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02/15 2011

Ken Rosenthal Is Bored, Stirs Pot With Ridiculous Pujols Trade Speculation

Posted by Dan Levy.

Pitchers and catchers reporting is not enough for veteran baseball scribe Ken Rosenthal. In his column today for Fox Sports, Rosenthal felt the need to make stuff up, admittedly so, in an effort to give every St. Louis Cardinals fan a heart attack. To the asinine machine!

WARNING: What you are about to read is pure speculation. It has not, to my knowledge, been discussed at any level. In fact, it is not even my idea.

Harold Reynolds mentioned the possibility Monday on MLB Network. My colleague, Jon Paul Morosi, informed me of it later that night. I then stole the idea from Morosi as if I were Lindsay Lohan in a jewelry store.

Albert Pujols for Mark Teixeira.

And, if that doesn’t work, Pujols for Ryan Howard.

Think it’s nuts? Think again.

Okay, Ken. I’ve thought again. It’s still nuts.

It’s 934 words of pure insanity. The St. Louis Cardinals are not going to trade Albert Pujols, even if this arbitrary deadline comes and goes. The fact of the matter is, the Cardinals have an entire season to figure out a way to keep Pujols in St. Louis, and trading the best player in the game for a lesser player at the same position is too ridiculous to even suggest.

I’m not even going to get into the numbers — we debated the stats of those three names for weeks last year when Howard got his new contract — the simple fact remains that a trade for Teixeira or Howard makes NO SENSE for the Cardinals. Why would they refuse to pay Pujols then trade him for 80 cents on the dollar, only to have to pay that 80 cents $1.10? Ryan Howard and Mark Teixeira — and their huge contracts — are the reason the Cardinals are in this situation with Pujols in the first place. Why would they let Pujols go in a trade for one of those contracts?

Halfway through this column, even Rosenthal realized how flawed this paper-thin logic is:

If the Phillies do not yet regret their remaining six-year, $145 million commitment to Howard, they might soon; Howard, 31, is a big man who could decline rapidly. The Phils would be better off paying Pujols more money on a longer deal.

If the Phillies do not yet regret the deal they made last year, they might soon? So why in the world would the Cardinals take that contract on? Just to GET RID OF THE BEST PLAYER IN THE GAME? Of course the Phillies would be better off paying Pujols more money on a longer deal. Which is why the Cardinals would never make that deal, even if Joe Blanton and/or a host of prospects were included. And while the Phillies would trade Howard straight up for Pujols and maybe even Howard and Blanton for him, there’s little chance they’d be willing to deal Howard and prospects for anyone in the game.

So, Ken, you’re at about 600 words. How you gonna stretch this into a full column? Oh…what about other teams? The Red Sox? The Tigers? Sure, let’s throw them in too.

The Tigers owe Miguel Cabrera $106 million over the next five years, though that deal suddenly looks good for the club – Cabrera is not yet 28 – and Pujols might balk at a deal to Detroit.

Then there are the Red Sox. Sources say they are set to sign Gonzalez to a seven-year, $164 million extension, but will wait until after Opening Day to announce the deal, enabling them to save on the luxury tax.

Think the Sox would renege on Gonzalez if they could trade him for Pujols – and keep Pujols away from the Yankees?

Of course, if he wasn’t turning the knife enough on Cardinals fans by introducing FOUR TEAMS they could trade Pujols to, Rosenthal ends with the last fatal blow of this horror show column:

And there is one more advantage to the idea of a trade, an advantage that should seal all but the deal.

Trade Pujols, and he won’t become a Cub.

Can a player please say something stupid today, or tweak a hamstring (note: not a Phillie) or do SOMETHING to give Ken Rosenthal a story to actually report before he starts a Pujols for Sabathia rumor or something even more ridiculous than this, if that’s possible?

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Posted on February 15, 2011 at 2:21PM

 

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