San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Pujols is a warning about long deals for aging stars
Imagine if Buster Posey were hitting a buckninetyeight and the Giants designated him for assignment.
Fans would protest in the streets. Call for management to collectively resign. Disown their orange and black wardrobe. Jump on the A’s bandwagon.
The Angels designated .198hitting Albert Pujols for assignment, and fans wondered, “What took so long?” Thursday marked a sad ending to the Anaheim segment of a likely Hall of Fame career, and it reflected how baseball remains as cruel a business as any other. They used to say if Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron and Willie Mays can get traded, anybody can get traded. Now they might say that if Albert Pujols can get DFA’d, anyone can get DFA’d.
It would have been a far better PR move if Pujols had simply retired, but that wasn’t possible for two reasons. No. 1, he didn’t want to stop playing and still thinks he’s an everyday player. No. 2, retirement would have meant forfeiting the rest of his $30 million salary.
So here we are, one of the premier players in history, one of the top righthanded hitters ever, cut by a lastplace team, not on good terms and certainly not on Pujols’ terms. The Angels want to play Jared Walsh at first base and use twoway star Shohei Ohtani as the primary designated hitter on his nonpitching days.
Endings to baseball careers aren’t always smooth. Unless you’re Derek Jeter and hit a walkoff single in your last atbat at Yankee Stadium. Or you’re Ted Williams and you hit a home run in your final atbat at Fenway Park.
Pujols’ last atbat, until further notice, was a popout to first base in the ninth inning of Tuesday’s 83 loss to the Rays. On Wednesday, he was not happy that he was out of the lineup against Rays lefty Ryan Yarbrough, a pitcher he had hit well (6for9, two homers). On Thursday, he was let go.
It’s an unfortunate story all around, and it’s the product of a bad contract issued by the Angels and their owner, Arte Moreno, who gave Pujols a 10year, $240 million deal when the first baseman was approaching his age32 season after 2011, his stats having trended downward in his final years in St. Louis.
Naturally, it wasn’t going to end well. Pujols is now 41. He struggles at the plate. He hardly runs. His defense is a detriment.
The last time the Giants were in such a predicament with a Hall of Famelevel superstar, Barry Bonds could still rake, but the Giants and 29 other teams decided — maybe in unison, maybe not — that a leaguebest .480 onbase percentage and 28 home runs wouldn’t work for them while the player was facing a federal grand jury.
That was a different kind of awkward. But with Bonds, it never was about a lack of productivity, especially at the plate. He won his fourth straight MVP award at age 40. Pujols has been below average for several years.
Unlike Posey, Pujols got most of his past 10 Octobers off. The Angels never won a playoff game on his watch, even with Mike Trout aboard for most of his time in Anaheim.
Like Pujols, Posey is in his final season of a megalong contract, but he’s seven years younger and has discovered the fountain of youth. On Friday, he hit his eighth home run of the season in his 21st game.
The clear, perhaps obvious lesson that teams have learned from the Pujols exercise is while it still might be OK to give 10yearplus contracts to elite players in their mid20s, do not sign players already in their 30s to 10year deals. Bryce Harper and Manny Machado were in their mid20s when they got their megacontracts. Fernando Tatis Jr. was 22.
Posey, who got a nineyear deal, was 26 and on the threshold of a third World Series title.
They’re still huge gambles, too much of a risk for many teams to consider. Those who do gamble, who try to invest in winning, can get burned or flourish through most of the deal. The odds of that are far greater if a player is signed long term sooner rather than later.
What now happens to Pujols, whose 667 homers are seven more than Willie Mays? A team that signs him would pay just the prorated portion of the majorleague minimum with the Angels picking up the rest. Tony La Russa, his manager in Pujols’ St. Louis heyday, already said his White Sox aren’t a fit. The Cardinals have Paul Goldschmidt at first base and no use for a DH.
The A’s have a history of bringing back accomplished players at the end of their careers, but Matt Olson is the first baseman, and Mitch Moreland is the lefthanded DH while Bob Melvin uses a variety of righty bats to DH when Moreland doesn’t. Plus, Chad Pinder is returning soon as the team’s top righthanded bench bat.
Pujols is a 41yearold man batting .198. The game is no more kind than the pitchers. The best option is for St. Louis to sign him to a oneday contract, give him his day at Busch Stadium and let him retire a Cardinal.
You can bet Buster Posey will go out another way.