Asked Thursday whether there must be something about this hotel that inspired monstrous contracts, Alderson quipped: "There must be a strain of Legionnaires' disease here."
"Maybe 'Anatole' means 'U.S. Mint' in another language," joked another GM who wished to remain nameless.
But for the sport of baseball, this was no joking matter. The Angels are a different franchise now than they were a week ago. They have tied themselves to the face, the bat and the aura of the Best Player in Baseball -- for the next decade, anyway. And we'll never be able to view them quite the same way again, no matter how this turns out.
The immediate reaction of the masses will be to torch this decision -- based solely on the completely sensible premise that it's absurd to believe that a 10-year contract for any player in his early 30s is a good idea.
But that isn't how the Angels view this. For them, this is more than merely a baseball contract. This is a decision based not just on what Pujols is about to do for them on the field. It's also based on what he's about to do for the franchise.
"There's no question that branding comes into play," said Alderson, who worked in the commissioner's office sorting through deals like this in a previous professional incarnation. "There's no question that the television dynamic is probably a factor."
So to think that any other player -- whether it's Prince Fielder today or Bryce Harper in 2017 -- can take this contract and use it to rake in a quarter-billion dollars of his own is missing the point. This isn't just any player. It's Albert Pujols.
"Deals of this length and this magnitude are extremely rare for a reason," one National League executive said. "There's only one Albert Pujols. He's the best player of his generation. When you do any contract, you're always looking for comparables. Well, who's comparable to him? There are only a handful of guys who have ever played who are comparable to Albert Pujols."
And that's what the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim were buying here -- not merely a first baseman, not merely a No. 3 hitter, but a legend who alters everything about them.
Was that worth $250 million? We're about to find out.
Jayson Stark is a senior writer for ESPN.com. His latest book, "Worth The Wait: Tales of the 2008 Phillies," was published by Triumph Books and is available in a new paperback edition, in bookstores and online. Click here to order a copy.
