Sully Baseball Daily Podcast - August 9, 2013

Today on The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast, I talk about Albert Pujols, Jack Clark, Tim Lincecum and why Jose Canseco should be sitting on a gigantic throne.

Tim Lincecum, Victor Martinez, Bruce Chen and Neil Walker and all owned baseball on August 8, 2013.


To see the up to date tally of "Who Owns Baseball?," click HERE.
Subscribe on iTunes HERE.

Sully Baseball Daily Podcast - August 9, 2013

Sully Baseball Daily Podcast - June 4, 2013

Today on The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast I take a look at the Angels and the Cardinals.
The Angels may have hit rock bottom. And Albert Pujols arrival in Anaheim and what the Cardinals got as compensation illustrates the difference between the two franchises. Bronson Arroyo, Coco Crisp, Erik Bedard and Yasiel Puig (in his big league debut!) all owned baseball on June 3, 2013.

To see the up to date tally of "Who Owns Baseball?," click HERE.

Subscribe on iTunes HERE.

Sully Baseball Daily Podcast - June 4, 2013

Angels needed some Seattle coffee to wake up

Originally I was going to call this post "They aren't dead. They are Angels."

But I realized there was a problem with that.

Technically, aren't Angels good ghosts?
Aren't Angels the good souls of dead people?

I am not sure I can make a good analogy regarding someone being dead and turning out to be an Angel because, and I'll have to check the rule book on this one, Angels don't really come back from the dead and they help others not themselves.
So  I scrapped that title for a Java reference.

Man oh man, has this team turned it around.
They were 9 games out and 8 games under .500 at the end of April.
Pujols stunk, the team was in a funk and they looked like a colossal big budget flop.
The Battleship of the American League.

They are 17-10 since. Now they are still 6 1/2 games behind the Rangers. They are still a game under .500. And yes they have been beating up teams like the A's, Mariners, Twins and Padres.

But good teams beat up the bad teams to pad their record.

And the personnel is starting to play to their abilities. C. J. Wilson and Albert Pujols are pulling their weight. And yes, the team is hitting with the change in the coaching staff.

With 2/3 of the season left, THIS Angels team is scarier than the lousy one in April.

If they were called "The Zombies" I could have made an apt comparison.

   

Maybe the Angels should have acquired a hitter this off season

The Angels have been shut out 8 times this year.
They've only played 36 times this year and 8 of those games, no Angel crossed home plate.

Didn't they pick up a slugger this winter?

The Angels have been a big suck fest in the first 22% of the season.
Tonight Bryce Harper and Daniel Nava each tied Albert Pujols' home run production of the first fifth of the season.

The Royals and the Twins are the only two American League teams worse than the Angels now.
They are more than a week behind the Rangers. Does anyone see the Angels making up 8 games against Texas?

OK, maybe they can, but pretty soon the season will be 1/4 over. The whole "Kicking into Gear" part of the season needs to happen soon.

With the Angels and the Red Sox stinking, it has opened the doors of hope for the likes of the A's, Orioles, White Sox and Indians.

The Angels can't POSSIBLY be this bad, can they?
My pick to win the AL Pennant (two years running now) can't actually be a cellar dweller, can they?

Maybe they can get a new first baseman.

  

Albert Pujols has tied Mike Trout and is one behind Matt Downs

Albert Pujols pointed to the heavens and thanked the creator of the universe for giving him the strength match Mike Trout in the home run column.

20 year old Trout, who started the season in the minors, has 1 homer.
Pujols pulled off the amazing feat and tied that, making people relax that maybe committing 10 years to Pujols might have been excessive.

The next rung on the later is Matt Downs utility infielder and .189 hitter Matt Downs, who has two homers this season.

The REAL drama is building in Anaheim.

 

What an amazing middle finger to Colby Rasmus!

I thought I was tough on Colby Rasmus.
I trashed him when he was whining at the end of the 2010 season.
That prompted his defenders to start writing to me, saying he was one of the 20 most valuable players in the game. (?)

I poked fun at him when he was dealt to Toronto and wondered where he was watching the World Series as the Cardinals won without him.

