A Little Part of Me Died Earlier Today
Posted by Adam Butler on February 16, 2011
Say it Ain't So, Jo(se) Albert Pujols
when Albert Pujols and the St. Louis Cardinals failed to reach an agreement in advance of Pujols’ artificial 11 a.m. deadline.
This all but guarantees Pujols’ will reach the free agent market next winter, and some billionaire that DOESN’T own my Cardinals will fire off an astronomical bid and lure Pujols away from The Gateway City.
I previously thought Pujols’ would not pull a Lebron, but considering that the stubbling block seems to be that the Cardinals are unwilling to guarantees years 8,9, and 10 at $30 million per, when Pujols will be approaching, and then passing his 40th birthday, and would have already banked well over $300 million in his career in baseball salary alone by 2020, I am not so sure.
But, at least this won’t be a distraction for the 2011 Cardinals.
4 Responses to “A Little Part of Me Died Earlier Today”
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
The Blog Hawgs 
Brett Kincaid said
I’m glad you wrote that last line. This will be an ENORMOUS distraction during the season. Every city the Cards visit becomes a potential home for Albert (Well, probably not Pittsburgh). That bogus deadline and its excuse stunk from the jump.
I know Cardinals fans all over will be upset about this. It’s hard not to be. I think AB is right; Pujols is almost guaranteed to leave St. Louis. That being said, the Cardinals did the right baseball thing. Teams should never let players hold them ransom. Waiting for a good deal is one thing; steadfastly demanding a record-breaking deal is completely different.
In the end the Cardinals organization will likely be better by not meeting AP’s demands. With Boston and New York (both teams) out of the bidding, the market may not be as warm to a long-term contract for a 30-year-old slugger as Albert thinks. So now St. Louis will either get AP at a better deal for the team, or they will be free to spend that money on multiple parts to make the team better. And they’ll get a draft pick from whomever signs Albert. For the long-term health of the club, I think St. Louis management played it right.
Adam Butler said
I think they’d get 2 1st round sandwhich picks. Brain would know.
The issue that I have with it is that for the last few years AP has said he wants to remain a Card for life as long as they make a good offer, and work to remain competitive.
Sooooo, they overpaid for Holliday, they locked Wainwright up well in advance of when they had to (although they now have him for a relative bargain), they’ve rolled the dice with Carpenter to mixed results, they overpaid for Fat Elvis, they traded Ryan (who annoyed AP) and, they apparently made AP one of the best offers in baseball history and he seems to have dismissed it out of hand.
I think either Arty Moreno (Angels Owner always looking to make a splash) or the new Cubs ownership (also needing to make a splash and send out a 100-yr-in-waiting eff you to the Cardinals) will play ball and go 10 years, 300 mill.
It’s just disappointing. I only think it’s Lebronish if he picks the Cubs, and their offer isn’t that much better than the Cardinals’ and he pulls a “The Decision”.
If all that happens, there will be a (ok, another) black spot in my heart.
Tweets that mention A Little Part of Me Died Earlier Today « The Blog Hawgs -- Topsy.com said
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Brett Kincaid, Blog Hawgs. Blog Hawgs said: A Little Part of Me Died Earlier Today. http://fb.me/S0gSc7Af […]
Jeff said
Albert is at least taking the high road:
http://bit.ly/fSINcm