Cardinals trade Albert Pujols
- Posted by motle on November 28th, 2007 filed in Cardinal Small Talk, GM Suggestions
Can you imagine those words? Ever? It would be like a butter knife being rammed into your midsection. It is unthinkable. It is unwritten.
But what would it take to trade Pujols? Is there a deal out there that would/could/should be done that included dealing Albert Pujols. Cardinal fans believe his is the greatest player on the planet. Just check out the Albert Pujols Club and see how crazy some people get.
Let’s talk negative on Albert for a minute (remember the movie Of Mice and Men when Lennie says, ” nobody talks bad about George”). AP has plantar fascitis and many believe that it only gets worse and his days are numbered very quickly. Is the time now to pull the deal and let someone else maybe get a good year or three before he goes down with injury?
What about the stories that Pujols age is not correct and he is much older than many will admit? Does this mean he is at or past his prime and now would be the time to make a trade.
Money. Albert is pulling down a lot of the financial resources that seem to stifle the Cardinals every off-season to sign free agents. Would it be beneficial to have those resources available?
Lots to think about. Albert is the best but when is it the time?
DEAL or NO DEAL?
November 28th, 2007 at 7:57 pm
If the Cardinals ever even get these words in the back of their head I’ll be crushed. Albert is great for the city, great for the team, a stud at the plate. A genuine good guy.
Albert needs to go into the hall of fame as a Redbird!!!
November 28th, 2007 at 10:15 pm
No deal.
First off, there’s no support for the age rumors, and being that he’s been in the country since he was 16, I think some would have come out by now. We can safely assume that he’s in his prime.
Second, he’s a bargain compared to his production, and that’s only going to continue to be the case as the prices go up on available talent.
Third, you’d have to get about 5 young players for him, players that may have shown some potential but would still be a gamble. Would you really want that?
Fourth, you’d have to factor in the PR hit you’d take. Talk about the fans rioting!
The only time you could talk about this would be if AP was 38 or so, but by then he’s put in 15+ years as a Cardinal. How could you let him go then?
Unless he decides to walk at the end of his contract (or says that he is), I think we can safely say he’ll be a Cardinal the rest of his life.
November 29th, 2007 at 1:18 pm
In this day and age I’m not sure if it’s EVER safe to say he will be a Cardinal the rest of his life.
Players just don’t have that loyalty that we’d like to see. Money talks!
November 29th, 2007 at 3:59 pm
Well, sure it does. But that’s why you make sure to extend him well before the end of his contract.
By the time he gets to the end of his career, at that rate, he won’t likely want to pick up and move for one or two years, especially if he is still beloved in St. Louis.
For example, he has a ‘11 option. That would be his year 31 season. So, probably somewhere in the middle of ‘10, maybe the end of ‘09 even, you start talking extension. Guarantee the option and give him five years after that. That puts him in St. Louis until he is 36 right there. Do the same thing about a year before that contract is up.
December 1st, 2007 at 7:42 am
[...] over at CardinalsGM.com really got our attention the other day when he wrote a post titled, “Cardinals trade Albert Pujols“. At first my heart sunk a bit as if this was true. I realized quickly that it [...]
December 17th, 2007 at 3:51 pm
if cardinals trade pujols to anywere i think they gonna pass for a bad streak like boston when they trade babe ruth. and im a cardinals fan.