[jimmyeatworld]

Not if Pujols delivers a ring in the next year or two, which is a distinct possibility now. No one will care how bad it is on the back end.

There are still 4-5 teams in the majors distinctly better than the Angels even if they land Pujols and CJ Wilson IMO, so there isn't a guarantee they win a ring.

[BigSpoon]

Rangers still win the AL West in 2012.

Awful contract, its not 2001 anymore with no drug testing. He will not be productive enough without roids in his mid to late thirties to justify the length and dollars of the contract.

[teaserpleaser]

Just put my deposit down on season tickets.... Its fukkin on!!!

[letsgo]

Could be as bad as Arods contract.

[EaglesPhan36]

Nothing will be as bad as A-Rod's contract. Guess Pujols thought the ceiling on STL had been reached because he just went to a tougher division and league ... be surprised if the Angels win a World Series during his contact and wouldn't be shocked if they didn't reach the Series.

[crustyme]

whats ironic is they could have gotten similar production out of mike napoli for peanuts but that primmadonna scioscia basically trades him to a division rival because hes a bitch who holds grudges.

scioscia reminds me of phil jackson the way he trades anyone who doesnt kiss his ass.

angels also just signed cj wilson to $75 mil so they just won the pennant!

[teaserpleaser]

Cj wilson... Halos are all in baby Texas better look out.

[King Mayan]

fukking dodgers.

[teaserpleaser]

Napoli hurt alot.. Alot alot mathis would get some clutch abs but I loved naps stick painful to see him go. Mike screwed up big time on that one

[jimmyeatworld]

Nothing will be as bad as A-Rod's contract. Guess Pujols thought the ceiling on STL had been reached because he just went to a tougher division and league ... be surprised if the Angels win a World Series during his contact and wouldn't be shocked if they didn't reach the Series.

Tougher division? Not sure on that... the AL West is the easiest league to win b/c there are only two challengers on any given year. The Mariners and A's will be atrocious for a long time. And now they have the Astros coming in. That'll make the division one of the worst with 3 bottom dwellers.

[Darkside Magick]

orange county going to be rocking ......suck for the dodgers!!!!!!!!!

[teaserpleaser]

fukking dodgers.

Mayan I put down deposit on 2 seats my girl cant go to all the games let me know if you want to roll.

[EaglesPhan36]

Maybe not top to bottom tougher, but you've got the reigning AL Champions ... and then you've got Detroit, NY, Boston ... National League, pretty much beat the Phillies and you got it made. Maybe Milwaukee if Fat Daddy Fielder stays.

[jimmyeatworld]

Maybe not top to bottom tougher, but you've got the reigning AL Champions ... and then you've got Detroit, NY, Boston ... National League, pretty much beat the Phillies and you got it made. Maybe Milwaukee if Fat Daddy Fielder stays.

Atlanta has a lot of pieces, should scare anyone... Reds are possible contenders, it really just depends on the year. I think the NL has won more championships recently though.

[goldendome23]

You guys realize all the steroids talk is crap, he hasn't failed a test in 11 years. I'm a Cardinals fan and the deserve to lose him, their offer was horrible. Made him the 4th highest paid first baseman. And for all the people that say he's lazy he's led the Cardinals in stolen bases the last 4 years, let alone every other offensive statistic category that matters in his tenure there. Dude's going to go down as a top 5 right handed hitter of all time. If you guys want to talk about bad contracts take a look at Jason Werth and then come back to me.

[Mr Handicapable]

Adios muchacho to Pujols. My Reds and the rest of the NL say good f#$%n riddance in the most respectful way possible. What happens though when they find out he's already 35 or 36? Hanley Ramirez doesn't want to go to 3B for the Marlins and the Reds have some great Cuban (Miami market after all) talent for trade. Votto & Ramirez in the middle of the Reds lineup and ship the NL Central back to the good guys.

[teaserpleaser]

Could be mr hand his age... But oh well what can you do? halos needed his bat so bad..., needed to crush the dodgers and they did.

[d2bets]

Guy cant even run now as it is

Going to be dh i would assume

Good contract for first 2 or 3 years then the body will really begin to break down from all the steroid use like ARod

Why would he be DH? He's an excellent defender at 1B. Don't need to run much to play 1B effectively.

[Stocks]

He might be worth the 25 million now and maybe for the first few years but the last 5 years he'll only be worth half that at best and everyone will be complaining about how much money this guy is making while hitting .280 and 20 homeruns a season.

Smart move on his part get paid while you can and **** everyone else thats how the world works.

[NYSportsGuy210]

id have to disagree you get the 2nd best hitter in baseball on your team, its going to make a huge difference. pitching, offense, defense.

Who's first? Carlos Gonzalez?

[teaserpleaser]

.280 and 20 a year backend is worst case.....didnt do the math but they tripled season ticket prices

[FourLengthsClear]

Debating the merits of the contract from the LAA pov is fairly pointless, we can only speculate what the commercial value is.

In 2005 and 2006 Michael Schumacher was driving for Ferrari in Formula 1. Philip Morris/Marlboro were supplementing his already huge salary to the tune of USD 20m per year despite that fact that tobacco advertising at sporting events was already illegal. On the face of it - it made no sense but we can be sure that it was not an altruistic thing and that it was +EV for them.

[lunchbawks]

young rich angels GM has nothing to lose

[ttwarrior1]

he wants to be hated like lebrick and gayrod

[King Mayan]

Mayan I put down deposit on 2 seats my girl cant go to all the games let me know if you want to roll.

I'm no traitor teaser... But thanks for the offer bud.

And while the angels get Pujols, our first baseman is a drunk driving schmuck.

