2011 Baseball Season/Off-Season Discussion

[Falcon]

You should be breathing a sigh of relief that your team didn't get locked up with this contract. You got Pujol's best years. Let someone else pay the sunset money.

I should be but I'm not.

I understand the diminishing production possibilities/economics/sense of it all but I don't care, it's that simple.

I'm going to have to watch him hit his 500th, 600th and possibly 700th homer as well as other historical milestones as an Angel and that sickens me to the core.

[faldor]

You should be breathing a sigh of relief that your team didn't get locked up with this contract. You got Pujol's best years. Let someone else pay the sunset money.

I should be but I'm not.

I understand the diminishing production possibilities/economics/sense of it all but I don't care, it's that simple.

I'm going to have to watch him hit his 500th, 600th and possibly 700th homer as well as other historical milestones as an Angel and that sickens me to the core.

I hear you.  It's gotta hurt.  I thought for sure he'd stay with the Cards and they'd do everything in their power to keep them.  I guess they did have a limit in the end.  Obviously he won't be easy to replace.  One saving grace is he didn't sign with the Cubs.  I think that would've been even harder for you to swallow.  Add the fact that he switched leagues, so that's a minor bright spot as well.

And he's still in his prime, and will be so for years to come.  Obviously by the end of the contract he won't be, but I'm sure he'll make good on his contract for a good portion of the 10 years, if not all of them.

[tim_m]

If i'm the Rangers i'm scared shitless. Their best competitor just got better then them. What a slap in the face to the Rangers by Wilson too, not that i blame him really. I never really got a sense the Rangers wanted him back after getting Nathan and putting Feliz in the rotation.

[Falcon]

I hear you.  It's gotta hurt.  

It does, sucks to the nth degree.

I don't blame him either, he earned his right to free agency and took full advantage or it.

[Falcon]

If i'm the Rangers i'm scared shitless. Their best competitor just got better then them. What a slap in the face to the Rangers by Wilson too, not that i blame him really. I never really got a sense the Rangers wanted him back after getting Nathan and putting Feliz in the rotation.

The Rangers will be just fine, I still think they're better on paper and will win the west.

[faldor]

There's some speculation that the Rangers could try to counter the Angles moves by shifting their focus to Fielder and Darvish.  It's still early.  A long way to go still.

[tim_m]

Fielder wouldn't be a bad idea for the Rangers. They don't have a star first baseman. I would be weary of Darvish. Jap pitchers don't turn out well in the majors.

[MR.BROWNSTONE]

Pujols to Angels.

Done deal.

He decided this morning.

10 years, around 250 million, full no trade.

News should start breaking on it in the next few minutes...but you're hearing it here, first.

This deal came out of nowhere. I thought after the Marlins were out of it he would just stay. You can't blame the guy for not taking all that money. 

[tim_m]

I would've taken it too. I may be a bit crazy but not stupid.

[pilferk]

I would've taken it too. I may be a bit crazy but not stupid.

Not only is the money good, it's bigger than A-rod's deal (which is a point of pride for both Pujols and his agent).

As the player, I'd take it and run.

As the team....that's going to be a tough pill to swallow in 5-ish years.  Ask the Yanks re: A-rod.

[tim_m]

I kinda feel for the Stros. Now they are gonna have two powerhouse teams beating up on them in 2013 until they can turn things around.

[Falcon]

Bob Nightengale has the blow by blow of how it got done:

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/al/angels/story/2011-12-08/albert-pujols-cj-wilson-sign/51750952/1?AID=4992781&PID=4166869&SID=15gsoiyg69t0v

DALLAS ? The telephone rang at 7:30 in the morning Thursday in room 1882 of the Tower Building at the Anatole Hotel.


It was Albert Pujols, who uttered the words to agent Dan Lozano that would dramatically change baseball's landscape.

"The Angels," he said, "are the ones tugging on my heart."


Pujols agreed to a stunning 10-year contract for $254 million with the Los Angeles Angels, shocking fans and front offices from Anaheim to St. Louis to Miami and beyond.

Pujols, who had three contract offers worth in excess of $200 million ? including $275 million from the Marlins and $210 million from the Cardinals ? wound up with the second-largest deal in baseball history, concluding one of the most titillating negotiations since the advent of free agency nearly 40 years ago.

