Pujols

[Stradling]

2 minutes ago, floplag said:

Based on this there is literally noone that can replace Pujols till he retires, so... its a moot point right, we can all stop talking about it and making random suggestions, cool.
Translation, you missed my point, i was sarcastically suggesting that thoise who want to DFA or replace him dont get it or dont want to.  

ok, this is just us misunderstanding each other if that is what you got out of my post.  Of course he can be released, but you have to acquire or develop the player to do just that.  If they traded for Goldschmidt or Joey Votto then you can.  If they had a guy like Adelle that was a first baseman you could.  But you aren't doing it for a 2 WAR sluggish first baseman like Cron, regardless of what Albert has become.  

[Tank]

On 10/24/2018 at 10:30 AM, Vladdylonglegs said:

Still a big upgrade over Pujols. Cron was their best 1B option heading into last year and they traded him away so Albertross could be the every day starter. Complete insanity.

How many times would you like us to remind you that the team needed a player who could play more than one position in the field? 

Honestly, the fact that you don't get this is puzzling.

[Stradling]

1 minute ago, Vladdylonglegs said:

You’re not reading my posts. Corn should have been the 1B while Pujols sat on the bench and pinch hit for pitchers in NL games. 

Oh now I get it, have Cron play, Albert sit and don’t sign Ohtani.  

[arch stanton]

22 minutes ago, Vladdylonglegs said:

You’re not reading my posts. Cron should have been the 1B while Pujols sat on the bench and pinch hit once in a while. Mostly for pitchers in interleague. 

There wasn’t room to carry two players limited to 1B only, especially two RH hitters with no speed

[Tank]

2 hours ago, arch stanton said:

There wasn’t room to carry two players limited to 1B only, especially two RH hitters with no speed

someone please carve this in stone.

[Tank]

3 hours ago, Vladdylonglegs said:

You’re not reading my posts. Cron should have been the 1B while Pujols sat on the bench and pinch hit once in a while. Mostly for pitchers in interleague. 

i've read your posts. we've all read your posts. 

the angels were not going to make pujols a part-time player. cron was not going to play any position in the field except first base. 

[ten ocho recon scout]

2 hours ago, arch stanton said:

There wasn’t room to carry two players limited to 1B only, especially two RH hitters with no speed

We could have kept josh hamilton. A LH hitter on speed.

[ten ocho recon scout]

Am i crazy, or does pujols kind of remind of griffey jr? Switched teams for huge money, never had the numbers after the switch. Best player for years and years, fades quicker than youd expect, etc.

[Blarg]

You're suggesting we send him back to St. Louis to end his career?

[ten ocho recon scout]

2 minutes ago, Blarg said:

You're suggesting we send him back to St. Louis to end his career?

Well, id prefer the mariners like jr.

[Tank]

18 minutes ago, Blarg said:

You're suggesting we send him back to St. Louis to end his career?

he'd have to go to the chisox first.

and frankly, i'm okay with that.

[yk9001]

The Colts replaced fading future Hall of Famer Johnny Unitas, the best qb in NFL history at the time, with Marty Domres.

@Stradling, the Angels may continue to play Pujols because of budgetary reasons, or some misguided judgement that he will find a spark.  But playing him out of "respect" for his past accomplishments is asinine.  Its horse and buggy thinking.  Professional sports is a results-oriented business.  Good franchises know they owe it to their fans, their organization, and the other players to put the best team they can on the field.  It would be sad if the Angels don't.  To think that the Angels somehow "owe" Pujols at bats because of accomplishments made a decade ago, with a different team, is mindblowing. 

[Stradling]

31 minutes ago, yk9001 said:

The Colts replaced fading future Hall of Famer Johnny Unitas, the best qb in NFL history at the time, with Marty Domres.

@Stradling, the Angels may continue to play Pujols because of budgetary reasons, or some misguided judgement that he will find a spark.  But playing him out of "respect" for his past accomplishments is asinine.  Its horse and buggy thinking.  Professional sports is a results-oriented business.  Good franchises know they owe it to their fans, their organization, and the other players to put the best team they can on the field.  It would be sad if the Angels don't.  To think that the Angels somehow "owe" Pujols at bats because of accomplishments made a decade ago, with a different team, is mindblowing. 

Ok cool.  They aren’t releasing Albert for a guy like Cron. 

[AngelsLakersFan]

On 10/23/2018 at 11:13 AM, Stradling said:

Your gut is Facking stupid, with all due respect.

I bet it's fat too, with all due respect.

[Docwaukee]

5 hours ago, yk9001 said:

The Colts replaced fading future Hall of Famer Johnny Unitas, the best qb in NFL history at the time, with Marty Domres.

@Stradling, the Angels may continue to play Pujols because of budgetary reasons, or some misguided judgement that he will find a spark.  But playing him out of "respect" for his past accomplishments is asinine.  Its horse and buggy thinking.  Professional sports is a results-oriented business.  Good franchises know they owe it to their fans, their organization, and the other players to put the best team they can on the field.  It would be sad if the Angels don't.  To think that the Angels somehow "owe" Pujols at bats because of accomplishments made a decade ago, with a different team, is mindblowing. 

did you just compare a 39yo QB from 45 years ago making 100k in 1972 (equivalent to 600k in today's dollars) with a year to year contract to a  38yo 1bman who started the year with $114 mil left on his contract?   talk about mind blowing. 

so much of what people try to draw a conclusion from around here is an attempt to make everything black or white.  

Albert gets his spot because they owe him a ton of money.  

