Angels owner Arte Moreno, who purchased the franchise for $183 million in 2003, committed to spend nearly twice as much money in two hours Thursday for Pujols and Texas Rangers left-hander C.J. Wilson (five years, $77.5 million) than he did for the entire franchise.

Wow.

Never thought about that.

"The Angels," [Pujols] said, "are the ones tugging on my heart."

Ha. I hear they have great schools too.

The team, which refuses to be publicly identified,offered Pujols a 10-year, $225 million deal.

What the hell does this mean? Nightengale knows the team but can't get their consent to publish their name?

It was the Hiroshima Carp.

From zero to $254 million, how the Pujols deal got done

The zero was the Mets, BTW.

Angels owner Arte Moreno, who purchased the franchise for $183 million in 2003, committed to spend nearly twice as much money in two hours Thursday for Pujols and Texas Rangers left-hander C.J. Wilson (five years, $77.5 million) than he did for the entire franchise.

When Glenn Robinson wanted a $100 Million contract, I think Herb Kohl said something like, I can give Glenn the Bucks and I'll take the contract.

Pujols was manipulated by Lozano, plain and simple.

It's the same thing that happened with Renteria after 2004. These guys get told over and over again that the Cardinals are disrespecting them by not offering more and blah blah blah.

I do think it's interesting that in the last 15 years, the Cardinals had McGwire, Edmonds, Rolen, and Berkman all re-up with the team months before hitting free agency, knowing they were leaving money on the table (Holliday is a bit of an outlier because I think he intended to stay, but allowed genius Boras to milk the Cardinals for all he could).

It's a small sample size - and let me preface this by saying that I don't think Pujols or Renteria are stupid or deficient for choosing to leave for more money* - but I think there's a cultural thing where foreign born players view all owners as different heads on the same beast, and don't really understand the disparity between media markets.

*Clearly in Pujols case, it wasn't just about the money or he'd have taken Florida's offer (which is even further from the pack after considering the tax codes)

My real problem is that Pujols basically led Cardinals fans to believe that winning was more important than money - that he'd remain a Cardinal for life, so long as they continued to surround him with a quality supporting cast - then he turns around and refuses to sign for anything short of A-Rod money.

The Cardinals were right to let him walk.

SO can Pujols buy the Dodgers?

The zero was the Mets, BTW.

Mr Pujols? You can have my offer now, if you like. My final offer is this: nothing. Not even the meal money, which I would appreciate if you would put up personally.

I wouldn't be at all surprised to find out that the Marlins had the highest raw dollar value but that it involved deferred money.

Probably seriously back-loaded like Reyes' deal, too, and without a no-trade of course.

I wouldn't be at all surprised to find out that the Marlins had the highest raw dollar value but that it involved deferred money.

That was my thought, too. But Nightengale specifically says there was no deferred money.

When the Fish took a timeout to meet with the commissioner's office in the middle of their Pujols negotiations, my thought was that they were thinking of one of those really long term deals that the Royals and Braves (Sutter) attempted way back when.

It's the same thing that happened with Renteria after 2004. These guys get told over and over again that the Cardinals are disrespecting them by not offering more and blah blah blah.

The Cards offered $40 million less than the Angels at the end. Forget about disrespect, the Cards just didn't offer enough.

Well, after taxes it's only 142m.

I really can't believe he wouldn't take the Marlins' bigger offer. $20-50M more? That's a lot of money to pass up to maybe play on a better team.

The zero was the Mets, BTW.

That must have been when the Ike Davis trade talk started up.

Mr Pujols? You can have my offer now, if you like. My final offer is this: nothing. Not even the meal money, which I would appreciate if you would put up personally.

Good.

I really can't believe he wouldn't take the Marlins' bigger offer. $20-50M more? That's a lot of money to pass up to maybe play on a better team.

And no state income tax, as opposed to what I'm guessing is a pretty high one in Cali.

