Could Albert Pujols' final season come next year?

[wopphil]

13 minutes ago, Stradling said:

Well he’s got all the money him or his kids will ever need.   So it’s about when he feels he’s done and not about the money left on the contract.  

As for no human would leave that much, I’m guessing Adam LaRoche leaving $13 million and retiring or Gill Meche retiring with $12 million don’t ring a bell.   The premise is he would retire at the end of next season, so it’s less than $60 million.  I’m guessing percentage wise that amount is a smaller amount to his career earnings than LaRoche or Meche.  

Not only that, but Albert's situation is really no different than that of someone who can continue to work and make good money, but elects not to. The contract situation is irrelevant, provided someone wants to pay you to keep working. 

This happens a lot in baseball, and of course all other walks of life. Off the top of my head, guys like Mussina, Chipper Jones, Jeter and Mariano all could have kept playing but decided to retire.

So it isnt illogical to think Albert could retire, in spite of his contract. But I dont think he will. He is too proud to realize he is no longer any good.

[Stradling]

4 minutes ago, wopphil said:

Not only that, but Albert's situation is really no different than that of someone who can continue to work and make good money, but elects not to. The contract situation is irrelevant, provided someone wants to pay you to keep working. 

This happens a lot in baseball, and of course all other walks of life. Off the top of my head, guys like Mussina, Chipper Jones, Jeter and Mariano all could have kept playing but decided to retire.

So it isnt illogical to think Albert could retire, in spite of his contract. But I dont think he will. He is too proud to realize he is no longer any good.

I compare it to what I have seen lately where I work.  We have executives that are between the ages of 55 and 60 that have started to retire when they are making a very good wage.  They have enough money to live comfortably, they have built the company from 10-15 locations up to its current 333 locations.  They are the backbone of our organization and truly not only love what they do, but love who they work with.  Yet they are walking away because loving what you do and loving who you work with doesn't match the love you have for family and freedom to do whatever you want on a daily basis.  

[Chuck]

4 minutes ago, Stradling said:

I compare it to what I have seen lately where I work.  We have executives that are between the ages of 55 and 60 that have started to retire when they are making a very good wage.  They have enough money to live comfortably, they have built the company from 10-15 locations up to its current 333 locations.  They are the backbone of our organization and truly not only love what they do, but love who they work with.  Yet they are walking away because loving what you do and loving who you work with doesn't match the love you have for family and freedom to do whatever you want on a daily basis.  

Yeah, there's also the question of pride here too. I don't think he wants to be remembered by this generation for the way he's hitting and running nowadays. 

[stormngt]

Angel's have eaten 60+ million before so after next season I can see a buy out.  However you guys all forget that we need someone better.  Hopefully Thaiss is that guy after next year.  Either buy out Pujols or move him to a reserve role.

[HaloNArizona]

1 hour ago, Taylor said:

Thank goodness you were at the game and could get a first-hand look at Albert. Otherwise, we would have never known he looks old and slow on the field.

For those of us who only see him on TV and not in person....seeing it in person was horrible.  Getting to 1B on defensive was rough.

[yk9001]

1 hour ago, Chuckster70 said:

 I don't think he wants to be remembered by this generation for the way he's hitting and running nowadays. 

Then he's too late by about 5 years already.

[Barrett]

2 hours ago, Stradling said:

Well he’s got all the money him or his kids will ever need.   So it’s about when he feels he’s done and not about the money left on the contract.  

As for no human would leave that much, I’m guessing Adam LaRoche leaving $13 million and retiring or Gill Meche retiring with $12 million don’t ring a bell.   The premise is he would retire at the end of next season, so it’s less than $60 million.  I’m guessing percentage wise that amount is a smaller amount to his career earnings than LaRoche or Meche.  

I don't want to argue with you just to argue with you. But you do realize before he signed this contract he had all the money he ever needed right? So that's kind of irrelevant. No smart human being will walk away from 90 million dollars. I don't care how rich you are. almost 100 million dollars is a lot of coin.  

[Troll Daddy]

This discussion seems like its been going on for years on multiple threads. Looking forward to next year threads. 

Recycle Rinse Repeat 

[Stradling]

7 minutes ago, Barrett said:

I don't want to argue with you just to argue with you. But you do realize before he signed this contract he had all the money he ever needed right? So that's kind of irrelevant. No smart human being will walk away from 90 million dollars. I don't care how rich you are. almost 100 million dollars is a lot of coin.  

Ok, why do you keep saying $90 million this thread is about him walking at the end of next season, where it would be much closer to $60 million.  Yes I know he had all the money he ever needed prior to be an Angel, which is why I asked when you were in a position to retire, how much longer would you work?  He could be mentally ready to retire at the end of next season.  His body could say he is done.  We all know he can financially afford to walk away from the money.  $59 million is a lot more money to me and you than it is a guy that has already made $300 million plus whatever he made in endorsements.  

[Troll Daddy]

Angels can also DFA him  ... why is it a Pujols problem? 

[Tank]

man, so much speculation about him and his intentions. the reality is that none of us know what's in his heart. pretty pointless to try and figure it out based on nothing.

hey @Jeff Fletcher, have you asked albert about how much longer he intends to play? is that even a question that can be brought up without sounding offensive? has albert talked about his future plans for playing?

[kevinb]

1 hour ago, Stradling said:

Ok, why do you keep saying $90 million this thread is about him walking at the end of next season, where it would be much closer to $60 million.  Yes I know he had all the money he ever needed prior to be an Angel, which is why I asked when you were in a position to retire, how much longer would you work?  He could be mentally ready to retire at the end of next season.  His body could say he is done.  We all know he can financially afford to walk away from the money.  $59 million is a lot more money to me and you than it is a guy that has already made $300 million plus whatever he made in endorsements.  