He also gets a spot because they didn't think Cron was good enough to replace him outright 

He also gets a spot because baseball teams in general give their veteran players the benefit of the doubt 

He also gets a spot because he's a strong clubhouse guy

He also gets a spot because he's a future HOFer that the Angels made a commitment to and they want to preserve the impression that free agents can sign here and be respected based on their accomplishments.  

These are all weighted differently and there probably more reasons that contribute to Albert still having a spot.  

Frankly, I'm not in love with any of those excuses, but they're all real and they all matter to some degree to various people in the org.  

Would I have rather had Cron at 1b over Albert in 2018 and going forward?  Absolutely.  Am I dumb enough to think that all of those things are going to be ignored to gain a win or two in the standings?  of course not.  

He'll be gone at some point but he's not going to be cast aside like Luis Valbuena or Raul Ibanez or Danny Espinosa.  To think otherwise is delusional.

 

 

[halomatt]

14 hours ago, yk9001 said:

The Colts replaced fading future Hall of Famer Johnny Unitas, the best qb in NFL history at the time, with Marty Domres.

@Stradling, the Angels may continue to play Pujols because of budgetary reasons, or some misguided judgement that he will find a spark.  But playing him out of "respect" for his past accomplishments is asinine.  Its horse and buggy thinking.  Professional sports is a results-oriented business.  Good franchises know they owe it to their fans, their organization, and the other players to put the best team they can on the field.  It would be sad if the Angels don't.  To think that the Angels somehow "owe" Pujols at bats because of accomplishments made a decade ago, with a different team, is mindblowing. 

He’s a Hall of Famer.

 

Albert Deserves. 

[yk9001]

 

 

9 hours ago, Dochalo said:

did you just compare a 39yo QB from 45 years ago making 100k in 1972 (equivalent to 600k in today's dollars) with a year to year contract to a  38yo 1bman who started the year with $114 mil left on his contract?   talk about mind blowing. 

My post that you read was in regards to this from Stradling; my analogy is that there is precedent.

On 10/24/2018 at 5:15 PM, Stradling said:

Once again, you aren't talking about some dude, you are talking about a guy with 3000 hits and 600 home runs.  How many of those guys have there ever been?  And we aren't talking about replacing him with the next stud first baseman, or the future of the franchise.  We are talking about CJ Cron.  Would you have released Rod Carew for Lee Stevens or Daryl Sconiers?  

[ten ocho recon scout]

17 hours ago, halomatt said:

"He’s a Hall of Famer."

 

-Albert Deserves. 

Now it reads like an old song from the 60s.

[Angel Oracle]

10 hours ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

Now it reads like an old song from the 60s.

To the tune of Uncle Albert?

[Ace-Of-Diamonds]

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/los-angeles-angels

The Angels are likely to give Albert Pujols some DH time when facing a left-handed starter, as the veteran slugger can’t be an everyday option at first base given his history of injuries (including knee and elbow procedures this season).  After his second consecutive negative-fWAR season, there’s little evidence to suggest that Pujols should still get any sort of regular action, and a case could be made that the Angels would be better off eating Pujols’ remaining $87MM in salary rather than continue to use a roster spot on such a limited player.

Until we get hints that the Angels are considering a release, however, Pujols will continue to be penciled in for a timeshare at first base and DH.

[Lou]

I'm sure Eppler and Ausmus had a sit-down with Jeff Todd and let him in on their plan for the upcoming season, which is about 4.5 months away. 

[totdprods]

Seeing as how he’s had more trouble with lefties in recent years, that doesn’t make much sense. 

[Angel Oracle]

Countdown to finally pay Albert what’s left on his contract and he retires:

10.5 months?

$59 million (2020-2021) is less than what Arte paid out to Hackilton.   There can’t be any way he can suit up at 40 with those knees and feet?

[totdprods]

20 minutes ago, Angel Oracle said:

Countdown to finally pay Albert what’s left on his contract and he retires:

10.5 months?

$59 million (2020-2021) is less than what Arte paid out to Hackilton.   There can’t be any way he can suit up at 40 with those knees and feet?

While I’m not expecting him to ever become likely even a league average 100 OPS+ again, he did rebound somewhat last year, and by playing the field, we drew a little bit of positive production from him. And he still continues to hit very well in high leverage, clutch, and RBI situations. 

My hope is they design the ‘19 roster in a way where neither the team nor Albert are expecting 145 G/500 PA. Maybe ~120/400. Sit him once or twice a week and save him for clutch PH situations. Let him DH once a week. Maybe something like play a game at first, day off, play a game at first, day off, DH, play a game at at first.

Keep him relatively rested so none of his lingering pains become so bad he’s playing through them 80% of the season and hurting his production. Maximize his last remaining skills of decent 1B defense and clutch hitting by using him as a late-game PH/‘defensive replacement’.

If he does well with that, it sets a nice precedent for next season when more DH ABs open up as Ohtani returns to the mound and gradually transitions him into a part-time 1B/DH/PH platoon role, keeping him at least fresh enough to succeed in a reduced role without cutting him out completely. 

[Blarg]

Pujols only appeared in the field 70 games last season and still he couldn't complete the season. I just don't see him logging that many more games in 2019 as a 1B/DH simply because Ohtani is too damn good to sit.

The argument in the past, Pujols was better than the other options but that no longer holds true. He can't run, his batting average and OBP is replaceable, he doesn't have power numbers to offset those deficiencies. 

They didn't let Scioscia go to play the same game without regard to stats. The numbers say Albert has to have a dead cat bounce or he's not going to play.