Angels owner Arte Moreno, who purchased the franchise for $183 million in 2003, committed to spend nearly twice as much money in two hours Thursday for Pujols and Texas Rangers left-hander C.J. Wilson (five years, $77.5 million) than he did for the entire franchise.

What follows is a behind-the-scenes look at how the deal came together based on interviews with more than a dozen scouts, front office executives, player agents and players close to Pujols. Many requested anonymity due to the sensitive nature of some material.

Frustrated by Cards

Los Angeles Dodgers manager Don Mattingly participated in Pujols' charity tournament Saturday. They had become friends over the years and Mattingly sensed something was awry in Pujols' relationship with the Cardinals' front office.

"There was a frustration there," said Mattingly, who grew up a Cardinals' fan in Evansville, Ind. "You could just sense something was wrong. He was getting frustrated by it.

"I hoped he would stay in St. Louis because he's such a legend there. He's like [Derek] Jeter and Cal [Ripken], but I also knew he would go where his heart would take him. People talk about the money, but I knew he would be following his heart."

Pujols' frustration stemmed from two years of not being able to come to an agreement with the Cardinals on a long-term contract extension and sensing the team didn't view him as a priority. He helped the team to the World Series championship this season in the final year of an eight-year, $116 million deal.

They made an offer in February worth about $195 million for nine years. Pujols, who wanted a 10-year deal, declined. They agreed to shut down negotiations until the season ended, but when free agency opened on Oct. 30, the Cardinals took the offer away and supplemented it with much shorter-term deals. Pujols, people said, almost felt as if the team was daring him to leave.

In came the Marlins, who wined and dined the three-time NL MVP. They took him to Joe's Stone Crab Restaurant in Miami and showed him the sights. They gave him a tour of their new ballpark, with pictures of Pujols wearing a Marlins' uniform beamed to the video boards and TV sets through the stadium. They also put their dream 2012 opening-day lineup on the scoreboard, with shortstop Jose Reyes, who would eventually sign a six-year, $106 million contract, batting leadoff and Pujols hitting cleanup.

The Marlins were relentless. They kept increasing their offer. Again. And again. When they arrived Sunday at the winter meetings, they expected to be leaving town with Pujols.

Just to make sure, they offered the richest contract in baseball history at 10 years for $275 million. There wasn't a penny deferred, and with incentives and factoring in no state tax in Florida, the deal could be worth nearly $300 million.

But Pujols wasn't ready to commit. The Marlins had stuck to their club policy and refused to give him a no-trade clause. Pujols also was aware that incumbent shortstop Hanley Ramirez was troubled by having to move to third base for Reyes. And despite a pair of World Series titles, the Marlins' franchise has all of the tradition of a strip mall with six winning seasons in 19 years.

The Marlins thought Pujols might agree on Monday, knowing their offer blew away the Cardinals' deal. Maybe it would have happened. But another team stepped in and ruined Miami's plans. The team, which refuses to be publicly identified, offered Pujols a 10-year, $225 million deal. Pujols was intrigued. If he didn't return to St. Louis, this team might be the perfect fit.

Then on Tuesday the Cardinals offered Pujols a contract potentially worth $210 million but for nine years, with a 10th-year option that would kick in if he met performance thresholds. It was an improvement over their previous proposals but still short of what else was on the table.

Still Pujols wanted to return to St. Louis.

It was at this time that Pujols eliminated the Marlins, and by late Tuesday it was a two-team race between the Cardinals and the mystery team. A few hours later, though, the phone rang in Lozano's suite, and it was Angels general manager Jerry DiPoto wanting to talk.

"About who?" Lozano said, who also represents free-agent shortstop Jimmy Rollins and outfielder Carlos Beltran.

"We want to talk about Albert Pujols," Dipoto said.

Lozano was stunned. The bigger surprise came at 9 the next morning. The Angels offered a 10-year contract for about $250 million. The deal included incentives that could make it worth nearly $280 million. No deferred money. And a full-no trade clause. Yes, they were serious.

Moreno, who watched the Angels fall short in recent years trying to lure free agents Carl Crawford, Mark Teixeira, Adrian Beltre and CC Sabathia, took the reins. He made two impassioned calls to Pujols. He told Pujols that they planned to also sign Wilson. They weren't going to stop being aggressive in the market until they won a World Series championship, their first since 2002 and first under Moreno.

