Pujols designated for assignment

craig44

it appears the end of an era is here.

ernie11

This season and last season he was not doing so well. But this is still a shocker to me. Pujols is my choice for the greatest hitter of the 21st century (so far).

LandrysFedora

Wonder if a LaRussa/Pujols reunion is on the horizon?

perkdog

Iconic player but honestly I’m shocked he hadn’t retired yet. I didn’t even know he was still hanging around

craig44

didnt it come out a few years ago that pujols was a couple of years older than he said he was?

perkdog

@craig44 said:
didnt it come out a few years ago that pujols was a couple of years older than he said he was?

I don’t even think Pujols even knows how old he is lol

stevek

“We’re all told at some point that we can no longer play the children’s game. We just don’t know when that’s gonna be. Some of us are told at 18, some of us are told at 40, but we’re all told.”

thisistheshow

@perkdog said:
Iconic player but honestly I’m shocked he hadn’t retired yet. I didn’t even know he was still hanging around

I don't follow baseball very closely, and I apparently haven't been paying attention, because I thought the same exact thing when I read this.

Alfonz24

He was one of those retired guys that still go into the old office to pick up his pension checks.

tommyrusty7

Who in there right mind would pick him up< He can't hit his way out of a paper bag anymore.

dallasactuary

I was sad to see Pujols leave the Cardinals but I would have been furious if the Cardinals had paid him a quarter billion dollars to stay. Pujols' career path since joining the Angels is pretty much exactly what everyone but the Angels expected.

GoDodgersFan

Tough to walk away from guaranteed money. At this point, recognize father time, and move on to the next stage of life. He's a 1st ballot HOFer, 2 WS rings, 3 MVPs, and one of the best ever, and nothing more to prove.

SDSportsFan

Ken Rosenthal just said on FS1 that Pujols has signed with THE DODGERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Steve

craig44

strange signing. I heard that the reason he was dfa with the angels was a lack of playing time. then he signs with the Dodgers to basically be a pinch hitter? weird.

perkdog

@craig44 said:
strange signing. I heard that the reason he was dfa with the angels was a lack of playing time. then he signs with the Dodgers to basically be a pinch hitter? weird.

Exactly my thoughts. How long will Big Albert hang around for? He must love everything about being on a team because he really should be retired and enjoying himself or at least be on a pre game show or something

GoDodgersFan

Really odd signing. I like Albert and I hope he doesn't continue to hit .198.

craig44

yeah, its too bad because he has really been destroying his rate stats for the last 5 or 6 seasons.

of course, if I was playing out a 30MM/year contract, you better believe I wouldn't care less what my OPS+ was

at all.

Hydrant

@Alfonz24 said:
He was one of those retired guys that still go into the old office to pick up his pension checks.

I know a guy like that. He always gets hugs and kisses from the secretaries. I think that's why he keeps going back.

tommyrusty7

Just another money sucker IMO.

ernie11

And the Dodgers put him in the lineup last night and he got an RBI single.

1951WheatiesPremium

The Dodgers are all sorts of banged up. Good signing. And here’s the funny part? He’s a victim of his own success. Most people say he’s all washed up and yet almost everyone (fan or player) would take a player on their team who put up the stats he did in his last full season.

55 R, 24 HR, 93 RBI, .244 AVG

Even last year, his numbers over 120 games would have been close to 24 HR and 75 RBI.

Point to ponder.

Tabe

@1951WheatiesPremium said:
The Dodgers are all sorts of banged up. Good signing. And here’s the funny part? He’s a victim of his own success. Most people say he’s all washed up and yet almost everyone (fan or player) would take a player on their team who put up the stats he did in his last full season.

55 R, 24 HR, 93 RBI, .244 AVG

55R over the 131 games is terrible. And the .734 OPS he put up is even worse.

1951WheatiesPremium

@Tabe said:

@1951WheatiesPremium said:
The Dodgers are all sorts of banged up. Good signing. And here’s the funny part? He’s a victim of his own success. Most people say he’s all washed up and yet almost everyone (fan or player) would take a player on their team who put up the stats he did in his last full season.

55 R, 24 HR, 93 RBI, .244 AVG

55R over the 131 games is terrible. And the .734 OPS he put up is even worse.

You can certainly figure that number to have a chance to have been higher as in 2019, he’d almost certainly have been pulled for pinch hitters after hits in the 7th inning or later.

Terrible OPS for Pujols; the league averag for that year (2019) was .758.

His mark means he was just below league average but the way an average works means there were plenty of guys lower, too, the the highest guys are over 1.000.

Again, there can be a spot for an anonymous player with those numbers to come off the bench. With the fact that he costs nothing? Seems like a no brainer for a really banged up team...

Tabe

@1951WheatiesPremium said:

Terrible OPS for Pujols; the league averag for that year (2019) was .758.

Terrible for anybody that's a DH/1B. If your DH/1B is hitting below league average OPS, he's a terrible hitter.

1951WheatiesPremium

@Tabe said:

@1951WheatiesPremium said:

Terrible OPS for Pujols; the league averag for that year (2019) was .758.

Terrible for anybody that's a DH/1B. If your DH/1B is hitting below league average OPS, he's a terrible hitter.

I agree that it is not ideal. However, I’m saying you have to do something to stay afloat given this:

Less than 50 games into the 2021 season, and the Dodgers have nearly doubled last season's total.

As of today's date, injuries have made 18 players miss a total of 420 days on the IL, totaling over $11 million in salary to injured players.

The biggest blow of course was the announcement on April 5 that 2019 National League MVP Cody Bellinger was going on the IL with a hairline fracture to his left fibula. Bellinger suffered the injury while trying to beat out an infield single in a 10-3 victory over the Oakland Athletics just five games into the season.

Recently, more big names have gone down with injuries. Dodgers' fifth starter Dustin May underwent Tommy John surgery and is out for the season. Edwin Rios, who struggled to start the season, underwent shoulder surgery and is also out of the year. Last Friday, AJ Pollock re-aggravated his left hamstring injury, and less than 24 hours later, the Dodgers were dealt the most devastating injury of them all when reigning World Series MVP Corey Seager was hit by a pitch and fractured a finger in his right hand.

1951WheatiesPremium

@Tabe

If he’s their starting 1B for 130 games they’re in trouble. I agree 100%.

Still, they’re bleeding right now. He’s still a major league ready bat and could be a nice reserve/pinch hitter as more players return from injury.

Tabe

@1951WheatiesPremium said:
yet almost everyone (fan or player) would take a player on their team who put up the stats he did in his last full season.

To be clear, I was responding to the above comment from you regarding Pujols. I don't agree. I think most fans would be disappointed if their full-time DH/1B put up numbers like that. Maybe he helps the Dodgers get over the hump a little bit but, let's be honest, their fans weren't celebrating his signing.

craig44

Pujols has managed to hit some home runs in the last few years, but his overall rate stats are terrible. he has been a below average hitter, at 1b and DH for 4 or 5 years now.

he is like the power forward who hits just enough 3 pointers to keep shooting but overall hurt his team.

1951WheatiesPremium

I saw him on the bench for the Dodgers recently and thought it worth posting:

152 ABs, 8 HR, 25 RBI, .270

.313/ .467 / .780

I think he’s been a useful player for the Dodgers and as they’ve gotten healthy he’s become a worthwhile bar off the bench.

Curious how others feel, especially the Dodgers fans.

Mickey71

Numbers are reasonable and he still has good power. A weapon late in the season.