Pujols intends to fulfill personal services contract, excited to see who the new owner is

[Jason]

On 10/10/2022 at 10:49 AM, cals said:

Albert is no dummy and he knows the Angels don't want him around.

But he's also not going to leave 10 million dollars on the table, that would be foolish.

I wouldn't be surprised to see a quiet buyout of this and Albert not having anything to do with the Angels in retirement. 

Are you talking about the front office or the fans? 

[The Ghost of Bob Starr]

On 10/9/2022 at 8:15 AM, Angels 1961 said:

I'm glad he will be coming back. He is HOF one of best players ever to play. I'm sure he can give advice to many young players. I will not be surprised he becomes manager someday.

LOL.  Where has he ever showed aptitude to manage?  “Mang… “ 

[cals]

38 minutes ago, jsnpritchett said:

Pretty sure they'd have to pay him the full $10M to go away.  MLBPA doesn't support buyouts of contracted amounts for less than the guaranteed value, as far as I know.  (That said, I've long felt that they'd just pay him the money and be done with it.)

When I said buyout I figured a present value buyout, so they don't have to pay the 1 million a year and ultimately save perhaps a little since the present value of 10 million now is more than 10 million over 10 years. 

[cals]

27 minutes ago, Jason said:

Are you talking about the front office or the fans? 

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[Jason]

5 minutes ago, cals said:

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I just assume we hate him more than they do 

[i8a 4re]

It's a game of chicken. FO doesnt want him there, and Pujols doesnt want to be there but he wants the cash. I'd call pujols on his bluff and give him the worst assignments that fit into the agreement. See who blinks first.

 

[Docwaukee]

3 minutes ago, i8a 4re said:

It's a game of chicken. FO doesnt want him there, and Pujols doesnt want to be there but he wants the cash. I'd call pujols on his bluff and give him the worst assignments that fit into the agreement. See who blinks first.

I would hire Jack Clark and make him Albert's boss.  

[ten ocho recon scout]

2 hours ago, Docwaukee said:

I would hire Jack Clark and make him Albert's boss.  

Make Albert the clubhouse gopher, and have guys like Walsh send him to get towels and stuff

[Lou]

Just now, ten ocho recon scout said:

Make Albert the clubhouse gopher, and have guys like Walsh send him to get towels and stuff

Albert Kay 

[ScottM]

On 10/10/2022 at 3:27 PM, Taylor said:

@ScottSted will be first in line.

stop

[Jeff Fletcher]

I don’t understand why some of you guys don’t think Pujols could be an asset to the front office and/or players if he wanted to do it. 

[ten ocho recon scout]

2 hours ago, Lou said:

Albert Kay 

Would fit. All he seemed to do here was K

[jsnpritchett]

3 minutes ago, Jeff Fletcher said:

I don’t understand why some of you guys don’t think Pujols could be an asset to the front office and/or players if he wanted to do it. 

Probably because for some of us on this board, he's a symbol of what has gone wrong with the franchise over much of the last decade and we don't need a reminder of how disappointing his tenure with the Angels was.  I don't understand why it would be hard for you to see that.  Maybe I've missed something between all the stories about his injuries, his comments about how great of a player he is, and his family drama, but I haven't seen much reporting that indicates he would bring anything unique or positive to the front office.

A casual Angels fan might be happy to see him around because he's a "big name," but I don't really give a shit.  His best years were with another team.  I have zero fond memories of his days with the Angels.

[Jeff Fletcher]

32 minutes ago, jsnpritchett said:

Probably because for some of us on this board, he's a symbol of what has gone wrong with the franchise over much of the last decade and we don't need a reminder of how disappointing his tenure with the Angels was.  I don't understand why it would be hard for you to see that.  Maybe I've missed something between all the stories about his injuries, his comments about how great of a player he is, and his family drama, but I haven't seen much reporting that indicates he would bring anything unique or positive to the front office.

A casual Angels fan might be happy to see him around because he's a "big name," but I don't really give a shit.  His best years were with another team.  I have zero fond memories of his days with the Angels.

I suspect all your bad memories of Pujols are related to the fact that he could no longer produce as a player. 
 

He’s not a player any more. 
 

You don’t think a guy who was one of the best players in major league history knows something about baseball he could share? It’s certainly not going to hurt. And $1M a year is nothing to big league budget. 
 

Also, I don’t think you’re even going to see him to be reminded of it. How much did you see Brad Ausmus or Bud Black or Eric Chavez or Trey Hillman when they were special assistants?

I think the Angels are smart enough to use him for his baseball knowledge and not his PR value. 

Edited October 12, 2022 by Jeff Fletcher

[i8a 4re]

1 minute ago, Jeff Fletcher said:

I suspect all your bad memories of Pujols are related to the fact that he could no longer produce as a player. 
 

He’s not a player any more. 
 

You don’t think a guy who was one of the best players in major league history knows something about baseball he could share? It’s certainly not going to hurt. And $1M a year is nothing to big league budget. 

what has he shared with the angels over the past decade that helped? 

trout speaks fondly of him but trout would be trout with or without pujols. 

[jsnpritchett]

9 minutes ago, Jeff Fletcher said:

I suspect all your bad memories of Pujols are related to the fact that he could no longer produce as a player. 
 

He’s not a player any more. 
 

You don’t think a guy who was one of the best players in major league history knows something about baseball he could share? It’s certainly not going to hurt. And $1M a year is nothing to big league budget. 

