The Rangers and Cardinals got to the World Series without big-market payrolls, but they wouldn't have made it without some big contracts that were far from sure things.
This past offseason, the Rangers signed Adrian Beltre to a five-year, $80 million deal. Beltre, who turned 32 in April, had had only two really good seasons, both the year that he was going into free agency.
Signing Beltre also meant that longtime Ranger Michael Young would now mostly be a DH, which made Young ask to be traded.
So far, the Beltre signing has worked out great for the Rangers. Beltre hit .296 with 32 homers and 105 RBI and did so in only 124 games. Young dropped his trade demand and hit .338 with 106 RBI.
The previous offseason, the Cardinals signed Matt Holliday to a seven-year $120 million deal. The Scott Boras client would be averaging $17M/year through age 36. The Cardinals were tying up payroll just as Albert Pujols was approaching free agency.
When Holliday was a free agent, another power-hitting left fielder was also available. Jason Bay would end up signing for four years and $66 million, which appeared more reasonable compared to Holliday, who was getting about the same per year but would have three additional years on his deal. We know how the Bay signing has worked out.
This offseason, if the Cardinals re-sign Pujols, they will doubtless face criticism for giving him too much money and years. But Pujols is irreplaceable - one of the best players of all time who is also a great postseason performer. He may be past his peak, but he still seems far from going into decline. The Cardinals, generally far from a powerhouse team, are now in their third World Series in eight years, which would not have happened without Pujols.
Jose Reyes is no Pujols, but he could end up making as much or more than Holliday. And if that happens, people will complain that he's getting too much, especially if he ends up back with the Mets. But even the well-constructed teams that get the World Series do so with the help of big contracts that are not without controversy.
***
Squawker Lisa and I find ourselves on the same side in this World Series. She likes the Rangers from her days living in Texas and I am rooting for Nolan Ryan and against Tony La Russa. One would think the Rangers would win with that powerhouse lineup so I'm picking them, but I hope the Cardinals don't turn out to be a team of destiny.
Showing posts with label Albert Pujols. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Albert Pujols. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Suggested Hall of Fame artifacts from 20-inning Met game
The Baseball Hall of Fame wants Jose Reyes' bat and baseball shoes from the Mets' 20-inning marathon win over the Cardinals. Here are some other things the Hall should ask for:
* The part of the bench where Matt Holliday sat after being removed in a double switch in the 11th inning, which meant that the pitcher's spot hit behind Albert Pujols the rest of the game.
* The bullpen phone used to have Francisco Rodriguez warm up during every extra inning. K-Rod said he threw over 100 warmup pitches and had a dead arm by the time he came into the game.
* The bat used by Jason Bay to strike out four times, giving him the golden sombrero - and 18 Ks in 45 at bats. I was rooting for the game to end just so we wouldn't have a chance to find out what metal sombrero comes after golden.
* The contact lenses the ump must not have been wearing in the 19th inning when he called Ryan Ludwick out at second when Ludwick somehow tried to steal when Albert Pujols was up. The Cardinals went on to tie the game on Pujols' double and Yadier Molina's single, so the Ludwick blown call (he looked safe on the replays) might have saved the game for the Mets.
* Crumpled program signed by Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan, famed for getting great seasons out of mediocre pitchers. But even Duncan couldn't make great pitchers out of position players Felipe Lopez and Joe Mather (though the Met hitters did their best).
***
I did not start watching this game until the end of the ninth inning. Little did I know that I had only missed less than half the game. It was refreshing to see the other manager make the big mistakes for a change, though we did not find out until later about Frankie's 100 warmup pitches. Guess the "prevention and recovery" sign did not make it on the road trip.
If not for LaRussa's crazy moves, the Cardinals probably would have won at some point when they kept loading the bases in the early part of the extras.
The Met bats appeared to be helpless against any major league pitcher, needing to wait until the position players came in to mount any sort of rally.
But Johan Santana returned to form and the bullpen for the most part was spectacular.
On Friday, Omar Minaya was justly criticized for saying he'd take one win in St. Louis. Even a game like last night's doesn't make one win acceptable. But if you're going to end up with one win, that's the one to get. Imagine if the Mets had lost after taking the lead in the top of the 19th and had done so because Jerry Manuel had Frankie warm up too much.