And of course some readers thought I was overly harsh and unfair.
(I realize that he is a major leaguer and I'm not and I don't have 1/1,000,000th of his talent. I would also know not to whine myself off of the Cardinals.)

But my blog posts are not nearly as brutal as this picture I found on the CN Jersey's website.

They sell uniforms of many of the Cardinal players from last year's World Series.
Sure there is Carpenter and Pujols and others.

But a Rasmus Cardinals uniform with the 2011 World Series patch on it?
He was sitting on his Barcalounger watching the game, drinking a Schlitz during the World Series.

He was already a member of the Blue Jays while the pitchers he was traded for, Octavio Dotel, Edwin Jackson and Marc Rzepczynski (sic), were helping St. Louis clinch a title.

Rasmus is 25 now. This is the time he should be breaking out. Instead the 2009 season remains his high water mark. He was rotten in 35 games with Toronto at the end of last year and this year, has been plodding along at a .232 average and an unimpressive .708 OPS.

He DOES have 3 more homers this year than Albert Pujols.

In 2009, when Rasmus was a Rookie of the Year candidate and Pujols was running away with back to back MVPs, the two looked like they were going to be the foundation of many great Cardinals titles to come.

If St. Louis had announced at the end of the 2009 season that they were signing Pujols to an 8 year extension and locking Rasmus up beyond his arbitration and first year of Free Agency, the Cardinals would have been praised as a great long term thinking organization.

Here we are in 2012, Rasmus and Pujols are struggling. The Cardinals got 3 pitchers for Rasmus who helped win a title, will get 2 picks for Pujols and a decade of salary relief.

And oh yeah, the Cardinals are in first place.

They are indeed a great long tern thinking organization.

As for this Rasmus jersey? I'm just glad they are being sold as "Replicas."

I do NOT think this was a mistake.
I think there was someone there who is a Cardinal fan who thought "F--- that guy."



 

Matt Carpenter is topping Albert Pujols

Remember how the defection of Albert Pujols from the World Champion Cardinals seemed so devastating?

Remember how it represented everything wrong in baseball? How it symbolized greed over loyalty? How Pujols turned his back on a great legacy for the selfish satisfaction of a payday? How the proud Cardinals franchise was stripped and the Angels were about to buy themselves more wins?

Well now we are a month into the season.
Yes there are 5 more months to go, so there is a lot of baseball to be played.

But a month is not a SMALL sample size either.
As of right now, the poor Cardinals are 14-8, tied for second best in the National League and leading the division by 3 games.

The Angels are a mess. They are 8-15 already 9 games behind the Rangers.

And how is the first base slot doing for the Cardinals?
Matt Carpenter is out hitting, out slugging and has an OPS more than 200 points higher than Pujols.

In the home run department? Carpenter has infinitely more.
1 to 0.

Will this last? I'd say "Of course not" but we've all been expecting for Pujols to bust out. If that happens it will be this month and not last.

And oh yeah. He's making $11.5 million less than Pujols.

The Angels had better hope this is the yips.
Pujols is on contract for this Presidential election, the next one and the one after that.

The Cardinals? Could they have dodged one of the biggest bullets in baseball history?

It's early. (But not THAT early.)
 

Who will hit a homer first? Pujols? Harper? Or a Pitcher?

I honestly didn't think that Bryce Harper was going to be brought up this soon.
I mean the Nationals are, as of this writing, the best team in the National League and keeping Harper in AAA might start his arbitration clock later.

But here we are.
That cocky S.O.B. is playing in the bigs as of tomorrow in L.A.
Should I go?

Yesterday I asked if a pitcher would homer before Albert Pujols.
Now I want to throw Harper in the equation.

Here's the supposedly next great slugger. Will the face of the 2010s homer this year before the best slugger of the 2000s?

I think the smart money is on Harper.

Who will hit a home run first? Albert Pujols or a pitcher?

The Angels have four more games this month.
After tonight there will be four more days of National League games.

Guess what? Albert Pujols is currently tied with National League pitchers in home runs.
That would be zero.

