When will the Angels DFA Pujols?

[TheLordofOuts]

I don’t remember the last time he was at least decent. He’s just another old guy cashing Arte’s checks. 

[Stradling]

They won’t.  Next thread.  

[UndertheHalo]

It would be hilarious if they DFA’d him now.  
 

seriously what’s the point now ? 

[UndertheHalo]

Also lordofouts should respect history more 

[eligrba]

The idea has merit. The Angels can replace Pujols with Rojas and remove all hope of production. 

[DMVol]

The easy solution is to make him a coach....but he’d never do that.....pretty obvious that there is an organizational decision to let him play out his contract.....

If you subscribe to The Athletic, good piece on it by Joe Posnanski:

https://theathletic.com/2538718/2021/04/23/ok-its-time-to-talk-about-the-oakland-as-the-albert-pujols-problem-its-joes-week-in-baseball/

 

[Billy_Ball]

He's going to remain in the organization in some capacity after this season.  The Machine has a 10 year "personal services" contract.

[Vlad27Trout27]

after game 162 

[Angels 1961]

Big hit by Albert

[Jason]

He’ll hit an inside the park HR first 

[Angelsjunky]

The real question is when will the Angels stop giving him so much playing time. So far he's played in 15 of 18 games, a 135-game pace. He's hitting .226/.268/.396 with a -0.1 WAR. He's barely a replacement player.

It is past time to give Ward or Thaiss a chance to earn his playing time. Not only is Pujols hurting the present, but he's hurting future by not giving those guys the time needed for them to get some reps in the majors and for the Angels to assess their long-term value. 

Edited April 24, 2021 by Angelsjunky

[robblin17]

19 minutes ago, Angelsjunky said:

The real question is when will the Angels stop giving him so much playing time. So far he's played in 15 of 18 games, a 135-game pace. He's hitting .226/.268/.396 with a -0.1 WAR. He's barely a replacement player.

It is past time to give Ward or Thaiss a chance to earn his playing time. Not only is Pujols hurting the present, but he's hurting future by not giving those guys the time needed for them to get some reps in the majors and for the Angels to assess their long-term value. 

For real. Pujols sucks. 

[Angelsjunky]

I'll copy something I wrote in the gameday thread, as I think it is more appropriate here:

This is pure speculation, but I think every player faces a kind of watershed moment, usually around 31-32. The mileage starts wearing on them, their skills start eroding,  and they lose a half step. They can either accept reality or deny. When they accept reality, they adjust and find a slightly lower plateau and decline commensurate with their abilities. When they deny reality, they try harder at doing what they've always done, and often end up over-compensating.

The second is what, I think, happened with Pujols. He lost a bit of bat speed, the weight on his lower body started having an impact, and rather than adapt his game and become a different kind of hitter, instead, he started swinging harder, trying to be the same hitter, and ended up being an all-or-nothing guy. Meaning, he tried being the same hitter; he was in denial about his eroding skill set, and rather than adjusting and becoming, say, a .290/.900 guy, he tried to hit everything over the fence and became a .250/.750 guy. The irony is that by trying to hit home runs in every at-bat, he didn't increase his home runs but declined everywhere else. A classic instance of the difference between a "hitter with power" and a "power-hitter."

Or to put it another way, he went from being Lou Gehrig to Tony Armas in just a few years. 

[ukyah]

1 hour ago, Angelsjunky said:

I'll copy something I wrote in the gameday thread, as I think it is more appropriate here:

This is pure speculation, but I think every player faces a kind of watershed moment, usually around 31-32. The mileage starts wearing on them, their skills start eroding,  and they lose a half step. They can either accept reality or deny. When they accept reality, they adjust and find a slightly lower plateau and decline commensurate with their abilities. When they deny reality, they try harder at doing what they've always done, and often end up over-compensating.

The second is what, I think, happened with Pujols. He lost a bit of bat speed, the weight on his lower body started having an impact, and rather than adapt his game and become a different kind of hitter, instead, he started swinging harder, trying to be the same hitter, and ended up being an all-or-nothing guy. Meaning, he tried being the same hitter; he was in denial about his eroding skill set, and rather than adjusting and becoming, say, a .290/.900 guy, he tried to hit everything over the fence and became a .250/.750 guy. The irony is that by trying to hit home runs in every at-bat, he didn't increase his home runs but declined everywhere else. A classic instance of the difference between a "hitter with power" and a "power-hitter."

