Tag: Albert Pujols (Page 5 of 14)

      Why is it again that Pujols and the Cards can’t work out an extension during the season?

      February 16, 2011 /
      St. Louis Cardinals Albert Pujols has fun with Yadier Molina (L) and Pedro Feliz (R) in the dugout in the fifth inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Busch Stadium in St. Louis on September 27, 2010. UPI/Bill Greenblatt

      It’s kind of ironic that Albert Pujols’ camp didn’t want the superstar’s contract situation to become a distraction because that’s exactly what it’s become.

      Wednesday’s Noon deadline came and went without Pujols and the Cardinals agreeing to a new contract. As it stands now, the slugger will head into the 2012 offseason as a free agent and the Cards will just have to hope another team doesn’t whisk him away before they have another chance to re-sign him. (If they even want to re-sign him, that is. It sounds like the club has no plans of meeting Pujols’ 10-year, $275 million-plus demands.)

      But what’s unclear to me is why the discussions have to cease. I think it’s admirable that Pujols doesn’t want his personal situation to become a distraction to his teammates, but that’s out of his hands. Does anyone think that the media in St. Louis isn’t going to ask him about his future plans just because his deadline passed? Does he think the media in New York, Chicago or L.A. won’t poke and prod him every night when the Cardinals play the Mets, Cubs and Dodgers on the road?

      Sorry Albert, but your situation will be a distraction whether you like it or not. So you might as well let your camp continue discussing dollar amounts with the team over these next couple of months. At least then you can say, “Hey, my agent is working on it. I’m staying out of it.” That sounds a heck of a lot better than, “I’m going to body slam the next sum bitch that says the word contract.” (What, that doesn’t sound like Pujols?)

      I think everyone needs to use common sense here. Albert has stated that he wants to stay in St. Louis and you know the Cardinals don’t want to lose him. So if the main objective is to keep him in the Lou, then the two sides might as well keep the lines of communication open throughout the season. Again, it’s not realistic to think that everyone will fall hush over these next couple of months just because Pujols’ deadline passed on Wednesday. He’s baseball’s best player and this story is the biggest in baseball. Who knows, maybe if the two sides keep talking, they’ll eventually settle on something and everyone can put this mess behind them.

      External Sports, MLB

      La Russa: MLBPA forcing Pujols to ask for a record-setting contract

      February 15, 2011 /
      St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa speaks to reporters before a game against the Chicago Cubs at Busch Stadium in St. Louis on August 13, 2010. La Russa who was given a two game suspension for his part in a bench clearing brawl during a game against the Cincinnati Reds in Cincinnati last week, will not manage the next two games. UPI/Bill Greenblatt

      Tony La Russa doesn’t believe that Albert Pujols is all about the money. He thinks it’s that damn Major League Baseball Players Association that is making Albert Pujols be all about the money.

      From ESPN.com:

      St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said Tuesday that he believes the Major League Baseball Players Association is attempting to “beat up” Albert Pujols and his agent in an attempt to get Pujols to sign a record-setting contract.

      And that, La Russa said emphatically, “is bull—-. That’s not the way it should be.”

      “I’m not saying that if I was a union representative I would do it differently,” the manager said. “I’m just saying I think it diminishes the other factors that a player looks at. … I think each negotiation should be based on what’s the best decision — taking everything into account, not taking one thing into account.”

      But because the union sees Pujols as a player who can raise the salary bar, he’s under more pressure than your average player, La Russa said.

      This sort of pressure has gone on for years, with many high-profile players, La Russa went on. But in Pujols’ case, he said, this was “not just arm-twisting. It’s dropping an anvil on your back through the roof of your house.”

      La Russa said he had no specific evidence that Pujols was being pressured by the players union. But he said his many years in the game have made that “a guaranteed assumption. It’s gone on since I started managing. And I don’t think they’d deny it.”

      I think the first sentence in that last paragraph sums up this situation nicely: La Russa has no evidence that the players union is pressuring Pujols.

      Who knows, maybe La Russa is right and the union is pressuring players to get the most they can. But it’s not a stretch to think that the players and agents want to soak every last penny out of teams. Why wouldn’t they? If they’re lucky, players are able to land one, maybe two big contracts throughout their playing career, so you better believe they’re going to stretch the dollar amount as big as possible.

      Besides, I don’t really see a benefit for the union to demand that players ask for as much money as possible. There’s already a natural order to the way contracts are done now. Player A makes X amount in 2010, then Player B makes a little more than what Player A made in 2011. Player C then makes a little more than Player B and the cycle never stops.

      The union already has what it wants, so there’s no real need to put pressure on players. I think La Russa has just grown frustrated that this Pujols contract situation hasn’t been resolved and the players are set to report to spring training.

      External Sports, MLB

      Report: Pujols rejects Cardinals’ latest offer

      February 14, 2011 /
      St. Louis Cardinals Albert Pujols slaps his hands as he flies out, scoring a run in the first inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Busch Stadium in St. Louis on September 3, 2010. Pujols went hitless as St. Louis breaks a five game losing streak with a 3-2. UPI/Bill Greenblatt

      According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, Albert Pujols rejected a recent contract offer by the Cardinals and is ready to cease all talks about a new deal until after the World Series.