[teaserpleaser]

I'm no traitor teaser... But thanks for the offer bud.

still have kershaw and kemp

[High3rEl3m3nt]

My poor Mariners once again on the bottom of the shit pile

I'm right with this guy...can't shake myself from the M's...guess I'll die sports-cursed (Seahawks, Blazers & Avalanche too!).

The Angels are an attractive organization. They have budding stars in Trumbo and Trout, a strong fanbase, and they've shown that they're loyal to their older players. Top this off with California weather, entertainment, and the lifestyle, and it's hard to say no on top of the money being offered. There's also the DH possibility in the future, which allows Pujols a better shot of playing until he's ready to call it quits. Then, if you break down the division and look at how this plays out in the majority of road trips he'll face, things just became a little easier, though he'll be traveling a lot further for the rest of the away games.

Personally, between Scioscia at the helm and Guillen, I am choosing the Angels. Guillen and Miami brought in Reyes and Buerle? Reyes will benefit the team in that his antics will divert attention from Guillen. Reyes is not a winner. Buerle may be a nice guy, but come on, he's definitely not going to add much--he's Guillen's boy toy. Then, there's no way that Pujols becomes a Cubbie and he has to face St. Louis throughout the season. As an Angel, he gets to avoid St. Louis as best as possible.

[crzbrave]

Albert is not the 2nd best hitter in baseball, he IS the best hitter in baseball. Great deal for the Angels, they will sell out almost every game I bet. Artie opening up the wallet, I went to an Angel game last year it was amazing. The atmosphere is 10 x better then a Dodger game. The state is dancing right now and can't wait to light up that HALO!! Welcome Albert!!

[letsgo]

Nothing will be as bad as A-Rod's contract. Guess Pujols thought the ceiling on STL had been reached because he just went to a tougher division and league ... be surprised if the Angels win a World Series during his contact and wouldn't be shocked if they didn't reach the Series.

At least they won a World Series with Arod, those years when Pujols is in his 40's and has a No Trade Clause should be really fun.

If they don't win a World Series and Pujols has health problems then it could be just as bad.

[unusialsusp5]

ok he will hit .310 32hr 114 rbi's for the next 3-4 years (an average of) but after that .280 25 95 into year 7. the decline after that will be dreadful and he will get 75million for let's say .273 20 83. the pitching better hold up. st louis management must be dancing in the streets to have had this guy in his prime and got 2 titles out of it. nice dumpoff cards.

[Naz18]

You guys realize all the steroids talk is crap, he hasn't failed a test in 11 years. I'm a Cardinals fan and the deserve to lose him, their offer was horrible. Made him the 4th highest paid first baseman. And for all the people that say he's lazy he's led the Cardinals in stolen bases the last 4 years, let alone every other offensive statistic category that matters in his tenure there. Dude's going to go down as a top 5 right handed hitter of all time. If you guys want to talk about bad contracts take a look at Jason Werth and then come back to me.

Roger Clemens never failed a test either....

[goldendome23]

They didnt even have drug testing for the majority of Clemens career. Big difference.

[d2bets]

They overpaid baseball value wise. Doesn't necessarily mean bad signing. Fielder will give more value overall through the contract to his new team. What's Fielder going to get? 7/160?

[wantitall4moi]

Guys with the injury talk. He is injured about as much as Shaq was injured all those times he took games off. Guy was supposedly hurt last season, he still played 147 games and hit 300 and 37 homers. He also only had 58 strike outs which were the fewest he has had in along time. But he also saw alot more pitches than he usually did, he had about 1/3 of the intentional walks as he was used to seeing. His injury amounted to him sending the Cards a message, that with this move, they obviously didnt receive. But he is a pro and he still delivered for them, and he won them a ring. he could have been like all the other losers in a contract year and looking to get out and padded stats and then quit when the outlook was bad. But hey were 8 or 9 games out and he helped get them into the post season, I didnt see him slacking off in crunch time. That gets you a little bit of a pay raise right there.

Guy still has at least 5 very good years left in him. He is only 31 for crying out loud you guys make it sound like hes 36 or 37 and a broken down mess. So 5 years on the field, and a couple more at Dh and they get their money's worth out of him, plus he is a nice commodity to have when youre looking to entice a guy or two to LA.

Angels hitting is still suspect but their pitching is off the charts, all they need is a legit closer. Which might be possible during the season if the guy that sucked last year doesnt get any better. So this next season is the warm up and if theyre close expect a lot of moves when the time comes,and a lot of guys around that will be gotten for a song to be sure like there always are. These big moves pre season just set up the stuff when the time actually comes and where you make or break yourself with moving day trades.

And as far as steroids goes, thats a cop out, he is basically the only guy, other than maybe jeter who has never been suspected. Except by losers who have no other 'ammunition' to bash a guy.

Angels will probably get a 10-15% rise in season tickets, and the few games they didnt sell out will most definitely sell out now.

Angels and marino are a good example of the 'right' way to do it. Spend when you have to and build a good team. Trade players that are past their prime or want too much and move forward. Only really 'bad' m,ove they made was troy Glaus. But when they got rid of him he was a guy who REALLY got injured and missed a lot of games. After he left he had a couple decent years, which could have been nice for Ana but at the time he looked like he was damaged goods. Scioscia is one of the best and he works miracles with guys most teams wouldnt look twice at. Now with a legit bat it will be interesting to see what happens. Sure Vlad was good, but the guy would swing at anything, sure he hit it sometimes, but he isnt Pujols.

[C-Gold]

He's getting slower
He doesn't look his age
He's showing wear and tear

I'd say he could have 3/4 more elite years, maybe 2 more very good years, but what after that? Baseball is a team sport. You will see some injury out of him too. I think Albert taking his talents to Long Beach is a blessing in disguise for the Cards. Albert wants to DH, that adverse selection makes me even more worried about his health.