* The part of the bench where Matt Holliday sat after being removed in a double switch in the 11th inning, which meant that the pitcher's spot hit behind Albert Pujols the rest of the game.
* The bullpen phone used to have Francisco Rodriguez warm up during every extra inning. K-Rod said he threw over 100 warmup pitches and had a dead arm by the time he came into the game.
* The bat used by Jason Bay to strike out four times, giving him the golden sombrero - and 18 Ks in 45 at bats. I was rooting for the game to end just so we wouldn't have a chance to find out what metal sombrero comes after golden.
* The contact lenses the ump must not have been wearing in the 19th inning when he called Ryan Ludwick out at second when Ludwick somehow tried to steal when Albert Pujols was up. The Cardinals went on to tie the game on Pujols' double and Yadier Molina's single, so the Ludwick blown call (he looked safe on the replays) might have saved the game for the Mets.
* Crumpled program signed by Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan, famed for getting great seasons out of mediocre pitchers. But even Duncan couldn't make great pitchers out of position players Felipe Lopez and Joe Mather (though the Met hitters did their best).
***
I did not start watching this game until the end of the ninth inning. Little did I know that I had only missed less than half the game. It was refreshing to see the other manager make the big mistakes for a change, though we did not find out until later about Frankie's 100 warmup pitches. Guess the "prevention and recovery" sign did not make it on the road trip.
If not for LaRussa's crazy moves, the Cardinals probably would have won at some point when they kept loading the bases in the early part of the extras.
The Met bats appeared to be helpless against any major league pitcher, needing to wait until the position players came in to mount any sort of rally.
But Johan Santana returned to form and the bullpen for the most part was spectacular.
On Friday, Omar Minaya was justly criticized for saying he'd take one win in St. Louis. Even a game like last night's doesn't make one win acceptable. But if you're going to end up with one win, that's the one to get. Imagine if the Mets had lost after taking the lead in the top of the 19th and had done so because Jerry Manuel had Frankie warm up too much.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Mocking Buster Olney about his dopey Pujols-Howard trade story
I wrote a piece for The Faster Times about ESPN senior writer Buster Olney's ridiculous story about the possibility of the Philadelphia Phillies trading Ryan Howard to the St. Louis Cardinals for Albert Pujols.
Olney's article is literally based on nothing more than an anonymous front office discussion in the Phillies front office. The speculation should have stayed there, instead of hitting the front page at ESPN.com, and becoming a breathless story on the Worldwide Leader.
Anyhow, my point was that if a blogger wrote anything like what Olney did, based on nothing more than some front office water cooler talk somebody happened to tell the writer about, we'd still be hearing the denunciations from the mainstream media about how completely irresponsible the story was. And if a sports radio caller were to suggest such a deal, he'd get hung up on in mid-dream.
As I note in the article, I've taken everything Olney writes with a grain of salt ever since his Last Night of the Yankees Dynasty book, which had Mariano Rivera at Yankee Stadium, not in Arizona's ballpark (the BOB, or whatever they're calling it these days) on the cover. If you're going to suggest that Game 7 of the 2001 World Series was the end of an era, you should show a photo from that night, not one from a victory the week before!
What do you think? Tell us about it.
Olney's article is literally based on nothing more than an anonymous front office discussion in the Phillies front office. The speculation should have stayed there, instead of hitting the front page at ESPN.com, and becoming a breathless story on the Worldwide Leader.
Anyhow, my point was that if a blogger wrote anything like what Olney did, based on nothing more than some front office water cooler talk somebody happened to tell the writer about, we'd still be hearing the denunciations from the mainstream media about how completely irresponsible the story was. And if a sports radio caller were to suggest such a deal, he'd get hung up on in mid-dream.
As I note in the article, I've taken everything Olney writes with a grain of salt ever since his Last Night of the Yankees Dynasty book, which had Mariano Rivera at Yankee Stadium, not in Arizona's ballpark (the BOB, or whatever they're calling it these days) on the cover. If you're going to suggest that Game 7 of the 2001 World Series was the end of an era, you should show a photo from that night, not one from a victory the week before!
What do you think? Tell us about it.
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