn't be batting 4th, there really isn't an obvious candidate to replace him.  Sure, there are some guys to try like JMF, Thaiss, Marte etc.  But is anyone a sure enough bet?  

Another thing to consider.  It's not just a press hit.  It's a clubhouse hit as well.  Say what you will about Albert, but he's one of the most well respected guys in the game.  Players are funny about respect.  What does it say to the rest of the team if they release Albert for Matt Thaiss?  It's not like Thaiss is Vlad Jr.  (F***!) and it's not like the Angels are the white sox.  

Also, imagine the pressure on Matt Thaiss if that happens.  Replacing a future HOFer the team just released with over 100m on his contract.  

One more thing.  It's a valid point that there are other fish to fry that would cause far less of an issue.  Like giving time to guys like Fletcher, Herm, JMF, Blash etc over guys like Calhoun, Kinsler, Valbuena, Chris Young etc.  

They are way more likely to just start phasing out his at bats.   

I don't think they just release him without giving Thaiss ABs towards the end of the year.  Obviously it makes sense to make sure they have their replacement in place and proven that he can perform.

The "pressure" to replace Pujols has to be virtually none.  He posted a whopping -1.9 WAR last year and is at -0.3 this year.  

I do think there is a gracious way to go about this.  I don't think it's just an unceremonious release.  I think there could be a way to do this where Albert retains his dignity (so to speak) and the Angels don't look like they're just canning them.  I trust Eppler to be able to pull something like that off.

[stormngt]

1 hour ago, GrittyVeterans said:

No worries, I wasn't the one who said that.

We're obviously better than Detroit but the question is do we finish higher than Seattle. Not sure at this point

Let's see how Seattle does after playing they stop playing the AL Central