All Aboard the Pujols Express, From Fringe to Mainstream

[....J....]

You are such a cuntstain

lmao......here's a life.....put it to good use

[MiamiHomer]

You forgot some .................................................. .....

Anyways, Jayson Stark on this morning said Pujols has interest in the Marlins! We gon get him!

[Big Z]

It's going to be a tough decision.

Can Gaby play 3B? If not then bye bye Gaby.

Pujols wants something around 10/220 and he's 31 already.

What might Fielder want? He's no Pujols, but if he wants a large chunk less than Pujols, it might make sense. Some of his numbers have been close to Pujols and he has improved his fielding dramatically (idk what happened this year).

[Beef]

str8edgeracer!

[Omar]

Blank check.

[AdamRavs]

I would like to have Prince over Pujols if we played in the AL.. A lefty bat power bat in between Hanley & Stanton would awesome.. Boner, Hanley, Prince, Stanton.. I could get used to that. Problem is Prince couldn't catch a cold at 1st..

[Fritz]

And as the Seattle Mariners have shown us, defense wins championships.

[Chewford]

El cheque blanco.

[nny]

http://twitter.com/#!/Buster_ESPN/st...39180471681024

This very much scares me considering 1) Their history is not in baseball, they're fans and 2) what it resulted in this past offseason (I remember in the offseason there was an article that said Maybin for a couple relievers and John Buck on a 3 year was orchestrated by Loria and not the FO [John Buck not that bad but the Maybin one will kill me for a long time])

[lou]

I find this interesting. If we look at where the organization is at now for next year

John Buck $6,500,000
Gaby Sanchez $420,000
Emilio Bonifacio $2,000,000
Matt Dominguez $410,000
Hanley Ramirez $15,000,000
Logan Morrison $420,000
Mike Stanton $420,000
Chris Coghlan $420,000
Brett Hayes $420,000
Bryan Petersen $420,000
I don’t Know
I don’t Know
I don’t Know

Josh Johnson $13,750,000
Ricky Nolasco $9,000,000
Anibal Sanchez $8,000,000
I dont know
I dont know
Edward Mujica $1,500,000
Randy Choate $1,500,000
Ryan Webb $430,000
Mike Dunn $420,000
Burke Badenhop $1,250,000
Steve Cishek $420,000
Jose Ceda $420,000

$63,120,000

We're talking 3 bench guys and 2 starting pitchers is all they really need to field a team. They could easily do this for the $75-85 range currently being thrown around. Now, an enormous Pujols contract would fit in under $100 million if they skimp on those other 5 slots, but they are going to really need those extra 300-400 SP innings and probably 1,000+ bench bats because Matty D and Coghlan aren't exactly reliable right now. So signing Pujols and not going all in everywhere else, is pretty stupid. So let's assume they go all in moving forward.

The obvious way to realistically (realistically?) sign Pujols "under valued," as the Marlins are not throwing him $225+ mil, and be able to keep him where he doesn't kill you moving forward, is front loading the living crap out of the contract. Start him off so high, and taper him off when the organization will need to replace/resign Hanley. .

If we're in crazy land, I'd like to see the Marlins go completely unconventional and offer something like

2012 - $30 million
2013 - $30 million
2014 - $30 million (Hanley money opens up after this season, hence the drop in price. Drop in $10 million + Hanley salary equals $25 million "freed" up from the budget to use on Hanley or multiple pieces)
2015 - $20 million
2016 - $20 million
2017 - $20 million
2018 - $15 million
2019 - $15 million

That is 8/$180, which surely is denied if escalating in nature as that was reported to be the Cards max bid, but half of the money of the deal is in first 3 years which is insane. That kind of bid, along of no state income tax, new stadium, and getting closer to home, will have a "discount" compared to the other $200 numbers being thrown around by the Cards/Cubs. I think Jered Weaver and Cliff Lee have set nice precedents in baseball, leaving money on the table at being happy, and I do think other star players who are going to make "stupid money" will follow their lead as long as a serious deal is offered. $180, is fucking serious.

Saying that, how would they fill out the team. I think Javy Vazquez comes back trying to get the ring for his 2011 price, $7 million. I think the Marlins would have a "Miami Heat" type moment, and they would snipe a good 5th starter and some bench players for another say $7 million combined.