I didn't expect Pujols to come out with career numbers. But I didn't expect him to be tied with Chris Resop in the HR column. Hell he's tied with ME!

So keep an eye out.
Who will tag one first?
Pujols or ANY National League pitcher.

The smart money is still on Pujols.
But did the Angels spend smart money?

Yup... it's real, Cardinal fans

He's an Angel.
Albert Pujols belongs to another team.

For some reason it just seems real when spring training starts, more so than any press conference.

It looks odd.
I remember when Pedro left the Red Sox for the Mets, I never quite accepted it until I saw him in Spring Training.

I can't imagine what a 15 year old Cardinal fan who probably has no memory of a St. Louis team WITHOUT Albert must be feeling.

Take the solace that I had when I saw Pedro wearing an odd uniform:

The last time he played for MY team, he was winning a World Championship. (Both in St. Louis!)

And three seasons later, a Pedro-less Red Sox team won ANOTHER title.

So yeah, it sucks. But it isn't the end.

I covered that in my video.

I'm Sully and I approve this off season for the Red Sox

The Red Sox had post season dreams that fell just short... like Carl Crawford's diving attempt on the last play of the season.

The manager is gone. The closer is gone. The Captain may have played his final game.
A new GM is in charge but undermined by the owners.

It's time to make tons of changes to the Sox, right?

NO!!!!

I have been advocating that the Red Sox take a step back and heaven forbid REBUILD FROM WITHIN.

Let the Angels cough up years and picks for Albert Pujols. And 5 years for C. J. Wilson? Gee whiz I wonder if they will regret that.
Let the Marlins pony up cash for Jose Reyes and a closer like Heath Bell.
Let the Rangers pay Yu Darvish's posting fee.

Jimmy Rollins? He belongs in Philadelphia.
Carlos Beltran? It's amazing that he syncs up his best season in years with a free agency stint. Have fun in St. Louis.

Aramis Ramirez? Mark Buehrle? Grady Sizemore? Jim Thome? Jason Marquis?

Who in that group is a good long term answer for the Red Sox?

And who is left in the free agent market? Prince Fielder? Roy Oswalt? Edwin Jackson?

And forget the trade market.

Yeah the Red Sox could have had Trevor Cahill or Gio Gonzalez.

But Cahill cost Arizona some of their top prospects including Jarrod Parker, their phenom pitcher who made a cameo in the post season.

And Gio Gonzalez cost Washington some of their best young players.

The Red Sox don't need to empty their farm!
They need to try out as many PawSox as they can.
The Red Sox need to fill in holes and they don't need to do it with high priced free agents, blockbuster trades that send the future packing and surrendering draft picks.

The Sox are making smart moves.
Mark Melancon? Not sexy but talented and can help in the pen.
Nick Punto? Won't make many headlines but gives the Sox some infield depth,
Kelly Shoppach? OK, he can't hit. But how can his bat be worse than Varitek's now?

Don't be worried about making noise for December 2011.
Focus on turning the page and seeing what the team needs.
Pile up draft picks and see what gems are hidden in the system.

Let the Marlins, Angels and Nats make the splash now.
I'm thinking about 2013 and beyond.

Keep up the good work of not doing anything big.

It's not going unnoticed by THIS Sox fan.

New Sully Baseball Video - Raining on Pujols' Parade

The latest Sully Baseball video is live.
In this one, my wife and I went to a little league park in the rain to shoot my thoughts on Albert Pujols' defection to sunny California.

It might be a sad day now... but in 10 years it will be the Angels who regret it.

To see the rest of the Sully Baseball videos, check out the ShortForm TV channel.

I experienced a Cardinals fan nightmare in Orange County this weekend

I was in San Clemente this weekend seeing some of my wife's cousins and watching a production of the original play Christmas in San Clemente.

While waiting to go into the theater, I saw a guy at a local coffee shop wearing an Angels cap.

Now this was the first time I had been in Orange County since Albert Pujols signed with the Angels. And seeing that I was about to go the next few hours into in laws and Christmas mode, I didn't mind doing a little baseball talk before the play started.

