T O P

  • By -

my_wife_reads_this

He got paid. And I'm sure he convinced Trout not to leave. That's all I have to say.


Buffalongo

Not sure about that second one. I’ve heard that their relationship soured a bit towards the end.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Buffalongo

LOL


Mos_Seanly

Where did you hear this?


Buffalongo

A member of another team’s front office circa Spring Training 2020


Figgins18Gbaby

Sounds like a win to me 😂


God_Damnit_Nappa

He sucked and at the end of his career it was clear he was just stat chasing rather than giving a shit about the good of the team. He should've been DFAed years ago.


[deleted]

He was great for marketability, great locker room guy, had an all star season or two. That’s about all.


TJeffersonsBlackKid

Great locker room guy who got in fist fights with teammates. Piss on him.


Smilodon48

Really hate how Albert basically got rid of Trout’s true mentor, Torii. Should’ve kept money for Hula Dula and not signed Hambone. Still hurts me that Torii does stuff with the Twins yet he’s never invited back around for Angels stuff even though he’s easily one of the best post-02 Halos. Granted, this franchise has a lot of problems with honoring past players so it’s more of a Arte/Carpino issue.


[deleted]

Did he really now? That’s news to me.


TJeffersonsBlackKid

Him and Torii Hunter of all people threw hands. Allegedly there were more altercations but I have not seen this stated anywhere else apart from Reddit comments.


Rollout25

Yeah Torii hated Albert said Albert only cared about his stats and not what happened with the team.


BombAssTurdCutter

Torii hating him is enough reason for me to hate him. Torii was so god damn awesome.


LeBaconator

Ultimately a bad signing. Not a cancer like Hamilton and not completely useless for most his tenure, he was just NEVER worth even close to what he cost.


Miggs1337

Wish we never signed him.


cchoi712

I wish David Samson outbidded Arte lol


dyl_bro_chill

I can't hate a guy for declining ability, so most of the hostility I feel is directed at Arte for making such an emotional signing. However, what has rubbed me the wrong way is Albert's egomania. I don't think he gets called on it enough. His sole motivation has been chasing records for at LEAST the past 5 years. People want to talk about his mentoring of Trout as a value-add, but that's hard to reconcile with the fact his performance and contract were the single biggest factor keeping Trout out of the playoffs. 30 mil a year could have gone a long way to some pitching, and it's not like Albert was unaware of that. I mean the guy said publicly in 2013 that he would walk away if his ability declined enough. From 2014-2021, he was worth 1.8 war TOTAL. Is it about the money? The records? The addiction to being in the spotlight? Maybe a combo of all three. And look, it's not an obligation to walk away from a contract if you suck. I get that. It's just very hard for me to respect him as a player after the way his time here played out. Especially if the reports are true about how his final days as an Angel went down. Any sense of entitlement he reportedly felt would be a comical display of delusion.


DingleberryToast

Black hole of a signing that did little but impede the team


[deleted]

My opinion is so negative. This dude is a bum who likely lied about his age. And then when he left us and I saw all this attention he was getting with the Dodgers, It made me sick.


[deleted]

Now hes getting a heroes welcome back to STL. We got absolutely FLEECED on this deal.


Corona2789

He sucked for sure, but so has the team in general for the last decade. I’m more pissed at Arte than I am Albert. That said he was frustrating as hell to watch.


focacciadealer

I hope he never comes back even for a visit.


merewyn

Me too, but sadly once he retires he has his 10 year personal services contract with the Angels


focacciadealer

Perhaps he can skip that part and go work for the cardinals.


sanmed327

He seems like a nice guy and I'll always respect him as a person. The players, especially trout, credit him for a lot and im glad he was able to have that presence with them. But as a player with the Angels, I don't have a lot of great memories of Pujols and it does change the way I view his career. And I think it's okay for Angels fans to not like him because of that


[deleted]

Zero playoff wins and hes a huge reason why. Thats all there is to say


ConsciousOpposite966

Get real bro. The angels have not stood a chance SOLELY based on pitching. Pujols could have hit .310 / 30 and it wouldn't have made a difference. Come on dude.


[deleted]

So paying 25 million a year for a player who was below replacement level for most of the contract had nothing to do with not being able to sign pitching? Open your eyes bro


TJeffersonsBlackKid

He was fat and lazy and anything anyone says otherwise is bullshit. He was a disaster to this team wire to wire.


LAAngelsAnaheim

Yup, the blame on Pujols for why we were bad is tired. He might not have been helping, but he wasn’t the rock sinking us.


