Pujols to Angels

[b-ball-lunachick]

What makes you think this?

the last thing that annoyed me was his wife blaming God for him not getting a better offer from the Cardinals. granted that's the wife and not him but

[HerbieLee20]

Unless he hits one tonight, it'll be the first time he's ever gone homerless for a month (not counting DL time or whatever of course.)

[HerbieLee20]

the last thing that annoyed me was his wife blaming God for him not getting a better offer from the Cardinals. granted that's the wife and not him but

She must have really jinxed him. Checked both Yahoo! and espn -- he's still got a total of 4 RBI (although tonight's game is not over yet) for the whole month?!

[GordonGecko]

if pujols is 5 years older than his listed age, oh boy

If that were the case and could be proven, then it would be an out for Angels on his contract

[awy]

She must have really jinxed him. Checked both Yahoo! and espn -- he's still got a total of 4 RBI (although tonight's game is not over yet) for the whole month?!

especially with the whole angels thing

[Jersey Yankee]

the last thing that annoyed me was his wife blaming God for him not getting a better offer from the Cardinals. granted that's the wife and not him but

She must belong to some church where a team's owner and GM are of higher being.

If he's getting an off-the-wall wealthy sports contract, I have no idea what she, as his wife, is complaining about.

[iWant27]

AL is lot lot tougher than NL. That's why I think what A-Rod has accomplished is really special, playing his whole career in AL, playing lot more difficult positions than first base and being good at both SS and 3rd base, having a 40-40 season.

[Yanksfanintoronto]

the last thing that annoyed me was his wife blaming God for him not getting a better offer from the Cardinals. granted that's the wife and not him but

Yea I remember that!!! She found the Cardinals offer 'insulting'. I think this has been covered before. Also his recent outburst against the Angels hitting coach shows that he can be a jerk at times. He definitely is not the worst athlete out there in terms of attitude but he definitely is not a saint like he's made out to be. Im sure A-Rod and Barry Bonds have been involved in a lot of charities as well.....just doesn't get covered by the selective media.

EDIT: http://www.latimes.com/sports/sports...,3008956.story

[HerbieLee20]

Also his recent outburst against the Angels hitting coach shows that he can be a jerk at times.
EDIT: http://www.latimes.com/sports/sports...,3008956.story

Can't fault him for that, IMO. It'd be a dam shame if players can't talk closed-door anymore, especially considering the Mediots' penchant for taking things out of context all the time and making "stories" where there are none. Hatcher was in the wrong, IMO.

[Yanksfanintoronto]

Can't fault him for that, IMO. It'd be a dam shame if players can't talk closed-door anymore, especially considering the Mediots' penchant for taking things out of context all the time and making "stories" where there are none. Hatcher was in the wrong, IMO.

Sure...Im not saying Hatcher was necessarily right but Pujols ended up doing the same thing, in essence, that he criticized Hatcher for. He could have just said 'no comment' and spoken with Hatcher in private. Plus, if anything, Hatcher was praising Pujols for keeping the locker room positive despite the horrifying 1st month. Again....Im not saying Pujols is a monster by any means...but he is not the saint that the media make him seem to be. Part of my annoyance in this matter also lies with the imbalanced media coverage when it comes to stars like him vs A-Rod/Barry Bonds etc.

[b-ball-lunachick]

Sure...Im not saying Hatcher was necessarily right but Pujols ended up doing the same thing, in essence, that he criticized Hatcher for. He could have just said 'no comment' and spoken with Hatcher in private. Plus, if anything, Hatcher was praising Pujols for keeping the locker room positive despite the horrifying 1st month. Again....Im not saying Pujols is a monster by any means...but he is not the saint that the media make him seem to be. Part of my annoyance in this matter also lies with the imbalanced media coverage when it comes to stars like him vs A-Rod/Barry Bonds etc.

Couldn't agree more..

[HerbieLee20]

Sure...Im not saying Hatcher was necessarily right but Pujols ended up doing the same thing, .... Part of my annoyance in this matter also lies with the imbalanced media coverage when it comes to stars like him vs A-Rod/Barry Bonds etc.