(PLEASE note that I am lucky to have terrific in laws and I love Christmas time. I just know that this was my lone chance to break down the AL West.)

I said to him "You an Angels fan?"
He responded. "Oh yeah. I'm a big Angels fan."

That's what he said. I'm NOT making that up. That becomes an important detail.

I said "You must be really excited."
At first he looked confused and then said "Oh yeah. They made some moves."

I grinned.
Some moves?
That's like Noah saying "Yeah, I think it is going to rain."

Even though I was 1,800 miles from St. Louis, I could hear Cardinals fan scream.

"Yeah," I said. "They made a few moves."
"Who was it again?" He asked.

Now look. I understand being a casual fan. I do. I'm a casual hockey fan. If my team, the San Jose Sharks, made a big trade I might not know the name.

But if San Jose got Sidney Crosby, I would be able to place the name.
And if I couldn't, I wouldn't call myself a BIG fan.

I decided to answer.

"They got Albert Pujols." I said.
He nodded. "He's pretty good, right?"

And that my friends is the Cardinals fans worst fear.
Not only did they lose Albert Pujols, but they lost him to an indifferent fan base.

Sorry Angel fans. That's your reputation. The Angels have a fan base that does indeed show up to the games but needs a monkey to tell them when to cheer.

A fan base that wants their team to win, but didn't give Adam Kennedy a standing ovation when he returned to Anaheim this year as a member of the Mariners.

Remember Kennedy was the MVP of the 2002 ALCS (the only pennant the Angels have ever won.) And after years of coming close to the World Series and never getting in, Kennedy hit the go ahead homer off of Johan Santana in the clinching Game 5. Oh guess what? He hit THREE homers that day.

Like Pujols, he hit three homers in a single post season game. He led them to the World Series and helped win it all.

He came up to the plate last season. There wasn't even a buzz.

In Boston, New York, Chicago, St. Louis, Baltimore, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Milwaukee, San Francisco, Kansas City... even the Dodgers... he'd get a standing ovation.

And that fan base got Albert Pujols.

So here's my message to the big fan in San Clemente.

Yeah. He's pretty good.

Shame on any Cardinal fan dumping on Albert Pujols

Hey Cardinal fans.

Tell me that these are just a few bone headed isolated incidents.

Please tell me that nitwits like this guy don't speak for you.

Show some dignity and have yourself heard over these idiots.

I respect the hell out of St. Louis fans so tell me that you are making fun of this person.

I shouldn't be calling them the Cardinals.

They are THE DEFENDING WORLD CHAMPION ST. LOUIS CARDINALS.

So tell me that you remember that...

That you remember Pujols getting 3 homers in Game 3 and getting the double that started the game tying rally in Game 6.

In fact I am not going to insult Pujols by listing his amazing resume.

He's Albert F*cking Pujols!

He just gave the Cardinals 11 brilliant seasons.

And guess what? The Angels will be paying for his twilight years.

Pujols didn't owe St. Louis fans a damn thing.

People comparing this to LeBron?

Did I forget LeBron's two championships in Cleveland?

Did I forget LeBron leaving it all on the floor the way that Pujols played his guts out for the Cardinals?

For more than a decade Cardinal fans had the privilege of watching the most exciting player of this generation in his prime... no positive tests... no scandal... multiple championships... What more did you want?

Should Reds fans have burned Pete Rose's jersey when he went to the Phillies?

Your reputation as classy fans are second to none, Cardinal Nation.

Don't spoil it by acting like spoiled petulant kids.

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People who hate the Yankees and Red Sox should be happy

Over the last few off seasons, I've heard lots of bellyaching, complaining and people angry at the Yankees and Red Sox for going on wild free agent shopping sprees.

It wasn't fair.
How can teams compete?
The rest of the league is just the farm system for Boston and New York.
And they buy the World Series every year (forgetting that more often then not, neither the Yankees nor Sox are even IN the World Series.)

Well last year the Phillies put their flag in the ground to make it three teams that buy everyone up.

And THIS year?
Hey big spenders in Anaheim and Miami!