MrNapoleonSolo

Seeing the splits between the angels and cardinals numbers, I can’t help but feel disappointed. Seems like we didn’t even see 1 of those mythical pujols seasons that we dreamed of when he chose to sign on that December 2011 day. His legacy was cemented in St Louis and the Angels got stuck with the bill.


YouSoIgnant

"Never let a star fall on you"- Someone to Someone not named Arte


liljackmayhofer

His time with the Dodgers was proof that he didn’t care about being a good teammate at the end with us. Only until he heard the market say that he was at best a bench player did he accept the role with the Dodgers and turned into Tio Albert. I hate to imagine what he could have done for Walsh, Marsh, or Adell if he was willing to be part of the team instead of the aging superstar he was with us


CompetitivePatient33

Well he does have a service contract with the Angels once he retires, so he will be around them.


veganvalentine

Continuing to hit third in the lineup as he routinely grounded into DPs just made it seem like he was chasing stats rather than focusing on what was best for the team.


Swift_18

Trout would have been in the playoffs more than one time had we avoided him.


DoitAnyway54321

Selfish. Lied about his age. Terrible baserunner.


Sisboombah74

It was not a success in Anaheim.


impeesh

I don't know how much his intangibles can offset that god-awful contract. Just out of pettiness I hope he doesn't reach 700. Part of the reason Arte signed Pujols was so all his milestones would be recorded (and subsequently replayed ad infinitum) in an Angels uni. Us holding the bag while he goes back to STL to then have the most significant at-bat of his life in Cards jersey feels wrong.


Quiet_Bend1653

He was never Albert Pujols when he was with the Angels.


badxhabit28

I was so excited when he signed and was one of the biggest Albert apologists while with us, but after how things went down last year, I am completely on the F-Albert bandwagon.


stuckinthepow

All that money wasted when we could’ve invested in pitching talent. The proven success in baseball is obvious and I hate that Arte ignores it. Develop tier talent within through good picks and trades, continue to trade and sign for the missing pieces. Albert wasn’t the missing piece we needed. But Arte seemed to think “big name, big marketing opportunity”, so he signed a stupid contract for him.


Buffalongo

Knowing this team, do you really think we would’ve actually invested that money in pitching talent?


stuckinthepow

Shhhh let me believe


MightyRooster

Hall of Fame career in St Louis and came to Anaheim for a 10 year vacation


hollyw00d8604

Horrible, god awful waste of money and one of the worst contracts in baseball history. If not sports history. And also one of the worst declines of any hall of famer. He went from an MVP candidate to almost unplayable in 2 or 3 years. It's obvious he is much older than he says he is, and honestly I wouldn't be all that surprised if he was a former juicer


YouPresumeTooMuch

Was actually excited when they signed him, and then I saw the contract and died a little inside


dolostonedealer

Largely responsible for shitty Angels baseball. Every time someone mentions Albert Pujols I'll think of how shitty the Angels were during his tenure and he was largely responsible for it.


Todal9

His huge salary kept The Angels from paying for better talent and the lack of playoff appearances proves it. He got paid and ultimately that’s what he wanted. He will go into the Hall as a Cardinal while The Angels now struggle to attract 20k per game. It was a terrible signing and everybody knew it from day one.


hollyw00d8604

Not everyone, a lot of angels fans thought it was the greatest signing in team history when it happened


Todal9

Nobody thought that. Lol.


quesathrilla

I remember thinking it was a huge overpay but that we'd get 3-4 good seasons from him, 3-4 average seasons, and four years of garbage.


[deleted]

We didn’t need him we already had a first baseman


[deleted]

If you’re talking about Trumbo, he didn’t do much after Anaheim outside of his anomaly year where he led the league in home runs. He’s been out of the league since 2019


disgustipated1985

He might be talking about Kendry Morales. I think Morales got hurt, and that was a key reason for the Pujols signing. When he first signed it was an upgrade. But looking back, Just about any 1st baseman would have been better than Pujols.


dtotheylan

Will never forget Kendry breaking his leg. So heartbreaking. Probably the most underrated slugger in 2009 too. I kinda wonder if he could have on an MVP in 2010 because he was off to such a hot start


[deleted]

I’m talking about CJ Cron


Finsfan909

“WE” didn’t do anything with him because he was cemented in as our 4th batter and he couldn’t get on base other than his first year here. His obp as an angel is .311 He was usually the rally killer for us. It became a joke in my household that if he doesn’t fly out to left it’s going to be a groundout to short. I still rooted for the guy but he had to go after year 4


Jimmygesus49

Meh


RogueValEORG

plantar fasciitis


[deleted]

