re: Pujols & CJ Wilson to Angels

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Years 4-10 of the Pujols deal and 3-5 of the CJ contract will hopefully cripple the Angels in FA moves.

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i agree completely. basically concede the division to the angels for the next 2 years and work on growing from within.
there is no reason to vastly overpay free agents if you are the rangers

He's a #2 starter and will play that role well for LAA. It's the years that they gave him that is more dumb than the money.

That is what I think most don't realize. With no cap it doesn't matter if you overpay.

With the new TV deal they are getting its all good.

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Years 4-10 of the Pujols deal and 3-5 of the CJ contract will hopefully cripple the Angels in FA moves

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Except that 1) Oakland has no fan base (and may not even have a team in a few years), 2) Seattle has no talent, 3) Houston has no leadership, and 4) the Rangers -- well, they're the Rangers.

The Rangers weren't even seriously considering Pujols and CJ was going to leave. Hopefully they won't pull a boner and sign Prince (Moreland was terrible in the postseason but still has better postseason numbers than Prince does).

The problem is that they have nothing within (their AAA club failed in the first round -- again -- despite having the PCL's second-best record, and none of their other affiliates were anywhere near playoff contention) and very little to trade away to restock the system.

If the reports are true:

Pujols turned down 9 yrs and $210 mill from St. Louis and also turned down 10 yrs and $275 mill from the Marlins.

WOW!!!

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It's not about wins and losses in the minor league... it's about developing players

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But part of any player development is showing that, come playoff time, that player can produce. And that is not happening at either AAA Round Rock or AA Frisco (which wasn't even in the playoff race this season), the two highest levels of the Rangers farm system where the majority of the players expected to reach the majors will play.

Highly-rated farm systems have to show that they can do more than produce players with great statistics, they also need to show that the players can contend for playoff berths and, once they obtain them, make a credible showing. Losing twice in the first round of the AAA PCL playoffs and not even making the AA Texas League playoffs (which Frisco has done only once during JD's tenure, 2008) doesn't show that.

Because obviously there's a direct correlation of minor league playoff wins to winning MLB games. How are the Kansas City Royals doing? Are you saying we don't have a top notch farm system?

Let me tell you why your train of thought is silly and why a win/loss minor league record is not that important.

-Players graduate to the MLB.
-Players graduate from level to level.
-The trading of top prospects to other organizations for Major League players.
-The Dan Johnson's of minor league baseball.

This one for you needs to explanation since you don't to get the developing part of prospects.

Joe Schmoe has a fantastic fastball with solid command of it and extremely weak secondary offerings. On his next start coach tells him he needs to throw 40 change ups regardless of results. Team loses...organization doesn't care b/c mission was accomplished.

Cards fans are knowledgeable of the game and the situation. This is correct. They also understand the financial aspect of the game. As a result, I think Cards fans are WAY less "butthurt" by Pujols taking the money. Where any sort of "butthurt" comes in is with the level of admiration and adoration that Pujols has received from Cardinals fans and national media.

From an early stage, Pujols has been compared to some of the best players in baseball history. As he continued his career, Cards fans thought Pujols might just be another Stan Musial. He didn't seem to care about money, as Stan Musial so famously didn't (see: Musial giving his raise back to the organization after a bad season because he didn't deserve it). Because Cardinals fans placed him on this pedestal, giving him their love and thinking that same love was reciprocated, they were a little disappointed when he left for Anaheim. It's not that they don't understand or even that their mad with Pujols, just that they're disappointed that he didn't want to be the modern era Stan the Man, or Joe Dimaggio, or Johnny Bench, men that went down in history as some of the greatest players ever while also being associated with only one team (Cards, Yanks, Reds).

So, if that's being "butthurt," then fine. Cards fans are a little butthurt. It's not nearly on the level that most LSU fans were with Saban, or the entire city of Cleveland with Baby Bron Bron.

Personally, I think it's more of a disappointment because we know what he would have been, even if he had just retired this year. Instead, half of his career (literally) will be as an Angel, a franchise with 1/10 the history of the Cardinals, because of money. It will dilute his legacy. Regardless of what anyone says.

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the Angels are doing something positive with their acquisitions in the present, and that's what matters.

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Can't disagree with that and have no problem it. I hope they do well.

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That's hyperbole.

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I guess. If you're looking at nothing but length of time in existence. But they are not nearly as storied a franchise as the Cardinals. They only have 1 World Series title and only 1 penant. Which, hey, I'm not knocking it, just saying, they don't have nearly the history of the Cardinals. The Cardinals are baseball blue bloods, like you said. The Angels aren't upstarts, they just haven't succeeded on the level of the Cardinals, or the Reds, or the Pirates, or the Yankees, or the Red Sox... The list goes on. Again, not doggin the Angels, they're doing well and playing good baseball and seem to be doing it the right way. Just saying, going down in Angels' history as their greatest player ever is not the same as going down in Cardinals' history as their greatest player ever.