I spent my day binge watching “The Ranch” and roasting bratwurst in my fire pit, so imagine my surprise and momentary disbelief when I heard the WS champion Dodgers have agreed to sign Albert Pujols. I thought why on earth would they do that? He’s only useful against lefties. Then I realized the Dodgers as a team have a .663 OPS against lefties. It’s over 130 points lower than against righties. He’s hitting lefties better than that (.878). He’s probably going to be mostly a pinch hitter and veteran presence in the clubhouse… but don’t be surprised to see him platooning at first with Muncy sometimes sliding over to third to rest Turner too.
Meanwhile, the Dodgers also dealt with the Rays for Yoshimoto Tsutsugo for either cash or the ever popular PTBNL. The Dodgers have Ben hit by the injury bug, and Tsutsugo is very versatile defensively, pretty much able to play anywhere outside of pitcher and catcher. Of course, he’s been hitting below the Mendoza Line ever since arriving from Japan (.167 this year so far). The Rays also shipped Hunter Strickland to the Angels in another cash or PTBNL move.
Fan Interference 
Forget it, Jake. It’s Tinseltown.
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Why the hell couldn’t he have come here instead? We could use a little tinsel.
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With the dome gone, he’d be pretty useless to you. Have you seen his numbers for the past two or three years? The guy had his heyday; now he’s toast. It’s been all downhill since he accepted that cockamamie “family award” from Sarah Palin.
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Economically, Albert has been a bad deal for the Angels. In the economics of baseball, they could not let him go, because somebody else might get some use out of him while Los Angeles of Anaheim footed the bill. BUT. And it’s a big BUT, the Angeles have promoted the hell out of Pujols’ historic greatness for years (while ignoring the fact that that greatness occurred in another league representing another city). Trout posters hanging from 20 foot high street light poles all get stolen, so Pujols was the most prominent display for the last several years along State College Blvd. I have no doubt that the Angels asked him to sit down and become a pinch hitter, and Albert refused. What will they get from this sad end to the relationship? Derision, I would think. In the era of farewell tours and rocking chair gifts from opposing teams Pujols gets the door closed and the lock changed (and thirty million dollars).
The Angels were idiots to ever sign him for the price they paid. The team has worn that crown of stupidity for a decade. Now they have emphasized and expanded their idiocy. The Angels have insulted the player and the icon, and in exchange they MIGHT be able to finish third instead of fourth. It’s sheer hypocrisy.
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…and now Trout’s out 6-8 weeks with a leg injury.
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