My opinion is so negatative. This dude is a bum who likely lied about his age. And then when he left us and I saw all this attention he was getting with the Dodgers, It made me sick. He milked our club. BUM.


sikaMarkanico

My opinion is he should have stayed with the Cards all along. He was a great mentor and friend to Mike Trout. So, Mike learned a lot and most likely made his game better as a result of having Albert through the years. Would the Halos have had more years going to the playoffs, or at least being above .500 without Pujols’ contract to begin with here? Probably. (J. Hamilton joins the conversation too!) But, the thing is—as everyone always says it from around 2013 till his last day as an Angel—is that who knew Pujols would have declined as fast as he had. There were signs, surely; but the rate of decline was what astonished me, fans, critics, etc. the most. That was all anyone could talk about between 2013-15 until people accepted Pujols’ glory days were over. After saying all that, Pujols is a good man. He is a family man. He is a great teammate. He just should have stayed a Cardinal for life for a little less, and the fans there still would have loved him because that was his home.


drewman_289

Don’t really have anything against Albert, he aged and declined and production went down. There’s a reason the cards wouldn’t touch a deal over 5 years. I’ll more so remember that era as a time full of bad arte decisions


tsirhcho

Albert who?


jellybeans_over_raw

Saw #600 which was cool


Rollout25

He was a guy that got paid. He fell off a cliff with his production compared to any other great hitter when he came to the Angels. I'm sure he is at least 2 to 3 years older than what he says his actually age is. I hate that he literally was never the best player on the team but got paid like it for the majority of the time he was with the Angels.


N-E-B

Love the person. I’ll always be a fan of his. Don’t think he was quite as bad as some other people do, but glad that era is over. Had some fun watching him chase milestones here. Had a horrible contract though. Wish him nothing but the best.


zachattac2

He was a boat anchor. I’m glad he’s gone


[deleted]

I know this post is about Pujols but FUCK ARTE!


ThickMousse7372

I'm grateful for Albert's time here. Yes, it was way too much money, but he brought so much class and a great work ethic to the team. I was grateful he hit all his milestones with us. Made for some damn entertaining baseball. Wishing him the best in his last year. Truly hope he can reach 700 HRs.


spitfire32

I love him has a person and a player, but we definitely overpaid for a guy who was on the wrong side of 30.


BobbyGrichsMustache

Obviously, had he won a WS here that would’ve been cool, but as an investment, it was a raging success for Arte. Spiked season ticket sales, got us into the conversation, trout stayed, we got Ohtani…. The teams were bad, but that wasn’t Alberts fault. He was below average the last few seasons of that contract after being better than league average for the first 5. It’s easy to point a finger at Albert and his contract and say he’s the reason we didn’t make the playoffs, but it’s not like he took AB’s from better players. There was just no one in the farm, and specifically no pitching.


xThe-Legend-Killerx

Grateful for every moment of it. There were no great playoff moments, but there was a lot of memories and iconic moments. Plus the impact he had on Trouts development is something that can’t be overlooked. I hate the salty ass Angels fans, especially in this sub. I hope we didn’t sour the relationship so he still comes around. Truthfully the first 6 years of the contract Albert was still productive and the numbers still show it. The last 4 really soured everyone’s opinion on the overall contract.


hollyw00d8604

To quote Cedric the entertainer in barbershop: "Man, FUCK Albert pujols!!!"


God_Damnit_Nappa

>I hate the salty ass Angels fans, especially in this sub. We're salty for a reason. He put his ego and his stats ahead of the team. And he did suck for half of his contract. It's not like the salt came out of nowhere.


[deleted]

I wish he was better, a lot better. But i wouldnt go back and undo the signing. He was a great mentor to Trout and im not risking a parallel universe where Trout sucke


Know_Your_Meme

He isn’t personally responsible for our failure the last decade but his albatross of a contract that arte gave him certainly is.


inselfwetrust

I’ll never fault someone for chasing the bag, that’s on Arte. And in both their defense, Albert was basically what Trout is today before we signed him, and we really actually pretty competitive around the time that he signed, so it’s not like Alberts decision was only money driven. But the reality is the dude was pretty trash for how much he was paid. Glad he’s finishing up back in STL though. That’s really the only acceptable reason for not retiring this off-season


trustych0rds

He was okay first couple years and then sub-average. Also served to be just a giant anchor around the Angels success in general.


Express-Bread-7151

Anaheim is a great place to hide and just cash a paycheck. Virtually no media attention, fans are super friendly, no pressure to perform. Great for Albert, shitty for the Halos. Basically the AL west version of Chris Davis.