The Angels are making a rare interleague visit to St. Louis this weekend, marking Albert Pujols’ first on-field visit back to his former city since he left the Cardinals following the 2011 season. He could have been a much more frequent visitor to Busch Stadium, however, if he had remained within the NL Central, as USA Today’s Bob Nightengale writes that the Reds were the proverbial mystery team that came closest to keeping Pujols away from the Angels in free agency.
Cincinnati offered Pujols a ten-year, $225MM offer, which fell just short of the ten-year, $240MM contract Pujols ultimately accepted from the Angels. The Marlins actually offered more money than either the Angels or Reds, though Pujols turned down Miami’s ten-year, $275MM offer out of concerns that the contract didn’t contain a no-trade clause, and as Nightengale puts it, “Pujols [was] fearful of the Marlins being the Marlins.”
Walt Jocketty was the Reds’ general manager at the time, and had a long relationship with Pujols due to Jocketty’s time as the Cardinals’ GM from 1994 to 2007. “We thought we were going to get him,” Jockey told Nightengale. “We thought he would certainly give our organization a lift with his presence, on and off the field.”
After suffering through nine consecutive losing seasons from 2001-2009, the Reds won the NL Central in 2010 but were then unceremoniously swept out of the NLDS by the Phillies (a series that saw the Reds become just the second team to be no-hit in a postseason game, after Roy Halladay shut them down in Game One). That taste of the postseason gave way to a disappointing 79-83 record in 2011, which led to an aggressive offseason for Jocketty’s front office. Cincinnati added Mat Latos and Sean Marshall that winter, and indeed went on to regain the NL Central crown in 2012 and then reached the playoffs again as a wild card team in 2013.
Needless to say, adding Pujols would have been by far the biggest possible transaction for the Reds, and the signing would’ve had an incredible ripple effect on recent baseball history. The player who would’ve been most notably impacted, of course, is Joey Votto. Aside from six games as a left fielder in his rookie year, Votto has never played anywhere besides first base and (in interleague games) DH in the majors, and a position change would’ve seemingly been unlikely. While Pujols had played a handful of games at third base for St. Louis in 2011, that marked his first action at the hot corner since 2002, so he wasn’t going to be moved away from first base.
The most plausible scenario of a Pujols signing is simply that Votto would have become an enormous trade chip for the Reds. Votto had already established himself as a star, and since he wouldn’t have become a free agent until after the 2013 season, the Reds could have netted a hefty return for his services.
As things turned out, the Reds ended up spending their exact planned investment on Pujols into a new extension for Votto, inking him to a ten-year, $225MM deal covering the 2014-2023 seasons (after Votto’s original three-year deal with Cincinnati was up). This wasn’t the only money the Reds splashed around that spring, as they also extended Brandon Phillips on a six-year, $72.5MM contract.
It’s hard to argue that keeping Votto over Pujols was a bad move for Cincinnati, as Votto has decidedly outhit Pujols over the last nine seasons. There’s even some question as to whether Pujols could have even remained on the field if he had stayed in the National League, as the slugger said his decision to join the Angels “worked out perfect for me….With all of the injuries and everything that happened to me, it was the best-case scenario for me playing in the American League with a DH. It hasn’t been the best years of my career, but I’m still producing.”
Still, it’s worth at least guessing at how a Pujols-in-Cincinnati scenario could have developed. For one, the Reds would’ve had Pujols off their books following the 2021 season, whereas they’re still committed to Votto through 2023 (and Votto’s power numbers have dropped precipitously over the last two seasons). In terms of shorter-term results, who knows if the combination of Pujols and whatever pieces the Reds could have obtained in a hypothetical Votto trade could have put the Reds over the top in 2012 or 2013, though Pujols missed a big chunk of the 2013 season once his foot problems began to worsen.
Of course, who knows — maybe the Pujols-led Reds would’ve lost the 2012 or 2013 World Series to whichever team Votto ended up joining. His availability that winter creates a whole new set of alternate realities, as one can not only look back at the 2011-12 free agent market for teams in need of first basemen, but it’s quite possible that teams without a defined need at first might have changed their plans if Votto was on the table (in the same way that the Reds weren’t seen a suitor at all for Pujols).
Pujols signed with the Angels in early December, so if he signs with the Reds in this fantasy scenario, that gives Cincinnati much of the offseason to market their younger first baseman. Maybe it’s Votto who ends up in an Angels uniform after the Halos missed out on their top free agent choice. The 2011-12 offseason saw the Marlins splurge on Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle and Heath Bell in free agency, so maybe they could’ve decided to augment those free agents with a first baseman in a Votto trade? If Votto is still a Red in late January 2012 when Victor Martinez tears his ACL, would the Tigers have spoken to the Reds about Votto rather than sign Prince Fielder? The possibilities are endless.
