(Image source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
You're watching multisource sports news analysis from Newsy.
BY BRAD GALBREATH
ANCHOR JIM FLINK
Albert Pujols will be wearing red and white for the next 10 years. But he wont be in the Midwest. Think a little warmer.
ESPN reports that the first baseman Albert Pujols agreed to a 10-year, $254 million mega-deal with the Los Angeles Angels. ESPN's Terry Francona and John Kruk react.
“First blush Albert Pujols goes to the Angels, what do you think?"
“Wow.”
“Wow.”
"We go to bed last night and St. Louis looks like they are going to end up with their guy, and you wake up in the morning... this changes the landscape of both leagues.”
The landscape of both leagues, and the landscape of Pujols' bank account. Leave it to CNBC’s Darren Rovell to put the contract in perspective.
“With new contract, Pujols will make $68,493 per day. The average 6-person household in California makes $63,125 a year.”
But does Pujols fit into the lineup as easily as the checks fit into his wallet? The Washington Post’s Cindy Boren thinks so.
“In many respects, the Angels are the ideal team for Pujols, since the American League has the designated hitter and does not play the Cardinals, the only team he’s ever played for.”
But some people are bitter that the Cardinals won’t be Pujols’ only team. The anchors at KMOV in St. Louis sure aren’t hiding their true feelings.
“Don’t let the door hit you in the... I mean..."
"Wow."
"How quickly we turn."
"But you know what? Someone said something to be the other day that makes perfect sense, and that is high paid baseball players move from team to team. Legends stay with one team.”
But how about the Redbirds? Now that Pujols is gone, how do the reigning champs recover? KSDK’s Rene Knott says they might be just fine.
“You know, here’s the beauty, you got a guy that played right field last year that had a career season. That being Lance Berkman. As we all know Lance Berkman is a pretty good first baseman. You could always move him to that position.”
Pujols’ contract is the second largest in baseball history, trailing only Alex Rodriguez's $275 million mega-deal. Yahoo! Sports’ Jeff Passan draws an ominous comparison between the two sluggers.
“Alex Rodriguez was 32 when he signed his 10-year deal. Four seasons into it, he’s a shell of himself. Albert Pujols turns 32 in January.”
Angels fans can only hope that it’s a coincidence. According to ESPN’s Buster Olney, what’s not a coincidence is the Angels jumping in at the last second to snag the biggest prize of free agency.
“What I fully believe is, and Carl made reference to this, did the fact that last Friday we heard for the first time Magic Johnson might be coming in to take over as owner of the Dodgers with his group... Maybe that prospect kind of nudged the Angels. Some of the other executives around baseball have looked at the Angels the last couple years as a sleeping giant.”
Well it appears the giant has awoken. In addition to Pujols, the Angels also signed pitcher C.J. Wilson to a 5-year, 77.5 million dollar deal.
Transcript by Newsy.
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