A few years ago nobody wanted to sign with the Angels and the Marlins had a payroll lower than what Jose Reyes will make a year!

And the Nationals seem to want to spend money and the Blue Jays want to make a splash. And don't count out the Rangers (who have as many World Series appearances in the last 7 seasons as the Red Sox and Yankees combined).

And did you notice who seems to be sitting this free agent season out?
The Yankees and Red Sox.

They may bid on a Ryan Madson or an outfielder, but the idea of them buying every player is out the window.

There are other buyers out there.
Maybe there will be a "Miami - Anaheim" bias to replace the Northeastern bias.

Rejoice Yankee and Red Sox haters. Your wishes are coming true.

Pujols with the Angels... don't you DARE boo Albert, Cardinals fans

Uh oh Cardinals fans... Pujols to the Angels makes sense

I have felt for the past few weeks that Albert Pujols was bound to go back to St. Louis. It made the most sense for his career and it made sense for the Cardinals to keep him. The stability of Pujols on the team moving on to defend the World Series title and the end the LaRussa era and the beginning of the Mike Matheny years was critical.

And the main suitors were dropping off.

The Dodgers? Nah. They have unstable ownership and already spent big time on Matt Kemp.

The Cubs? Not going to happen. They have too many hole to spend $25 million on a first baseman, no matter how big a star he is.

The Mets? They are a nickle and dime small market team.

The Marlins? I equated their Pujols pursuit with the Herman Cain Presidential bid. It was for publicity. Plus they spent all their money on Mark Buehrle, Jose Reyes and Heath Bell.

Seriously, his return to St. Louis was all but assured.
But now it appears that the Angels want to bring Pujols to Anaheim.

Don't get comfortable Cardinal fans.
This makes a lot of sense for everyone.

Arte Moreno is not beneath spending money and making a splash. Last year's big pick up, Vernon Wells, was a turkey.

But the team has excellent pitching with Jared Weaver and Dan Haren leading the way. And they have some good veterans like Torii Hunter and Howie Kendrick.

They have some excellent young players like Mike Trout, Jordan Walden, Peter Bourjos and Mark Trumbo.

Put Pujols in the middle of this team and suddenly the young players have an MVP to look up to, veterans have a superstar to take pressure off them and pitchers know that some more runs.

And if the Rangers take a step back, then the Angels could be the favorite in the AL West.
And Mike Scioscia is a Hall of Fame caliber manager.

And Southern California is a nice place to live. Both Los Angeles AND Anaheim.

So be a little nervous, Cardinals fans.
Pujols has been your team's angel... but he COULD be an Angel.

I still think he will be a Cardinal, but the Angels actually make sense.

The Marlins, Albert Pujols and Herman Cain

Am I the only person who doesn't buy the 10 year deal the Marlins are offering Albert Pujols?
Am I the only person who thinks it is just a show?

I think the Marlins made their big splash with Jose Reyes and Heath Bell but they want to keep excitement up in Florida... oops sorry... Miami and sell more season tickets in their brand spanking new stadium.

It's kind of like Herman Cain's "Run" for President.
Come on. He was never REALLY running. He was building up his fame and most importantly his ability to charge on the public speaking circuit.

And it worked!
Did YOU know who Herman Cain was?
If you answered yes, I can only assume you are in the Pizza business.

But now we all know who he is now.
Heck he is even in a Sully Baseball post!

And the Marlins are courting Pujols but NOT REALLY!
They are wining and dining him and offering 10 years.
It's 10 years, $40 thousand a year. BUT it's 10 YEARS!

Create the appearance of spending for Pujols... that's all the Marlins need to do.

Maybe they'll take him to Godfather Pizza along the way.

Selig's main requirement for a new Dodger owner: SIGN PUJOLS!

I don't believe in random events.
I don't believe in first causes.
I don't believe that actions take place in vacuums.

Even me typing this blog post is the result of a long chain reaction of events.

And a chain reaction of events could be conspiring to bring Albert Pujols to Dodger Stadium.
I have no evidence to back up these theories. But I still think it makes sense.