Show Me Your Tatis
Why did he care if the Marlins didn’t give him a NTC? For one, he still gets all that money if he is traded. For two, the contract itself is functionally a full NTC.
jdodson1822
Right? After year 5 he would have gotten his 5 and 10 rights. On top of that, if they were trading him that means he was likely moving to a contender (see Stanton)
SheltonMatthews
I think maybe he worried that they wouldn’t be able to move him (in reality that’s probably true) and he would be stuck on a version of the Marlins that looks like it currently does.
Show Me Your Tatis
Not much worse than being stuck on a version of the Angels that looks like it currently does.
qbass187
True that!
Show Me Your Tatis
Would have gotten his 10 and 5 rights the offseason before Stanton was traded.
spinach
Stanton moved to a contender partially because he had a no trade clause. Plenty of non contenders looking to be contenders may have pursed him if not for the ntc.
Lanidrac
Do you really think the Marlins would’ve held onto him for 5 years?
brewcrewbernie
Tell that to Giancarlo Stanton.
hiflew
Maybe he was more concerned with going somewhere that ensured he did not have to uproot his family. The guy already had more money than he needed before this contract, so I am betting money was not as big an issue to him at the time.
Realistically, there is not that much difference between $240 million and $275 million. You aren’t likely to spend that much money in your lifetime and if you do spend that much another $35 million is not likely to be enough to change anything.
Show Me Your Tatis
He wouldn’t have had to uproot his family. Like I said, the contract is functionally a no-trade clause even if he doesn’t have an official no-trade clause cuz no one is going to want to trade for him.
hiflew
They wouldn’t NOW, but they would have in 2012 or 2013 when the Marlins were trading off Reyes and Buerhle.
GeoKaplan
There is a tremendous difference between $275M and $240M, when the former is being paid in Florida and the latter is in California. At least half the games with the Marlins would be in a state with no income tax, and more than half the games with the Angels (including vs Oakland, Dodgers, SF, and SD) would have one of the highest income taxes in the US applied.
So if Pujols was “all about the money” then the Marlins offer was much more than $35M higher. Of course, the devil is always in the details, and we don’t know if the offered contract was heavily deferred (and if so, with or without interest), front- or back-loaded, etc. What we do know was the Marlins organization was a dumpster fire inside a toxic dump, and Loria was known to be a flaky owner. My guess is the reputation of the Marlins organization couldn’t be papered over by tens of millions of dollars.
scarfish
Gonna tell the next band I’m producing they need to title their record ‘the devil is in the details’
DerekBellsMoistMoustache
Saigon Kick would like a word
scarfish
Incredible you’d mention that band. I actually interned at Jason Bieler’s label/studio many years ago.
EndinStealth
Sure
scarfish
Haha the typical ‘sure’ doubt thing…..It was a very fun experience for sure.
SalaryCapMyth
The Marlins still could have traded Pujols after year 4 if they didnt feel the contract was working out for them. Giancarlo Stanton knows all about that.
walls17
They found a way to move the Reyes and Mark Buerhle (sp? I don’t think I ever typed his name before lol) after one year. Pujols still would have had shine after that first season and teams then were less reluctant about long contracts back then
EndinStealth
It’s simple. Not every player is willing to play for every team. If he was traded he might have gone to a team he didn’t want to.
Kayrall
I think pujols just likes the color red.
dalealvingribble
More accurately he likes the color green. Thanks to The Los Angeles Angels. He’ll never have to worry about not having green on St. Patrick’s Day even though they are the ones that got pinched.
yamsi1912
Edgy.
gmenfan
Dodged that bullet.
losrojos
Exact same words came to my mind.
everlastingdave
Love these alternate history pieces, although signing Pujols and then trying to get full value for Votto would have been crazy ambitious for the Reds.
Ejemp2006
At that time teams still paid big for sluggers. Votto would have yielded a farm of goods.
walls17
He didn’t have the big contract then. It was only after Pujols turned them down they signed him to the mega deal. They would have gotten good pieces for Votto
qbert1996
I dont buy it. So the Reds had a rising star at the time in Votto yet they were going to spend over 220 million dollars to bring in Pujols? Why would they bring Pujols in just to potentially trade Votto? At this point i find anything Bob Nightengale writes to be suspect.
Ejemp2006
Maybe they make signings that don’t have sense. Not new. Phillies and Santana. Prince and Tigers. Big money to fill position already well held down by big skill.
But I have agreeing. Nightengale has my suspicions. A lot!
Down with OBP
Especially when he quotes the GM at the time that makes me more suspicious. Like, can’t you find at least one anonymous source?
hiflew
Between the facts that Jocketty was in charge, the Reds were a team on the rise that year, and most importantly the Reds had seen Pujols absolutely destroy them for a decade, so why wouldn’t they consider adding him.
martyfan
First as a Reds fan let me just say WHEW!
Second, Jocketty was always fascinated reuniting with former Cardinal players in Cincinnati.
