Agreed. Everything I've always heard, read or seen about Pujols is that he's a better person than he is baseball player. I hope this decision comes with him knowing he can now use the extra 30M or so to donate to his and other charities. Don't get me wrong. It's his money. He can do with it what he wants, obviously. I just like to still believe in heroes, true heroes, and have this wish that he did this only so that there's additional millions that can be put to good use.
Don't they already have plenty of hockey teams?
At the end of his contract, the Angels will be paying $25 million/year for a guy in his 40s. Do they have that kind of financial flow?
He's of Hispanic origin and he'll be playing for a team in Southern California. They'll be just fine, trust me.
Albert won't need to play the final 5 years of his contract and will still be the Angels #1 selling jersey.
It was just a logical decision for Pujols if we are being honest. Miami is rumored to have had the best offer out there at 10 and 275. That offer did not include a no-trade clause which he obviously wanted badly. Who wouldn't after seeing 2 previous Marlin fire sales after winning championships. The Cardinals offer prior to the 2011 season was 9 and 198. A lot of money to be sure but a lot less than him and his agent thought he could get on the open market. Especially since they were dropping a year and 22 million off the offer this off season to start out. They finally saw how interested Miami was in Pujols and upped their offer to 9 and over 200 million. They obviously didn't need to offer the NTC because he has 10-5 rights which is essentially a NTC. Anyway, the Angels swooped in and offered 254 over 10 with a NTC and they worked out a deal in about 36 hours. Believer it or not, this offer came on Tuesday night and from there they gave him time to think. More money and a bigger market with more endorsement revenue possibilities. He made the right decision ultimately.
STL fans should not be mad about this. They dodged a bullet with that contract. The NL doesn't have a DH and at some point down the road he will be a DH. They also ended up getting two WAY unlikely Championships from him. They should wish him well and obviously move Berkman to 1st or maybe even get in the Prince sweepstakes.
Link? I heard that Miami's offer was more like 10 years, 215-230M.
Link? I heard that Miami's offer was more like 10 years, 215-230M.