      Pujols, trying to avoid distractions, has no intention of addressing the contract talks when he reports Wednesday to the Cardinals’ spring-training camp in Jupiter, Fla. Manager Tony La Russa told reporters Sunday he will also encourage his players to avoid the issue.

      “This is a spectacular distraction potentially,” La Russa said. “We won’t allow it to be.”

      Even if Pujols continues his silence about his future, it won’t squelch the firestorm that has already been created in St. Louis. Newspaper columnists are picking sides. The phrase “#Albertageddon” is gaining popularity on Twitter. And a Web site — albertcountdown.com — is counting down to when he arrives at spring training and terminates negotiations.

      “I read that he’s looking for $30 million a year, and I just can’t see how that’s going to happen,” said Andy MacPhail, Baltimore Orioles president of baseball operations, during a Q&A at the Baltimore School of Law Sports Symposium.

      He may get $30 million a year but it probably won’t come from the Cardinals. As I’ve wrote for the past couple of weeks, St. Louis’ payroll usually never tops $100 million so it seems unlikely that the club would give one player $275 million over the span of 10 years. (Even if that player is Albert Pujols.)

      I don’t think the Cards ever intended to give Pujols a new deal by his spring training deadline. They need more time to figure out what they’re going to do and they’ll be given that time when the season begins. But in the end, they’re still going to have to make a decision. Either pay the best player in the game what he wants or watch him walk out the door.

      External Sports, MLB

      Report: Cardinals, Pujols have no chance to sign deal before deadline

      February 10, 2011 /
      St. Louis Cardinals Albert Pujols stands as members of the team assemble for the team photo shoot before a game against the San Diego Padres at Busch Stadium in St. Louis on September 17, 2010. UPI/Bill Greenblatt

      Jon Heyman decided to ruin Cardinals fans’ day with this little nugget of information via his Twitter:

      word is, albert pujols and #cardinals are so far apart there is virtually no chance for a deal by his feb. 16 deadline

      This isn’t surprising news. The Cardinals are clearly dragging their feet in hopes that Pujols will slip, fall, hit his head and wake up wanting to take less than $275 million over 10 years. But Pujols’ camp has already stated that his previous contract was at a discounted rate and now the slugger wants to get paaaaaid.

      Pujols wants contract talks to halt once he shows up for spring training on February 16, so this is shaping up to be the distraction of the season. He won’t want to talk about becoming a free agent in 2012, but the media will be relentless with their questioning throughout the season. Are you still talking to the Cardinals about a contract extension? Do you want to play in St. Louis? Have you given any thought to where you’d like to play next season? Will you become a Yankee?

      Ugh. I’m already dizzy just thinking about it.

      Of course, the bottom line is that the Cardinals do have him under contract for one more year. So his deadline of February 16 is rather moot. Things could change rather quickly and if the Cards and Pujols can come to some sort of a comprise during the year, then great. Just because the Feb. 16 deadline comes and goes doesn’t mean that the slugger is destined to become a free agent at the end of the year. Granted, things don’t look good now but you never know what will happen three months from now.

      External Sports, MLB

      Cardinals have yet to make a contract offer to Albert Pujols

      February 9, 2011 /
      St. Louis Cardinals Albert Pujols swings for a solo home run against the Chicago Cubs in the first inning at Busch Stadium in St. Louis on August 13, 2010. UPI/Bill Greenblatt

      Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports writes that the Cardinals have not made an offer to Albert Pujols yet.

      All indications suggest that Pujols and the team that drafted him a dozen years ago are not close to an agreement, and that eight days won’t be time enough to negotiate and consummate not only the richest contract in club history, but possibly the richest in the history of the game. As of the weekend, the Cardinals hadn’t made a concrete offer.

      In calculations using metrics of player comparison, estimated production and age curves, hardballtimes.com valued Pujols as high as $275 million over 10 years (almost exactly A-Rod money), fangraphs.com put his value at $267 million over 10 years, and sabernomics.com – factoring in the normal increases in player salaries and league revenues – came in at $350 million over eight years.

      Businessinsider.com, which determined Pujols – given his production – was underpaid by as much as $130 million over the life of his current contract, said Pujols’ next eight seasons would be worth as much as $240 million.

      To me, there’s no debate over whether or not Pujols deserves the money. As the best player in baseball, he should be paid in the A-Rod range.

      But it’s not hard to see where the Cardinals are coming from here. What if Pujols’ production declines sooner rather than later? What if they aren’t able to build a competitive roster around him? Their team payroll often doesn’t exceed $100 million and now they’re going to pay one player nearly $300 million? They’re in a tough spot.

      That said, it’s nearing that time where St. Louis either has to sh*t or get off the pot. They’re hoping that Pujols (who wants to stay in St. Louis) will eventually accept a discount, but his camp seems unwilling to budge on their demands.

      External Sports, MLB

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