Anyone else hear LeBatard today? They had just had Samson on and Dan and Stugotz were arguing about giving 9 years to Pujols. Dan said that a lot of baseball people believe Pujols is older than 31.

Nah, Ranger won't out bet us.

Anyone else hear LeBatard today? They had just had Samson on and Dan and Stugotz were arguing about giving 9 years to Pujols. Dan said that a lot of baseball people believe Pujols is older than 31.

 

 

Dan asked him if they were willing to spend 100M+ on payroll this year... he said unlikely. So don't get your hopes up guys.

@SI_JonHeyman Jon Heyman

 

As @TBrownYahoo said, #marlins offer to pujols was 9 yrs. However, it's believed well below #cardinals pre-year bid

 

 

 

 

what the sh*t? why did the Marlins even offer him a deal then? now I'm just angry.

I've been speculating all along that the Marlins' offer is nowhere close to what the Cardinals have on the table.

 

The Marlins offseason is certainly not all one big PR move, but I think the Pujols rumors are. The Marlins want Pujols but can't make a competitive offer and are trying to close the money gap with things like the new ballpark, city of Miami, and Ozzie Guillen. They know they aren't going to get him, but all the buzz it creates will help energize the fans and other potential free agents.

 

I do believe they are more serious when it comes to Buehrle and Reyes, however.

If im a player miami would be at the top of my list. The weather, beaches, lifestyle, new ballpark, taxes, and a bunch of other perks...hard to beat.

 

Yup. All good points.

 

In particular, playing in a state with no income tax is worth, on average, somewhere between 3 and 3.4% of your gross income. Say about 320K on 10 million. Nothing to sneeze at. If you're Pujols at 30 million, it's worth about a million or so.

 

Every single tax jurisdiction with an income tax that you play in wants their piece of your hide. The average top rates (which MLB players obviously pay in almost all cases, often even for only one 3-game series) in the 14 states (plus DC and Ontario) are an average of 6% (unweighted) and 6.8% (weighted for number of teams):

 

AZ 4.5%

CA 9.3% 5 teams

CO 4.6%

GA 6.0% (Uggla discovered that 12 mill gross in GA is worth less than 12 mill gross in FL) :lol

IL 5.0% 2 teams

MA 5.3%

MD 5.5%

MI 4.4%

MN 7.9% (There's a very good reason I moved out of that piece-of-crap state over 30 years ago)

MO 6.0% 2 teams

NY 9.0% 2 teams

OH 5.9% 2 teams

PA 3.1% 2 teams

WI 7.8%

DC 8.5%

Toronto 11.2%

 

The tax penalty is at least 4.5% for 8 of 30 teams. Ouch! That's a LOT of money being extracted from MLB fans to pay state income taxes. Fans in CA, NY and Toronto deserve a bit of sympathy.

 

The deductibility of state income taxes paid on their federal return moderates this somewhat, but it's still a big deal, and for the vast majority of players the federal alternative minimum tax (wipes out most deductions at higher income levels) negates any moderation at all.

 

While every player has to pay someone to figure out how many days he spent in each tax jurisdiction and most player tax packages ready for filing look like a damned telephone directory requiring about a billion signatures (I'm having flashbacks to my 1980 tax returns,) ONLY the Rangers, Astros, Mariners, Rays and Marlins can offer employment with zero state income tax on compensation for home games, which comprises half of income (baseball, anyway) for most players.

 

Our lack of a state income tax is a VERY nice benefit and incentive to any player who is paying any attention at all. Doesn't cost Loria a dime. Beaches and the weather and all the rest are great, but Florida's tax structure puts extra money directly into their pocket if they come here.

I mean giving Pujols 9 years.... year 7, 8, 9 you know he's going to fall off quite a bit. That's a guy at 38, 39, and 40. (math skill ftw). I don't care who you are, those are very likely not going to be good productive years. On the other hand, a mediocre Pujols is probably still at least a good player, even a bad Pujols is probably an average ML'er. Chipper Jones put up pretty respectable numbers over the last 3 years at 37-39, & Bonds of course, so it is possible... Just have to weigh what you're getting in the first half of the contract, which should still be one of the best hitters ever to play baseball, with the diminishing skills of the latter years of the deal. I don't know if Loria can do it but it will be interesting.

I was listening to the radio last night and Dari Nowkhah from ESPN said something like "Albert Pujols in Miami sounds good on paper, but do you really think they're going to fill that new stadium in Miami every night? We're talking about a city that can't even fill the Heat's arena. When it's all said and done, does Albert want to be playing in front of 15,000 people in Miami?"

 

We just can't catch a break.

Since when do the HEAT have a tough time filling AAA?

Yeah, I was wondering if there was any truth to that. I don't follow the NBA at all, but I'd imagine that if the Heat can't sell out regularly then South Florida doesn't deserve to have any professional sports teams.

Since when do the HEAT have a tough time filling AAA?

 

 

He was referencing the fact that throughout the season and even in the playoffs the AAA would not be filled until halftime

Since when do the HEAT have a tough time filling AAA?

 

 

He was referencing the fact that throughout the season and even in the playoffs the AAA would not be filled until halftime

 

From personal experience, I think that has more to do with the downtown traffic than the fanbase...

Since when do the HEAT have a tough time filling AAA?

 

 

He was referencing the fact that throughout the season and even in the playoffs the AAA would not be filled until halftime

 

From personal experience, I think that has more to do with the downtown traffic than the fanbase...

I went to a bunch of playoff games.

Since when do the HEAT have a tough time filling AAA?

 

 

He was referencing the fact that throughout the season and even in the playoffs the AAA would not be filled until halftime

 

From personal experience, I think that has more to do with the downtown traffic than the fanbase...

I went to a bunch of playoff games. It doesnt take that long to park in a random lot and walk over.

 

Being a top salesman for Kia (official car of the NBA) I had the luxury of going to quite a few games in their box this year, with that came a parking pass. It may actually be easier to park in a garage 1/2 a mile away, because the traffic leading into the Arena itself is a nightmare.

I had a dream that the deal was confirmed... Pujols was a Cub.

Albert Pujols will not sign with the Marlins. Never. Gonna. Happen.

 

Jose, Jose, Jose, Jose...

Albert Pujols will not sign with the Marlins. Never. Gonna. Happen.

 

Jose, Jose, Jose, Jose...

 

I agree, it will be a miracle if we get Reyes, Sorry...I just dont trust the Marlins management

@SI_JonHeyman Jon Heyman

 

Continue to hear, based on their bid, #marlins not a serious player for albert pujols. Agent has restarted talks w/ cards

59 minutes ago via Mobile Web

@SI_JonHeyman Jon Heyman

 

Continue to hear, based on their bid, #marlins not a serious player for albert pujols. Agent has restarted talks w/ cards

59 minutes ago via Mobile Web

 

 

Nuh uh! We're dead serious!

Ultimately I'll be stunned if the Cards don't keep him.

I agree.. although the longer he holds off the more he's surprising me.

Ultimately I'll be stunned if the Cards don't keep him.

 

That's where I am right now. I really don't see him going to the Cubs, either.

I bet the Marlins offered him something like 9/$150 million and were either naive in thinking that the intangibles (Miami, stadium, Ozzie) would fill in the huge gap in money or they really just were looking for the publicity.

I kinda feel it was more like 9/170 or 9/180 and sources are overblowing the whole "way under 200" thing. But that's just a gut feeling.

I think taking unnamed sources as gospel is kind of silly. I know it's what we do during the offseason, but lets not go crazy about the things we've heard as hearsay.