Beats me.  Being a great player doesn't necessarily make you a good front office exec/consultant, a great manager/coach, etc.  It all depends on the individual, how they communicate with others, how they process information and share it with others, their ability to strategize, their ability to analyze players, etc.  As a player, he always struck me as somewhat selfish and self-absorbed, aside from a few mentions of him being buddies with Trout and helping him a bit.  Again, I've seen nothing to indicate he can help a front office, if that's what they ask him to do when/if he fulfills the personal services contract.  If you or others reported on his abilities in these areas and how they might translate into his post-playing career, feel free to share those articles with us and I'll be happy to read them.

EDIT: Also, I'm well aware that he's not a player anymore--at least assuming he meant what he said when he said he really was retiring after this year.  Further, I don't know anyone who is saying that the financial commitment to him is going to impact the Angels budget in any way, so I'm not even sure why you're throwing that in as a strawman.

Edited October 12, 2022 by jsnpritchett

[Jeff Fletcher]

20 minutes ago, jsnpritchett said:

Beats me.  Being a great player doesn't necessarily make you a good front office exec/consultant, a great manager/coach, etc.  It all depends on the individual, how they communicate with others, how they process information and share it with others, their ability to strategize, their ability to analyze players, etc.  As a player, he always struck me as somewhat selfish and self-absorbed, aside from a few mentions of him being buddies with Trout and helping him a bit.  Again, I've seen nothing to indicate he can help a front office, if that's what they ask him to do when/if he fulfills the personal services contract.  If you or others reported on his abilities in these areas and how they might translate into his post-playing career, feel free to share those articles with us and I'll be happy to read them.

EDIT: Also, I'm well aware that he's not a player anymore--at least assuming he meant what he said when he said he really was retiring after this year.  Further, I don't know anyone who is saying that the financial commitment to him is going to impact the Angels budget in any way, so I'm not even sure why you're throwing that in as a strawman.

I am not going to go back through 10 years of stories but off the top of my head I’ve had conversations with Trout, Rengifo, Suarez, Walsh and Scioscia, Ausmus, Maddon, Reed about Pujols having a positive influence. 
 

And the only reason I brought up the money is to illustrate that there’s almost no cost to having him do it if he and the team want him to. I don’t see any downside to having him around. 

[Angels 1961]

12 minutes ago, Jeff Fletcher said:

I am not going to go back through 10 years of stories but off the top of my head I’ve had conversations with Trout, Rengifo, Suarez, Walsh and Scioscia, Ausmus, Maddon, Reed about Pujols having a positive influence. 
 

And the only reason I brought up the money is to illustrate that there’s almost no cost to having him do it if he and the team want him to. I don’t see any downside to having him around. 

Albert has so much to offer. I think he could help players like Adell with his knowledge. I think he wants to help and would love to see Angels to be successful. It's amazing how people on AW know so little.

[daygloman]

[Puget Sound Angel]

I wouldn't have anything to do with him unless he agrees to go into the HOF as an Angel.

[Docwaukee]

I figured most people were joking about not wanting him around.  I wouldn't necessarily lobby for it but he probably brings some value.  I'm in the 'sure, why not' camp.  I would laugh a little if it restricted him from working with other teams as well.  

[Docwaukee]

and just to be clear, I'm not a huge fan of the guy.  His personality kinda rubbed me the wrong way even when he was with the Cards to begin with.  So it was never really about him not performing in Anaheim as much as why he didn't perform there.  Personally think he took a very selfish approach and I don't buy for a second that he wasn't interested in chasing records.  Which is part of what I don't really like about him in that I have mixed feelings about his intentions.  On one hand, he seems to have done some really thoughtful and helpful things in his life yet for some reason I just get the sense a lot of it is for show.  But maybe that's not fair and he's actually a good guy.  

But if he can bring some of his knowledge and make a guy or two or three a little better then great.  Otherwise, I think his involvement isn't going to be overly impactful.  

[TurboFan]

As a fan interested in my team building an organization capable of consistently going deep into the playoffs in the future, the personal services clause in Pujols’ contract is of no interest to me. Not my business. The new owners will do whatever they think best with the clause. As for comments about Albert exacting revenge by insisting on fulfilling the obligation - pul-ease! Expecting a contract be honored cannot be revenge. Nobody who had such an agreement in writing would ever walk away from it because of what some fans think. The whole subject is a nothingburger to me. Beyond meat.

[W.E. Baxter Author]

On 10/9/2022 at 9:15 AM, Angels 1961 said:

I'm glad he will be coming back. He is HOF one of best players ever to play. I'm sure he can give advice to many young players. I will not be surprised he becomes manager someday.

I think he will go into the HOF as an Angel. I don't see him going in as a Cardinal because of the way St. Louis treated him when it was time to leave for Anaheim. He set some major records playing for The Angels like hitting his 600th Homer.

[W.E. Baxter Author]

Arte got everything he wanted when he made that short-lived deal with Mayor Sidhu. He was going to own the team, the stadium, parking, concessions, everything (Just like the owners of the L.A. Dodgers)! That is what Arte wanted from the start. Then Sidhu turned out to be a crook, and Arte got the whole carpet pulled out from under him. I can't say I blame him for wanting to sell. It would be nice if The Samueli's would buy The Angels, of course we know what that would mean.