Pujols Is Done.... Less Than 200 AB's In 2019.

[Griffey's Corner]

So I enjoy making predictions. Pujols proved this last year he cannot stay healthy. He proved that even having a full off-season to train he still would perform no better than he did in 2017. Now he will be a year older. It is obvious the Angels are doubling down on analytics..... not good for Pujols and the Pujols camp that wants to brag about his RBI's. 

 

1B was a disaster last year for the Angels. The greatest rate of improvement would be to improve 3B & 1B. Ohtani will not be benched for Pujols and Ohtani will be the DH. The money spent on Pujols is already gone..... Arte actually made money on the deal anyways. 

 

One big way to help Trout and make Trout happy is to have more offense so Trout gets more pitches to hit and has a better chance to knock in runs and score runs.

 

So in conclusion feel free to bump this thread if I am proven right and the impact bat is brought in to 1B. I know the consensus on this board is that this will not happen so it will make it even more interesting.

[TroutAdell]

No doubt negotiating a buyout with Pujols would be ideal. However, Albert is oblivious to his yearly declining abilities. It is up to Arte now. I would love to see the Angels sign Marwin Gonzalez. He can play every infield and outfield position. If the Angels are going to use a short bench versatility is a must. 

[UndertheHalo]

Lol.  “Bump this thread if I’m proven right” 

[floplag]

Wishful thinking is strong with this one...

[fan_since79]

This is going to sound heartless, but the best solution to the Pujols problem would be for him to get injured again and be gone for the year.

Well, outside of retiring which he'll probably not do.

Edited October 20, 2018 by fan_since79

[tdawg87]

F*ck you I'll bump this when you're proven wrong.

[mulwin444]

1 minute ago, tdawg87 said:

F*ck you I'll bump this when you're proven wrong.

I'm sure Lou will do the honors...either way, at least he's used to being wrong by now so there's that

[Dtwncbad]

I don't get all this talk of "negotiating a buyout."

I am not aware of any such thing existing.

The Angels owe him a certain amount of money and they will pay every penny of it.  There is no negotiating out of any part of the financial obligation.

The "negotiation" is coming up with a plan to get him off the field and off the active roster.

 

 

[Docwaukee]

Until they put another player on the roster that could realistically take his at bats, he's gonna play.  They aren't going to make a significant trade or spend a lot of money at that spot so it will have to be someone that outperforms expectations.  I think Eppler is due to strike gold on one his minor league free agents or waiver wire position players.  

[GrittyVeterans]

8 minutes ago, Dochalo said:

Until they put another player on the roster that could realistically take his at bats, he's gonna play.  They aren't going to make a significant trade or spend a lot of money at that spot so it will have to be someone that outperforms expectations.  I think Eppler is due to strike gold on one his minor league free agents or waiver wire position players.  

It sure would be nice to find a Max Muncy or a Chris Taylor. It does feel like it's been years since we've had a surprise player come out of no where

[Docwaukee]

17 minutes ago, GrittyVeterans said:

It sure would be nice to find a Max Muncy or a Chris Taylor. It does feel like it's been years since we've had a surprise player come out of no where

certainly on the position player side of things.  Eppler has done well in this regard on the pitching side.  

Muncy, Taylor and Turner were made into players because their swings were changed.  Not because they could be switched to a different position and succeed.   I hope Billy has some targets where a swing change could turn a guy into a player.  It's clear that moving Espinosa to 2b, Maybin to LF, or Cozart to 3b didn't have the result intended.  

Frankly, that's why I find @Jeff Fletcher 's suggestion of Descalso intriguing.  He's essentially changed his swing over the last couple years.  That's where the value needs to come from.  

[Angelsjunky]

.300/.370/.580, 40 HR, 130 RBI.

[Jeff Fletcher]

2 hours ago, fan_since79 said:

This is going to sound heartless, but the best solution to the Pujols problem would be for him to get injured again and be gone for the year.

Well, outside of retiring which he'll probably not do.

If Ohtani is healthy and producing at the level he did this year, there will be no way Pujols can DH over him. So Pujols is going to have to play 1B. 

It is very possible that all that is going to result in him going on the DL a few times. (I believe Beltre had a year like that.)