Pujols told Lozano that he and his wife, Deidre, would pray on their decision that night.

'Is this for real?'

Lozano sat in his suite at 1 in the morning Thursday with his three-member staff, watching ESPN and munching on potato chips. He had been so busy Wednesday that he didn't even shower until 4 p.m. and never left the hotel during his four-day stay. He went to bed expecting Pujols to call at some point Thursday but figured it would take days to finalize a deal.

The phone call from Pujols came at 7:30 a.m. Five minutes later, Lozano called DiPoto, who had been up most of the night finalizing Wilson's deal. The rookie GM broke the news to his front-office staff, a group that's been together for less than two months.

"We just looked at each other," said Angels assistant GM Scott Servais, "and said, 'Is this for real?' ?I mean, everybody assumed, especially during the World Series, that he would stay in St. Louis. We were all so tired it was surreal."

The next calls were made to the mystery team's GM and to Cardinals GM John Mozeliak, who was stunned. He hurriedly packed his suitcase, left his suite and headed to the airport without telling most of his staff.

"We are disappointed that we were unable to reach an agreement to keep Albert Pujols in St. Louis," Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt said in a prepared statement a couple of hours later. "I would like our fans to know that we tried our best to make Albert a lifetime Cardinal but unfortunately we were unable to make it happen."

At a news conference later, Mozeliak said he talked with Pujols: "It was simply about wishing well and reflecting back on his time here. It was a very pleasant conversation and one we both feel good about."

He would not comment on the Cardinals' offer.

"I'm not going to get into terms. I can assure you it was a robust offer."

The news of the signing broke at 8:59 a.m., just minutes before the annual Rule 5 Draft. The room full of baseball scouts and executives was stunned. Mets GM Sandy Alderson, who was in a similar spot spot 11 years ago when Alex Rodriguez signed a record 10-year, $252 million deal (since broken by Rodriguez at $275 million) with the Rangers at the same hotel, was incredulous but not nearly as outraged as in 2000.

"There must be a strain of legionnaires' disease in here," Alderson said. "I think every club that has signed a 10-year contact has regretted it. But, of course, only one other team has."

While just about everyone else was numb, the Angels were delirious. Outfielder Torii Hunter and right-hander LaTroy Hawkins, who agreed to a free-agent deal on Wednesday, were working out with Pirates closer Joel Hanrahan in Frisco, Texas. Hanrahan took a break to check his phone, saw the tweet messages announcing the Pujols deal and walked over to show Hunter and Hawkins. They immediately raced to their phones.

"I had 65 text messages and 12 phone calls," Hawkins said. "I mean, this just came out of nowhere."

And they were gone

Lozano, who had an 11:50 a.m. flight back to Los Angeles, didn't have time to celebrate. To prevent a mob scene with the media in the lobby, he and a staff member were taken by hotel security to a service elevator that led them to the loading dock where a cab was waiting.

And they were gone.

"This is something that changes a franchise,'' Dipoto said, "and something that changes a community. This is more than just getting a great baseball player.''

[tim_m]

His heart? Bullshit! It was his wallet. Only reason he probably didn't take the bigger offer from Miami is cause they wouldn't give a full no trade clause.

[Falcon]

His heart? Bullshit! It was his wallet. Only reason he probably didn't take the bigger offer from Miami is cause they wouldn't give a full no trade clause.

I'm sure the lack of no trade in Miami had alot to do with it and the potential for Loria being Loria, dude's as shady as they come.

[tim_m]

His heart? Bullshit! It was his wallet. Only reason he probably didn't take the bigger offer from Miami is cause they wouldn't give a full no trade clause.

I'm sure the lack of no trade in Miami had alot to do with it and the potential for Loria being Loria, dude's as shady as they come.

No argument there on Loria, dude should probably be in jail.

[GeorgeSteele]

^In 2009, Albert Pujols said this:

    "People from other teams want to play in St. Louis and they're jealous that we're in St. Louis because the fans are unbelievable. So why would you want to leave a place like St. Louis to go somewhere else and make $3 or $4 more million a year? It's not about the money. I already got my money. It's about winning and that's it. It's about accomplishing my goal and my goal is to try to win."