That team looks like this, and has Leo Nunez and Gaby Sanchez to trade which should net some depth somewhere, but who really gives a shit about that.

C John Buck $6,500,000
1B Albert Pujols $30,000,000
2B Emilio Bonifacio $1,750,000
3B Matt Dominguez $410,000
SS Hanley Ramirez $15,000,000
LF Logan Morrison $420,000
RF Mike Stanton $420,000
CF Chris Coghlan $420,000
B John Baker $550,000
B Bryan Petersen $420,000
B Veteran 3B(Betemit type) $2,000,000
B Veteran CF/(Cameron type) $1,000,000
B Veteran Play Everywhere/(Aaron Miles) $750,000

SP Josh Johnson $13,750,000
SP Ricky Nolasco $9,000,000
SP Anibal Sanchez $8,000,000
SP Javy Vazquez $7,000,000
SP Some Innings Eater Lefty going for broke $3,000,000
RP Edward Mujica $1,500,000
RP Randy Choate $1,500,000
RP Ryan Webb $430,000
RP Mike Dunn $420,000
RP Burke Badenhop $1,250,000
RP Steve Cishek $420,000
RP Jose Ceda $420,000

$106,330,000

I mean insane, but if we're making blank check jokes, I think this is the only way they can do it. Front load the crap out of it so Pujols is happy, and organizationally $106 isn't THAT bad if it's only 1 season in a new ballpark. I don't know what the average ticket price in the stadium is, but if it is $35 dollars which seems low to me, that breaks even on the team payroll if the whole season is a sellout (which it would be), and all the parking, concessions, advertising, merchandising, naming rights, revenue from MLB, etc pays for operational costs. They'd be fine, for at least a season or two, with this insane salary and not a more 'affordable' $80 range one. And this isn't even taking into account franchise rising dramatically in value.

Likewise, looking longterm, in 2013, this would be on the books

Pujols $30
Hanley $15.5
Johnson $13.75
Nolasco $12
Small Arbitrations - Bonifacio, Coghlan, Mujica, Webb (maybe $6 million total)
Club Controlled - Morrison, Dominguez, Stanton, Petersen, Dunn, Ceda, Cishek, Marinez, probably Chad James, and 2-3 unknown bench/back end bullpen guys (maybe $7.5 million)

That would be 20 guys signed for $84.5, and missing 2 starting pitchers, and 3 platoon/bench bats/back end reliever.

It's do able. But they will have to commit to a low $100 in 2012, and at least 90s in 2013-2014 until Pujols gets to "normal superstar rates" as part of the hypothetical. Likewise, Pujols will have to make that decision to turn his back on the Cards and get closer to home for up front cash and the beach.

Lastly, and in the alternative, you could sign Prince for that amount probably not front loaded which makes short term salary projections much more doable. It's interesting to think about that too.

Anyways, just saying. I think it is very unlikely this happens, but this is the scenario I would envision if it were to happen.
--------------------

This very much scares me considering 1) Their history is not in baseball, they're fans and 2) what it resulted in this past offseason (I remember in the offseason there was an article that said Maybin for a couple relievers and John Buck on a 3 year was orchestrated by Loria and not the FO [John Buck not that bad but the Maybin one will kill me for a long time])

Yes, it is very scary.

But if Loria's input into signing players is "Pudge" type signings of just saying, fuck it here's $10 million because I like you, I am all about that.

They just need to buyout Stanton

[Erick]

Not that I agree with it, but I expect the team to spend some big money on a proven closer.

Not Papelbon but KRod or Francisco Cordero...I could see one of them ending up here.

The Pujols thing isn't happening.

[emkayseven]

I do not expect that. This team has never spent money on closers and prefers to find them on the cheap (Jones, Borowski, Benitez, etc)

[Party]

El cheque blanco.

I cannot say how much I love this.

[Big Z]

Not that I agree with it, but I expect the team to spend some big money on a proven closer.

Not Papelbon but KRod or Francisco Cordero...I could see one of them ending up here.

The Pujols thing isn't happening.

No, no.

And damn you negative Nancy!

[Madman81]

I hope that these rumblings aren't so that Loria and Co. can say hey we gave it a try but couldn't make it happen, but here's another John Buck.