David Samson said the Marlins "only" offered a little over $200M. I guess perhaps we should believe him, in spite of his being David Samson.

The Cards offered $40 million less than the Angels at the end. Forget about disrespect, the Cards just didn't offer enough.

Not only that, but they followed the script of a team that does NOT want to resign their player, but wants to make him out to be the bad guy to the media. They started low, then upped their offer to just enough to look good but still far enough below the others to be sure the player would never take it. Call it the Thome/Clemens method.

I didn't RTFA, but I'm confused. The Angels were willing to make this 10-yr mega-offer, but might not have even had the chance if Pujols had signed a day earlier with the supposed mystery team?

My real problem is that Pujols basically led Cardinals fans to believe that winning was more important than money - that he'd remain a Cardinal for life, so long as they continued to surround him with a quality supporting cast - then he turns around and refuses to sign for anything short of A-Rod money.

Isn't there a good chance that he thinks the Angels are a better bet to win long-term? Or at least have an even chance?

1. The Cards' HoF manager is gone.
2. Other key players -- Berkman, Holliday, Carpenter -- are also on the north side of 30.
3. The Angels, despite having some old core players, were younger on average than the Cards last year (per BB-Ref).
4. The Angels still have their potential HoF manager.
5. The Angel owner says he wants to win and is writing the checks to prove it.

The Cards have been a strong organization and are likely to continue to be. But so are the Angels. Pujols seeing Arte's commitment to spend on him might have told him that he's really wants to spend to win.

And he might look forward to living in Los Angeles.

And he might look forward to living in Los Angeles.

Haven't you heard, Anaheim is like 30 miles from Los Angeles.

The Cards offered $40 million less than the Angels at the end. Forget about disrespect, the Cards just didn't offer enough.

Not only that, but they followed the script of a team that does NOT want to resign their player, but wants to make him out to be the bad guy to the media. They started low, then upped their offer to just enough to look good but still far enough below the others to be sure the player would never take it. Call it the Thome/Clemens method.

What would that "safe" offer have been, though, at which the Cardinal wouldn't have wanted Pujols? 8/200 is probably not completely crazy...

but I think there's a cultural thing where foreign born players view all owners as different heads on the same beast, and don't really understand the disparity between media markets.

Those simple brown people from other lands, with their naïveté about our MSAs and MSOs.

What can you expect from a poster named after some white guy?

Did I see the Angels and Fox Sports agree to a 10 year $3 billion TV contract today? Let there be no doubt that the Pujols signing almost certainly was completely paid for by this very timely circumstance. Is it a stretch to think Fox pays $2.7 billion over 10 years without Pujols?

Did I see the Angels and Fox Sports agree to a 10 year $3 billion TV contract today? Let there be no doubt that the Pujols signing almost certainly was completely paid for by this very timely circumstance.

The deal's been in the works for a while now. The Lakers left Fox for Time Warner, and the Dodgers are up in the air, so Fox Sports West was facing the very real possibility of not having any of the flagship sports franchises on their network. The Angels parlayed that into a much stronger TV deal. It's not so much the Pujols signing, but the Angels being smart and aggressive about playing their position. With or without Pujols, they were going to get nearly triple per year what they were getting before.

I dnt know how the tv business works specifically but I'm pretty sure that a three billion dollar business deal takes more than 24 hours to negotiate.

Pujols was manipulated by Lozano, plain and simple.

When our favorite athletes do something we hate, it's clearly their agent manipulating them. When they do something we like, it's because that's who they really are.

I really can't believe he wouldn't take the Marlins' bigger offer. $20-50M more? That's a lot of money to pass up to maybe play on a better team.

You are familiar with who is the owner of that team, aren't you?

I dnt know how the tv business works specifically but I'm pretty sure that a three billion dollar business deal takes more than 24 hours to negotiate.

Not in this case. For months they were at a standstill, with Fox offering $2B, and the Angels demanding $4B. Then the Pujols signing was announced, Fox moved their offer to $3B and Arte snapped accepted.