I don't think this is a case of Pujols now being a hypocrite, rather just him coming to his senses.  You can't be flippant about "$3 or $4 million".  That is more money than most people will make in their lifetimes.  Also, he understands that as he gets older, he'll be developing more ambitions in terms of his charitable efforts, so you can't just walk away from that much money. 

[COMAMOTIVE]

Not about a few more million at all

This is about one thing, really:

R E S P E C T

In other words...his Ego

[Falcon]

^In 2009, Albert Pujols said this:

    "People from other teams want to play in St. Louis and they're jealous that we're in St. Louis because the fans are unbelievable. So why would you want to leave a place like St. Louis to go somewhere else and make $3 or $4 more million a year? It's not about the money. I already got my money. It's about winning and that's it. It's about accomplishing my goal and my goal is to try to win."


I don't think this is a case of Pujols now being a hypocrite, rather just him coming to his senses.  You can't be flippant about "$3 or $4 million".  That is more money than most people will make in their lifetimes.  Also, he understands that as he gets older, he'll be developing more ambitions in terms of his charitable efforts, so you can't just walk away from that much money. 

I don't have any problem with him saying that either, it was nearly 3 years ago and times have changed.

The Cards ownership possibly could've locked him up then with a north of ARod contract the Albert camp was seeking but chose to gamble there wouldn't be some crazy owner who overbids 30-40 million. 

Enter Moreno and the Angels...

It's a calculated gamble on his part, definitely trying to seize an opportunity for an identity in a market where they're clearly the low man on the totem pole looking up at the Lakers, Dodgers and USC football.

It's crazy how quick things change, yesterday morning LA's abuzz with the Angels signings and last night playing second fiddle to the Chris Paul trade being vetoed.

[tim_m]

Ryan Cheater Braun.

Ryan Braun tests positive for PED
By Mark Fainaru-Wada and T.J. Quinn
ESPN.com

National League MVP Ryan Braun, who last season led the Milwaukee Brewers to their first division title in nearly three decades, has tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug and faces a 50-game suspension if the initial finding is upheld, two sources familiar with the case told "Outside the Lines."

Major League Baseball has not announced the positive test because Braun is disputing the result through arbitration.

Olney: Positively bad for MLB

Ryan Braun went from being one of the game's best young players to being one of the most prominent to test positive for performance-enhancing drugs, writes Buster Olney. Story

A spokesman for Braun issued a statement Saturday: "There are highly unusual circumstances surrounding this case which will support Ryan's complete innocence and demonstrate there was absolutely no intentional violation of the program. While Ryan has impeccable character and no previous history, unfortunately, because of the process we have to maintain confidentiality and are not able to discuss it any further, but we are confident he will ultimately be exonerated."

The 28-year-old Braun had to provide a urine sample for testing during the playoffs, and he was notified of the positive test sometime in late October -- about a month before he was named the National League's most valuable player.

The positive result was triggered by elevated levels of testosterone in Braun's system, the sources also told "Outside the Lines." A subsequent, more comprehensive test revealed the testosterone was synthetic -- not produced by Braun's body.

Every individual naturally produces testosterone and a substance called epitestosterone, typically at a ratio of 1-to-1. In Major League Baseball, if the ratio comes in at 4-to-1 or higher during testing, a player is deemed to have tested positive. The sources did not indicate how high above the threshold Braun's sample tested.

To affirm the results and strengthen its case, MLB asked the World Anti-Doping Agency lab in Montreal, which conducts its testing, to perform a secondary test to determine whether the testosterone spike resulted from natural variations within Braun's body or from an artificial source. The test indicated the testosterone was exogenous, meaning it came from outside his body.

Brewers spokesman Tyler Barnes said Saturday that the team had not been contacted by the commissioner's office and the team had no knowledge of a failed test. Messages left for MLB officials were not returned. Greg Bouris, spokesman for the Major League Baseball Players Association, declined comment.

Since being informed of the results, Braun has been disputing his case. A source close to Braun said that when he was told about the positive test, he immediately requested to be tested again. That second test, the source said, was not positive. Those close to Braun believe that the difference between the two tests will show that the first test was invalid.

