BY ROSE PALMISANO, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, BY MARK WHICKER, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
No, you can't put ALBERT PUJOLS in the free agent Hall of Shame, not yet anyway. But he did wait until May 6 before he dellivered his first home run for the Angels, and his vaunted presence in the middle of the lineup hasn't exactly rippled. The troubling thing for the Angels is that they knew the end of Pujols' 10-year deal would produce some buyers' remorse. But 2012 is supposed to be the year of peak return.
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Baseball's free agent train wrecks
Baseball's free agent train wrecks
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Published: May 7, 2012 Updated: 6:06 p.m.
Free agency was legitimized in 1977 when Reggie Jackson powered the Yankees to a World Series championship after becoming one of the first open-market millionaires.
It's been a mixed bag ever since.
Yes, Barry Bonds rewarded the Giants many times over, and Vladimir Guerrero was an expensive but very good deal for the Angels. Greg Maddux gave the Braves no reason to resent their investment in him.
But the flip side can be brutal.
Here are just a few of baseball's free agent disasters. Note that we're not including players who signed contracts with the teams they were on, or players who came directly from Japan (i.e., Daisuke Matsuzaka) before making at least one big-league stop.
