I agree, really the Cardinals are better off not paying that salary. Had he accepted a few million less in St. Louis and retired from the team he would have achieved a status in team lore which would have been up there among the best. Not Stan status, but certainly in the top few. Consider how Derek Jeter was revered by fan and foe alike as he retired after being a Yankee his entire career, Albert may or may not see the same kind of send-off. His batting average since moving to the Angels is .278 as compared with .328 with the Cardinals. There is no way to say what might have been different had he stayed with the Cardinals but a 50 point drop is fairly significant.
I have been a Cardinal fan my entire life and have had season tickets since 1983. There is some speculation that Albert is a bit older than his stated age. I asked Mike Matheny how old he thought Albert is during the 2011 off season and while he did not directly say he thought he was older, he did say "let's just say I have not seen a body like that on a 31 year old".
As far as his performance this year, it was pointed out to me in September, by Red Schoendienst that the averages were down across Major League baseball this year so he thought a .270'ish average wasn't all that bad relative to how all the Major League hitters fared this year. I don't wish him any bad fortune but I do think the Cardinals decision to let him go has been somewhat vindicated.
If anyone watches the game tonight I'll be the guy sitting in front of Magic Johnson. As long as Magic is sitting in the same seat he did last year.
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