- Albert Pujols launches 3 home runs in one World Series game, putting him in World Series history with Reggie Jackson and Babe Ruth. And he helps spark one of the World Series saving rallies in Game 6. (The fact that he was basically a non factor in the other World Series games is forgotten by everyone.)

- Albert Pujols is a free agent... a perennial MVP candidate and one of the few marquee stars in the game. Plus he is a class act, free of scandal and has multiple rings in St. Louis. He's probably staying in St. Louis with his father figure, Tony LaRussa.

- LaRussa retires, ending his career with his crowning achievement. He can spend his days saving animals and writing his Cooperstown speech.

- SO Pujols has nothing left to prove in St. Louis. He can leave St. Louis on top and take on a new challenge and more money than any of us can ever dream of. ($30 million a year?)


Meanwhile in Los Angeles...

- The Dodgers fiasco might be finally grinding to a halt. Frank McCourt, in denial like William H. Macy's character in Fargo, might finally realize that he ISN'T just one deal away from keeping control of the team. MLB might take over the Dodgers. They did that once before with the Expos.

- This is a different scenario. That was saving a team from contraction and getting them to Washington DC. The Dodgers need to be lifted from the humiliation of bankruptcy and mismanagement. The Dodgers SHOULD be one of the glamorous franchises. And it would behoove baseball to have a big west coast superpower (sorry Giants fans. Your team isn't a superpower.)

- So if MLB takes over the Dodgers, they can hand pick whomever takes over the team. They will have to be committed to turn the Dodgers back into a powerhouse, make L.A. as baseball crazy as New York and Boston and bring some star power to Dodger Stadium.

- The Dodgers just HAPPENED to have a hole at first base (sorry James Loney). They just HAPPENED to have an MVP candidate to protect Pujols in the lineup with Matt Kemp. They just HAPPEN to play in a winnable division. (Sorry Diamondbacks.) And unless Juan Uribe has more pull than I thought, #5 just HAPPENS to be available in Los Angeles.

- The Dodgers also just HAPPEN to be a team in a desperate situation to have some positive press after all the off the field embarrassment. And they need something, besides a face who ISN'T Frank McCourt, to jumstart season ticket sales.

- If MLB can control who buys the Dodgers, they COULD make "Will you make a big push for Albert Pujols?" a requirement. It would be good for the franchise and could make the Dodgers a marquee franchise again.

Fans are going to show up in St. Louis. It's a new era there anyway.

Pujols (paired with NL MVP candidate Matt Kemp and Cy Young candidate Clayton Kershaw) could have his new challenge.

Bud Selig, someone NOT above colluding, could be in a unique position to handpick someone to bid on Pujols.

Where else is Albert going? Sure Theo Epstein wants to make a big splash with the Cubs, but he has to weed OUT big contracts before bringing in a new one. The Mets are a mess. And maybe the Marlins would make a run at him, but they are a dark horse at best.

Of course the Rangers, White Sox, Nationals and Orioles are never shy about throwing money around. But I can't see Albert going to any of those places.

The Dodgers are the most logical landing place in many ways.
It's a boost to the franchise.
It's a bump in West Coast baseball's interest.
And it could make Albert even more marketable than he is now.

Don't think this ISN'T going through Bud Selig's mind.
It's a chain reaction of events... and it could lead to the image of Albert Pujols playing first base for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

(For the record, I think Pujols is staying put... but you never know!)

If this WAS Pujols' last game... you can not blame him

Pujols is probably going to return...
The Cardinals could finally become a National Brand.

But it also makes sense if he says "I've done EVERYTHING I can possibly do in St. Louis. Maybe I need a new challenge."

The new owner of the Dodgers would want to show the fan base that they spend money on the team instead of on their homes. (And I assume they won't blame victims when they get beaten in their poorly lit and lightly secured parking lots.)

Bringing in Albert Pujols makes all the short term sense in the world for the Dodgers.

If he goes to Chavez Ravine, then I not only don't want to hear CARDINALS fans boo him but I also want to hear nobody in all of baseball boo him.

If he wants to get top dollar, he has done everything he could have possibly done in St. Louis.

But I said all of that before.