The Cardinals Franchise is Making A Huge Mistake

[Pogotheostrich]

Therer are some sites suggesting that Cards trade Pujols...if Cards tell fans we are cutting ticket prices for 2 years to rebuild ...it works...I cant recall the site it was hot and heavy to trade Albert Pujols...Not a bad idea???

Horrible idea.
There was an earlier post on the subject if you are interested.
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=317424&hilit=+pujols+trade

[eastcoaster]

Therer are some sites suggesting that Cards trade Pujols...if Cards tell fans we are cutting ticket prices for 2 years to rebuild ...it works...I cant recall the site it was hot and heavy to trade Albert Pujols...Not a bad idea???

Horrible idea.

Agreed

[DRAFTAHOLIC]

Yes, I read that at one site by Lenny Melnick. I heard something similar also at Fantasy Baseball Guy and it might have been the same guy on the CBS forum. So it appears that this idea has circulated the net.

You know, I am not certain I could trust the Cardinals to make a decent trade with Albert Pujols. We have seen some fairly bad trades in the past years. I am not sure who would be worth Albert Pujols and I also wonder if the Cardinal fans would celebrate such a trade or burn Cardinal leadership at the stake. I would think they should try to build around Albert if he is willing to be a player on a team that won't have another shot at the World Championship for some years. Has anyone heard more on that subject?



Draftaholic

[sycamore]

During his news conference Monday at the annual Winter Warm-up, Pujols expressed his anger about the incorrect report, but in wide-ranging comments he also discussed how close he came to an operation that could have interrupted his season. Pujols met with a specialist about pain in his right elbow after the season, but when told about the severity of the surgery needed, he said he "called that off."

Pujols said that with rest, his legs are feeling better after the hamstring injury and calf soreness that slowed him late last season. He hopes the elbow will improve as much, too, but added he doesn't plan to play through that level of pain again. St Louis Post Dispatch 1/22

Trade now?

[j_d_mcnugent]

The team needed to trade Rolan away for younger talent, not the older and physically banged up Glaus....

i'd say best case scenario is trading rolen for young talent. however, such a trade would be very difficult to pull off. i am fairly confident mozeliak attempted to find such a trade and i've been told laroche + juan pierre for rolen was once on the table. i think mozeliak did fairly well under the circumstances. glaus can be a pretty good player, has a year less on his deal, and has the less serious injury questions. larussa kind of put the team in a bad spot by all but announcing the relationship irreconcilable. the cardinals managed risk pretty well with this trade. perhaps rolen has a higher ceiling, but glaus is more likely to be the most productive over the next two years. should glaus play well, the cards could still move him for prospects although i doubt they will. this trade really solidified the offense, imo. pujols is great, as we know. the outfield is quite promising. ankiel should easily out hit edmonds. duncan was putting up a .900 ops before he was injured. ludwick went .274/.372/.469 after the break and .298/.362/.547 vs. righties overall. barton appears to be an intriguing option and there is always that rasmus kid waiting in the wings. i dont really care too much for larussa, but one thing he does well is mix and match players and the outfield could be quite productive if healthy and the right matchups are used. all thats left is to cross your fingers on the pitching. i am not holding my breath, but this trade gave them a solid chance to be competitive the next two years.


back to andy laroche + juan pierre for scott rolen....at first glance, i dismissed it. pierre's contract is pug fugly. however, he is owed approximately the same amount as rolen. pierre gets about $36MM over four years and rolen about $36 over 3. if the cardinals could trade pierre by eating about half the contract, it would be a pretty interesting trade. laroche might make salaries of about $375M, $500M, $1MM, $5MM, $7.5MM, and $10MM. thats a total salary of $24.4MM. add in about $18MM to make pierre disappear and you have six years of laroche for a total cost of about $42MM. that might be worth it. i dont fault him for taking glaus though.

[KoopaTroopa211]

-Trading for Glaus was not a mistake. Rolen clearly had to leave town, and Glaus was the best value we were going to get in return. I think he should liven up sitting next to Pujols in the order and not having to fight the artificial surface.

-Dealing Pujols is a mistake of the highest order. He is the last remaining piece of the heart/soul of the franchise since we let go or traded all the other familiar faces, and we're already facing a down year as it is. Trade him, and fans stop showing up at games. Additionally, I seriously doubt we could get "equal" value in return.

-I could possibly see the Cards making a move on Santana if we hadn't picked up Glaus's salary for the next couple years. He'll command top dollar (as he should), and I'm skeptical about ownership forking over so much money for one player.

[StlSluggers]

...i've been told laroche + juan pierre for rolen was once on the table.

I heard that, too. Stupid Dodgers...