Or to put it another way, he went from being Lou Gehrig to Tony Armas in just a few years. 

 the real reason is because albert is 47 years old.

[AngelStew43]

Exactly.  He plays like he's 45.  But, we will have him for 144 more games, unless he decides to retire. 

[Lou]

2 home runs in 12 the innings since you started this thread.

[Angelsjunky]

So there seems to be two extremist views on Albert, both equally silly:

*They're going to DFA him.

*He's still got something left in the tank! See? A home run!

The problem with the first is his salary and the impact that letting him go would have on the mentality of his teammates. He is an icon to the players and well liked. This might have made some sense a couple years ago, but they didn't really have a great alternative, and now it is his final season. It just ain't gonna happen.

Th problem with the second is that, yes, he does hit the occasional home run and is still a power threat. In 500 PA he'd probably hit 20-25 HR. But that's about it. He's been a below league average hitter for five years now, going back to 2017. A first baseman or DH hitting .230ish with power but few walks and no speed should not be a major league regular, no matter the name or 

The reasonable middle-ground is, well, he's only here for this season. He has clubhouse value. Keep him around, but play him minimally - not only because alternatives can't be worse (e.g. Thaiss and Ward), but also because those alternatives might get better with playing time. But he really shouldn't be starting 90% of the games. Maybe 30% at most, and I'd be happier with 20% just to throw him a bone.

[robblin17]

15 minutes ago, Lou said:

2 home runs in 12 the innings since you started this thread.

He still sucks and has killed this franchise. He can’t go away soon enough. 

[Stradling]

Just now, robblin17 said:

He still sucks and has killed this franchise. He can’t go away soon enough. 

“Killed this franchise”

haha

[robblin17]

23 minutes ago, Stradling said:

“Killed this franchise”

haha

Prove me wrong. We’ve been absolute ass since we signed him and having that amount of payroll be completely worthless will kill a team’s ability to be successful. We have one of the best players of all time, but it doesn’t matter because he is negated by one of the worst players of all time when you factor in salary and performance. 
 

Also, is he your daddy? Always the first guy to jump to his defense.  

[AngelsFaninGA]

He's literally in his final season (and still contributes more than half our hitters) so they're not gonna DFA him. 

[Angelsjunky]

He's hurt the franchise, but he isn't the only bloated contract involved. Wells, Hamilton and Upton all had a moderate to serious negative impact on the team's fortune.

But there are other factors: the rotation woes in 2015-16 that saw the entire rotation go down with TJ; Dipoto's raping of the farm system; Eppler's inability to assess pitching talent; a lack of international scouting; Arte's meddling.

At least the trend is overall positive: Dipoto to Eppler to Minasian (maybe); a rising farm system; albatross contracts coming off the books (Wells, Hamilton, soon Pujols and Upton) and being replaced by better ones (Trout, Rendon); less obvious meddling from Arte.

[AngelsFaninGA]

Also Pujols would never have been an issue if we'd had a functional pitching staff at any point during his years here. Maybe let's get that one figured out. 

[tdawg87]

5 minutes ago, robblin17 said:

Prove me wrong. We’ve been absolute ass since we signed him and having that amount of payroll be completely worthless will kill a team’s ability to be successful. We have one of the best players of all time, but it doesn’t matter because he is negated by one of the worst players of all time when you factor in salary and performance. 
 

Also, is he your daddy? Always the first guy to jump to his defense.  

Saying he "killed this franchise" is 100% accurate.

Arte hasn't been able to sign anyone because Pujols handicapped the payroll. And if it weren't for that stupid contract, we'd still have Mike Trout. Hell, maybe we could have added Cole or Rendon the other year. Would have helped. But oh well.

[Stradling]

33 minutes ago, robblin17 said:

Prove me wrong. We’ve been absolute ass since we signed him and having that amount of payroll be completely worthless will kill a team’s ability to be successful. We have one of the best players of all time, but it doesn’t matter because he is negated by one of the worst players of all time when you factor in salary and performance. 
 

Also, is he your daddy? Always the first guy to jump to his defense.  

No I’m not defending him I’m just not buying your bullshit.