Touche' You're right on all counts

Yup! The Mediots are the reason they need all keep everything that's meant to be 'close-door' just that. Journalism is extinct, so those bored maroons need to do something with their time and for their paychecks...

[hellonewman]

Home run No. 1!

[hardrain]

Nice touch there by the Angels to leave the dugout and go into the clubhouse when he circled home...very funny

[35Knucklecurve]

Nice touch there by the Angels to leave the dugout and go into the clubhouse when he circled home...very funny

I don't think I've ever seen a player keep on running when he reached the dugout after a HR.

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index...b_1&mode=video

[jcarey]

Mike Scoscia probably just locked up manager of the year for giving Pujols that day off. He really knows how to push all the right buttons.

[jcarey]

I don't think I've ever seen a player keep on running when he reached the dugout after a HR.

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index...b_1&mode=video

Pulled a Bo Jackson.

[teknetic]

.197/.235/.275
46 OPS+

His May numbers are actually worse than his numbers in April. Only one XBH so far. Someone care to do the math and lay out what type of hot-streak he needs to get on in order to finish around/above .280/30/100?

[pleasepassthesoup]

.197/.235/.275
46 OPS+

His May numbers are actually worse than his numbers in April. Only one XBH so far. Someone care to do the math and lay out what type of hot-streak he needs to get on in order to finish around/above .280/30/100?

I believe he need to hit .875 the rest of the way.

[TheInfallibleOne]

I believe he need to hit .875 the rest of the way.

He would need to hit .308

Albert averages 574 AB per season.

To hit .280, he would need 161 hits on the year.

He has already had 142 AB with 28 hits.

That means he should have about 432 AB left to get (161 - 28) 133 hits.

So, 133 / 432 = .3078703

[MoVaughnEatsAlot]

.197/.235/.275
46 OPS+

His May numbers are actually worse than his numbers in April. Only one XBH so far. Someone care to do the math and lay out what type of hot-streak he needs to get on in order to finish around/above .280/30/100?

Because it's still relatively early, it's not AS bad as you might think. Let's assume he get's 660 PA, which is about his current rate now and based on 155 games played. Out of that, we'll take away 6 for SF (his career average per year) and let's say 60 walks (his current pace is 32 and his career average is 91, so lets guess in the middle), and I'll ignore SH and HBP for now. That puts him at 550 AB, so assuming the above, he'll have to:

Bat .336 for the rest of the season to hit .300
Hit a HR every 14 AB
Drive in a run every 4.5 AB

I think all that is right...

[NY Dude]

He would need to hit .308

Albert averages 574 AB per season.

To hit .280, he would need 161 hits on the year.

He has already had 142 AB with 28 hits.

That means he should have about 432 AB left to get (161 - 28) 133 hits.

So, 133 / 432 = .3078703

Regardless, it still looks like this will be his worse year ever. I wonder if he really is older than his listed age. Not even A-Rod had this kind of drop off in performance.

[Big_E]

.280 would be his worst season ever (.299 last year was his first sub-.300 season)
He averages 40 HR/year

40/574 = 1 HR every 14.35 AB

to get to 40 this year, he would need 39 in 432 AB, or one every 11.07 AB

If he goes 1 every 14.35 AB, he will finish with 31 HR, his worst ever.

to get to his career .326 BA, he would need to get 159 H in 432 AB (.368)

[SubwayFanatic]

I know the pro-Pujols crowd will cherry pick his numbers post-All Star break and point out that "Pujols is back!" But this is looking like it will mark yet another year where his season-end totals are worse than the year before -- just like they have been since post 2008.

At this point, would it even completely shock you if the Angels did not even get one .900 OPS season out of him during his entire contract?

A 1.000 OPS season would seem like a complete miracle.

[MoVaughnEatsAlot]

He might make A-Rods contract look good by the time all is said and done. Also, pretty crazy how a .876 OPS equates to a 141 OPS+, says alot about the decline in offense around the league.