Albert to LA

Today the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim came out of nowhere to sign free agent All-Star free agent Albert Pujols to a ten year, 250 Million dollar contract. Pujols leaves the city and franchise of Saint Louis to hopefully find greener pastures. Last season, Saint Louis had negotiated to keep Pujols in the organization, nevertheless there efforts stalled when they would not offer the tenth year, which Pujols agent was pushing for. After another MVP caliber season, the cardinals once again attempted to resign their slugger, yet after additional reluctance to add a tenth year, talks stalled. On Tuesday, the new look Miami Marlins offered Pujols a ten-year offer, with no defined money offer reported. With no time to spare, Saint Louis quickly fired back a ten year 220 million dollar offer. This was seemingly the higher money offer, yet one factor in the decision is the lack of income tax in Miami, which would mean that Pujols would only need to be offered 204 Million dollars to make the deals equal from a pure money standpoint. Wednesday proved to be quite stagnant, and there was no report of Pujols accepting any offer. Suddenly, Thursday morning Pujols accepted an offer, yet this offer was from Los Angeles. The contract is set to be one of the largest in the history of professional sports.

While Anaheim was forced to spend an incredible amount of money and years of Pujols it still is a phenomenal signing for them. First off, Pujols is about as consistent as they come, and seems to have few long-term risks from an injury standpoint. Secondly, Pujols was by far the most attractive and strongest free agent this year, and will most likely prove to be worth his dollar. Lastly, the production of Pujols proves to be greater than most teams would receive from two players combined. For example Carl Crawford and John Lackey combined to make about 30 Million dollars this year, yet provided half of the production that Pujols is projected to next year, as he is set to make only (yes I said only) 25 million dollars next year. Overall, I would say that the Angels made a wise investment in Porous, and it is exciting to see what he will be able to do in the hitting friendly American League.

As a Red Sox fan I am very frustrated with this deal. Brining in a new manager I felt it necessary for the Red Sox to tear up parts of their clubhouse and bring in new talent. I thought it necessary for the Sox to make at least two or three big splashes in free agency, and their failure to do so is painful. The last major player still available is first basemen Prince Fielder. Prince Fielder would be another great bat to add to the Sox lineup, but unfortunately with David Ortiz and Adrian Gonzalez on the roster there simply will not be room for Fielder. The player I would have most desired to see in a Sox uniform is Lefty pitcher CJ Wilson, who also signed with the Los Angeles Angels. CJ made it clear that a key factor in finding a new home was winning, CJ wanted to win now and felt he needed to find a place he could. CJ also desired to get out of Texas, which he proved when he took 23 million less dollars to sign in LA. CJ would have been another strong lefty pitcher in the Sox rotation, and he would have been able to help potentially buoy the Sox to another pennant.