   Ryan Braun
Milwaukee Brewers' Ryan Braun carried the team to its first division title in nearly three decades last season, leading the league in slugging percentage at .597, with a .332 batting average, 33 home runs and 111 runs batted in.

The outfielder has told those around him that he did not knowingly take any banned substances and hoped to prove that during the arbitration process. No major league player has ever successfully appealed a positive test.

MLB's Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Policy calls for strict liability among players, meaning if a player tests positive, the league is "not required to otherwise establish intent, fault, negligence or knowing use of a Prohibited Substance on the Player's part to establish such a violation."

Even if a player can establish he did not knowingly take a banned substance, he must show he was not in any way negligent to appeal successfully. For example, taking a dietary supplement that contains an unlabeled performance-enhancing drug would not be sufficient grounds for appeal, but if he were to show that he ingested something that was either tampered with or no player reasonably could have assumed to have been contaminated, the appeal might succeed.

The source close to Braun said he believes that standard can be met.

Once criticized for protecting its biggest stars from scandal, the league is now faced with the possibility of suspending one of the game's best and most-admired players.

Braun had never been linked to PEDs previously; in fact, at the 2009 All-Star Game in St. Louis, when commissioner Bud Selig addressed efforts by Albert Pujols to tamp down questions about steroid use, he invoked Braun as a shining example of the sport's tough testing policy.

"Albert Pujols is absolutely right. He has been tested since he started playing," Selig said. "So has Ryan Howard. So has Ryan Braun, Ryan Zimmerman. Since they were in the minors."

About a month before that, Selig was quoted in The Arizona Republic as saying, "Our minor league testing program is in its ninth year, and that means all the great young players in baseball, from Ryan Howard to Ryan Braun, have all been tested for nine years. There's a system in place, and it's working. We know we have the toughest testing program in major league sports."

Earlier that spring, after Alex Rodriguez was exposed for using steroids, Braun spoke to MLB.com about the "mistakes" made by the superstar. Braun said he met Rodriguez in 2001 during a recruiting trip to the University of Miami.

Asked if he were surprised that Rodriguez had been exposed as a steroid user, Braun was quoted saying, "I don't know if I would say I was surprised. I feel like it was so rampant, so prevalent, in baseball during that time period that not much surprises me anymore. If anything, I was surprised he got caught, that it came out this long after he supposedly did it."

On whether he had ever been tempted to try performance-enhancing drugs, Braun said, "It's never something that I sought."

MLB.com wrote that Braun then showed "a flash of his sense of humor and his well-documented self-confidence" by adding, "I would never do it because if I took steroids, I would hit 60 or 70 home runs."

Braun was speaking to the website prior to the news conference at which Rodriguez admitted his use.

"... The best thing he can do is come out, admit to everything and be completely honest," Braun said. "The situation will die a lot faster if he tells the whole truth."

Since breaking into the majors in 2007 at 23, Braun has emerged as one of the sport's top young players. He won the NL Rookie of the Year in 2007 and was an All-Star each of the past four seasons.

In his rookie season, Braun hit 34 homers and drove in 97 runs, while amassing a .634 slugging percentage in just 113 games. He had 37 home runs and 106 RBI the following year, then saw his power numbers decline modestly over the next two seasons. He still hit 25 home run runs and had a .501 slugging percentage in 2010.

In April, Braun signed a five-year contract extension worth $105 million. He then went out and had his best season ever, carrying the Brewers to their first division title in nearly three decades. He led the league in slugging percentage at .597, with a .332 batting average, 33 home runs, 111 runs batted in, 109 runs scored and 33 stolen bases.

Braun turned 28 on Nov. 17 and five days later was named the NL MVP. Now, though, he's looking at a 50-game suspension to open the 2012 season, and, of course, all sorts of questions about what role steroids have played in his success.

Mark Fainaru-Wada and T.J. Quinn are investigative reporters with ESPN's enterprise unit. Fainaru-Wada can be reached at markfwespn@gmail.com. Quinn can be reached at tjquinn31@yahoo.com.

[COMAMOTIVE]

Makes no sense

Guy is a rail.

Has put up the same consistent #'s since his arrival........just has become a more complete player

If true, very sad, as he is one of my favorite players