Seriously, though, it’s simultaneously enjoyable but frustrating to see Angel Nation finally coming around to the realization that most of us were well aware of 18 months ago.

You probably already know and understand this, but no one outside of Anaheim will have the slightest bit of sympathy for Angels fans as their team continues to slide further and further into irrelevance and possibly face another 6-8 years of futility. Your owner has thrown around millions of dollars like they were $5 poker chips trying to “make a statement” to the rest of baseball and “show up” all the other owners. Well over 90% of the Angel fanbase the past two preseasons engaged in non-stop chest-thumping about how their team was “elite” and a definitive WS contender (btw, where’s Paris been? haven’t seen hide nor hair of him in weeks). Angels fans with all that pent up hubris mouthed off and denigrated division rivals like Texas and Oakland while making their pre-emptive declarations of greatness. They smeared and denigrated the Cardinals fanbase as being “butt-hurt,” “bitter,” etc. over Pujols. But it’s clear now more than ever that this franchise and its fans are the ones wallowing in ignorance and incompetence. This organization has become the most shameful and despised in all of baseball.

As the saying goes, you reap what you sow. Oh, by the way, you don’t have just 8.7 years of Pujols. You have closer to 18.7 when you consider the “personal services” portion of his contract. I sincerely hope you enjoy every last bit of him, and I do hope that after paying him a quarter billion dollars after a decade of failure that you can smile and just remember how butt-hurt and bitter the Cardinals and all those other teams were to have missed out on signing him back in the 2011/12 offseason.

- Absolutely mind boggling statement….and really gets to the heart of all the problems surrounding this team. It’s like a guy playing blackjack and complaining about the bad cards he’s dealt. It’s not the cards…it’s the fact that he’s playing blackjack. When the team is ready to win the right way – through hard work, scouting, drafting, not signing the big bats, keeping draft picks…we might see different results.

Example: The Yankees signing CC Sabathia prior to the 2009 season gave them a front-of-the-rotation starter that helped catapult them to a World Series.

Generally, long-term contracts fail if you look at them in a vacuum. The ones that work are the ones that allow a good team to be a great team, even if it’s just for a short time.

Here-Here!

Well put. I’m no Scioscia apologist, although I think he brings a lot more to the table than he takes off. I just wish some of the commenters on this site would grab hold of reality and look around at what the successful teams in MLB are doing….hint: it’s different that what the Angels are doing.

Find the next Hamilton, Pujols, etc. etc…don’t sign them once they’ve already maxed out their best years….