I’ve always liked Pujols but I am so glad this didn’t happen. I’m also a fan of Phillips but hated that the reds signed him to the extension they did.
Thank God this is nothing more than a “what might have been”
Down with OBP
Especially dubious since Nightengale gets a quote from the then Reds’ “GM” saying they “thought” they were “going” to “get” him. What could that even mean?
jorge78
They thought he was going to sign with them?
mattcubs
Down with OBP — No doubt. Too bad they couldn’t get someone close to the situation at the time to comment on this. Instead, they settled for the then general manager.
jessethegreat 2
You cannot discount a position shift for either player IMO. ARod made the switch to 3B when he joined the Yankees. Thome went from 3B when Williams joined the Indians.
Coming off 1B and moving to say LF isn’t as easy as going to 1B (that’s why you try to hide older players who’ve lost a step at first), but in order to make the team around them better at scoring runs it can still be an option.
Lastly, if an NL team were stuck with two all silver sluggers that couldn’t play the field we may see more of a push, at least from that team, to a DH option in the NL.
iverbure
Pujols is a perfect example of why you don’t sign free agents at all. Pujols is a perfect example of why GMs don’t want to sign free agents now. But keep up with the collusion narratives. No need to ever sign any free agent for more than a year.
kenleyfornia2
Jeez dude not every free agent asks for a 10 year deal. The idea of only ever signing a free agent to a 1 year deal should be considered collison itself.
SalaryCapMyth
Who’s keeping up the collusion narative? I haven’t read anything about it since before the start of the season. You’re answering the question nobody asked.
hiflew
Nothing should be considered collison except the guy that used to play for the Thunder. And no, it’s not collusion either.
SalaryCapMyth
Angels fans, go ahead and imagine what could have been if the Angels didnt sign Pujols. What could the Angels have done with the money?
Wow. Cincinnati fans, imagine being sattled with a 10 year 225 million unproductive contract? Guess you dodged that bullet…oh wait.
martyfan
The trend was to sign long term deals. Walt took full advantage of that by signing Votto, which has worked out fine and also Homer Bailey which didn’t work out well.
Blue_Painted_Dreams_LA
Pujols was signed for the main fact that they wanted a lucrative TV contract, which they received. Let’s not pretend by any means that the contract was a crippling to the Angels.
Nick Stevens
Every team involved made ridiculous offers to a then 35 year old. Pujols had nowhere to go but down. He had one of the greatest 11 year starts to a career, and now one of the worst to finish a career.
jorge78
He wasn’t 35 then. His first year with the Angels
he was 32.
Nick Stevens
And you believe that was his “real” age?
Polish Hammer
Fearful of the Marlins being the Marlins…AAAA Florida League
Nick Stevens
And those minor league Marlins just split a 4 game series in STL against the “powerful” Cardinals
batty
Powerful Cardinals? lolololol
mike127
@ batty—-I’m pretty sure the quotation marks around powerful was Nick’s way of telling us the Cardinals aren’t powerful.
Nick Stevens
Exactly
TradeBait
Never, ever do what the Angels did with Pujols, the Reds did with Votto, and the Phils did with Harper. Those are albatross contracts. Never go past 5-6 years even for the most proven young star. Flexibility with your roster talent is key. Humans break down and become drains on energy, team performance, emotions, and money. The key is to make trades at the highest point of “perceived” performance and stardom using the greater fool theory. That’s how you keep a roster stocked with talent that is not dependent on development from the farm.
JFactor
The Pujols deal is incredibly different from the Harper deal because of the age of the players when they expire.
Pujols will be finishing his age 41 season when his deal expires and making $30M
Harper will be finishing his age 38 season when his deal expires and making $23M, and this is in over a decade from now.
You can’t really compare the two. Harper signed at 26, when players are usually entering their primes. Pujols signed at 32, when players are leaving it.
its_happening
Pujols signs with Cincy, Reds dangle Votto, Blue Jays take the bait and trade Adam Lind to another team to open 1B for the hometown guy plus be reunited with his buddy Edwin Encarnacion. Votto and Blue Jays rumors started right around that time. AA had the trade chips by that point and used them months later for JA Happ, followed by Reyes, Buehrle and company, then RA Dickey.
Sideline Redwine
Dodged a bullet there! He would not have contributed near the level of Votto, *and* they would still be stuck w him.
angelsfan4life
I can’t help but to laugh. Some people actually think Pujols numbers would be the same as they are now, if he had signed with the Reds. Seriously? Pujols would have over 700 homers by now, if he had chosen the Reds instead. Look at the difference between Cozart and Frazier’s numbers with the Reds, then look at them since. The Reds play in a ban box. A pop out at Angels stadium, is a homer in Cincinnati
iceman35pilot
Dusty Baker was their manager at the time, so whatever fantasy alternate reality we’re talking about regarding Pujols/Votto, it wouldn’t have resulted in a WS appearance.