That could be the way he’s gradually phased out. 

[failos]

Really solid clickbait title

[floplag]

2 hours ago, fan_since79 said:

This is going to sound heartless, but the best solution to the Pujols problem would be for him to get injured again and be gone for the year.

Well, outside of retiring which he'll probably not do.

How is that best for literally anyone?  He wont go out like that, he will just come back the next year, wouldnt you?  
Whats best for him, and everyone else, is that he either have a good year and go out on his own terms, or that someone else come up or come in and force the issue.
He will get his farewell tour one way or another, you can book that, at least long enough to go back to StL this year in inter-league. 
Anything else is just pure wishful thinking and quite frankly counter productive.

[tdawg87]

24 minutes ago, Jeff Fletcher said:

If Ohtani is healthy and producing at the level he did this year, there will be no way Pujols can DH over him. So Pujols is going to have to play 1B. 

It is very possible that all that is going to result in him going on the DL a few times. (I believe Beltre had a year like that.)

That could be the way he’s gradually phased out. 

[ettin]

2 hours ago, mulwin444 said:

I'm sure Lou will do the honors...either way, at least he's used to being wrong by now so there's that

Maybe this is some new @Lou worshiping fan-cult where it is the goal to get him to say "I agree."?

[Glen]

2 hours ago, Dochalo said:

Until they put another player on the roster that could realistically take his at bats, he's gonna play.  They aren't going to make a significant trade or spend a lot of money at that spot so it will have to be someone that outperforms expectations.  I think Eppler is due to strike gold on one his minor league free agents or waiver wire position players.  

Ah yes, the gambler's phallacy, adapted to baseball.

That said, we're more than due.

[Vegas Halo Fan]

5 hours ago, UndertheHalo said:

Lol.  “Bump this thread if I’m proven right” 

I thought the same thing. Not exactly a cutting edge prediction there.

[Vegas Halo Fan]

4 hours ago, Jeff Fletcher said:

If Ohtani is healthy and producing at the level he did this year, there will be no way Pujols can DH over him. So Pujols is going to have to play 1B. 

It is very possible that all that is going to result in him going on the DL a few times. (I believe Beltre had a year like that.)

That could be the way he’s gradually phased out. 

That makes far more sense than a lot of scenarios that I have seen on here. Pujols isn't going to be traded, he isn't going to be released with the Angels eating the rest of his contract, and he isn't going to decide that he can't play anymore and walk away from a boatload of cash.

[The Ghost of Bob Starr]

Bump

[ukyah]

5 hours ago, Jeff Fletcher said:

If Ohtani is healthy and producing at the level he did this year, there will be no way Pujols can DH over him. So Pujols is going to have to play 1B. 

It is very possible that all that is going to result in him going on the DL a few times. (I believe Beltre had a year like that.)

That could be the way he’s gradually phased out. 

 

when you say, "gradually", do you mean by monday? because MLB doesn't like moves to be made during the world series.

[eligrba]

How is any of this possible when Albert will be in the best shape of his life in 2019?

[SlappyUtilityMIF]

On 10/20/2018 at 12:42 PM, TroutTrumbo said:

No doubt negotiating a buyout with Pujols would be ideal. However, Albert is oblivious to his yearly declining abilities. It is up to Arte now. I would love to see the Angels sign Marwin Gonzalez. He can play every infield and outfield position. If the Angels are going to use a short bench versatility is a must. 

No need for a short bench, 12 man starting rotation, and 30 pitchers in a game any longer.

Sven is gonzo!

Gonzalez would be an interesting acquisition to me.

[Second Base]

The way I see it, the Angels will let the situation play itself out organically so that they can come ou of this still being the good guys. When the Hamilton thing went down, the Angels were caught in a PR nightmare of sorts because they were trying to get out of that contract. 

Pujols obviously deserves better than that and the Angels will eventually need better production from first base when the team is ready to compete. 

My guess is Pujols gives the Angels 110 starts at 1B in 2019, and whoever his replacement for the other 50 games outproduces him significantly, whether that be Fernandez, Thaiss, Walsh or whoever. This will make it so that once 2020 rolls around, Pujols will serve as more of a power bat off the bench while the Angels get more production at 1B. 

The situation will sort of solve itself.