So my argument is this I guess... I want it to be short but who knows with my ramblings sometimes. Comparatively speaking, Pujols is a lot younger than the executives at companies who are making a ton of money and walking away. In terms of baseball age whether he is really 43 years old or if he is 40 it doesn't really matter, it's still young. He signed that 10 year contract after with the Angels because it seems like he wants to be a lifer in the sport, which lifers don't really want to retire. Most professional athletes have to be dragged kicking and screaming from their professions. Some walk away young Barry Sanders and Pat Tillman are really the only ones that come to mind that walked away young at least in my time watching sports. Sure Pujols is comfortable with his cash, but $60 million bucks is still a lot of money and no matter how much money you have you can still find use of the extra cash whether it is investing, different companies or just savings for their childrens children, or charity, and we all know Pujols is big on charity. Money is obviously important to him or else he wouldn't have signed such a huge contract, and would have signed the cheaper one to stay in St Louis. Whether that's his motivation through his career I highly doubt that, but who knows. Long story short, personally neither of us know him other than what we see of him, and personally I would love it if he retired, it would be beneficial for the Angels short term and long term. I just don't see a scenario where he walks away from that kind of money. I know I wouldn't. 

[AngelsLakersFan]

6 hours ago, Chuckster70 said:

So, the Angels will be playing the Cardinals in St. Louis next year. 

I wonder if Pujols looks at next season as being his last, forfeiting the remaining couple years and getting to say goodbye to many of his faithful fans in St. Louis for a retirement tour?

Lets hope he retires after the series

[GrittyVeterans]

Didn’t he just have a quote recently that implied he planned on finishing the contract?

Seriously wishful thinking to say he’ll walk away from it 

[fan_since79]

Albert could consider the example of a Babe Ruth, who walked away from a three-year guaranteed contract with the Boston Braves almost immediately after his skills deteriorated. Ruth literally walked off the field and said that's it. That was May of 1935. The previous season, at age 39, he put up a .985 OPS. 

If Albert is hobbling around next year or the season after and the numbers are plunging, I hope he has the decency to retire. I'm sure he could work out a nice buyout with the team.

[failos]

[Tank]

46 minutes ago, fan_since79 said:

Albert could consider the example of a Babe Ruth, who walked away from a three-year guaranteed contract with the Boston Braves almost immediately after his skills deteriorated. Ruth literally walked off the field and said that's it. That was May of 1935. The previous season, at age 39, he put up a .985 OPS. 

I wonder what players like Ruth would think of modern stats. 

 

[Jeff Fletcher]

2 hours ago, Tank said:

man, so much speculation about him and his intentions. the reality is that none of us know what's in his heart. pretty pointless to try and figure it out based on nothing.

hey @Jeff Fletcher, have you asked albert about how much longer he intends to play? is that even a question that can be brought up without sounding offensive? has albert talked about his future plans for playing?

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/24270231/mlb-how-shift-ruined-albert-pujols

This is the last story where he addressed it. He said the same thing as always: He won't keep playing if he can't play at a level he feels comfortable, but he's given no indicatin that he feels he's at that level or it's anywhere close. He also says he feels like he's going improve over the last 3 years of his contract. 

[TroutBaseball]

FWIW Chuck, when I saw they are playing in St. Louis next year I thought the exact same thing.

[ScottT]

Not gonna happen unless he has too many injury issues or is embarrassed about his play.  The latter hasn't even crossed his mind. He likely looks at his HR and RBI totals at the end of the year and thinks he is somewhat productive.  He has also been more productive this year than last.  So, I'm sure he thinks he can do better next year.  

Maybe he winds up on the DL at some point and someone does so well, the Angels can't take em out of the lineup. Ohtani aside, it isn't like he has taken away at bats of deserving players this year.  Valbuena and Marte have been garbage. I would like to see more of Fernandez, but he may not even do as well as Pujols.

[fan_since79]

1 hour ago, failos said:

Haha.

But seriously, give him a ten-year extension so he can pass Bonds.

[IEAngelsfan]

1 hour ago, failos said:

Man, he resembles my 60 yr. old brother-in-law.

[ettin]

9 hours ago, Roy Hobbs said:

After next season he is owed "only" 59 million.It is already a sunk cost,so it might not be impossible to buy him out at that time.

The Angels do not have to buy him out although that is the preferred route for both parties since he has a 10-year personal services contract. They could simply DFA him and just eat the money (not the right way to go). However I think next year is his final season.

[beatlesrule]

3 hours ago, Jeff Fletcher said:

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/24270231/mlb-how-shift-ruined-albert-pujols

This is the last story where he addressed it. He said the same thing as always: He won't keep playing if he can't play at a level he feels comfortable, but he's given no indicatin that he feels he's at that level or it's anywhere close. He also says he feels like he's going improve over the last 3 years of his contract. 

Taking steroids is the only way he is going to improve. He is the most delusional player the Angels have ever had and one of the most in recent memory.

[UndertheHalo]

The Angels are paying him the money, there’s just no way he’s leaving that kind of money on the table.  I get what some of you are saying about freedom and retirement etc.   it’s too big a number imo.

Whether he continues as essentially an everyday player is the issue.  It would have been good for the Angels to address this with him this year.  Hopefully Chuck and some of you have the correct sentiment that it will be next year.  Which is already not great.  I get that he’s not raging tire fire right now.  But he’s not good, and the tire fire days are coming.  (He was a complete disaster last year)

Edited August 23, 2018 by UndertheHalo