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Will Albert Pujols Get A-Rod Money In 2012?

Published by MoonDog on July 6, 2009

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When the St. Louis Cardinals signed Albert Pujols to a seven-year, $100 million deal in February 2004, he became only the ninth Major League Baseball player to receive a contract worth $100 million or more.

Ironically, Pujols had been scheduled for an arbitration hearing in Phoenix the same day the deal was announced.

With a club option in 2011, Pujols’ deal could be worth $111 million, a bargain by today’s standards for a player of his stature.

When Alex Rodriguez signed his 10-year, $252 million deal with the Texas Rangers prior to the 2001 season, it was the richest contract in the history of American professional sports.

At twenty-five years of age, Rodriguez had completed his sixth full season in the majors and eighth overall, compiling impressive statistics with a .290 batting average, 241 HR’s, 730 RBI’s and 1167 hits.

Conversely, after his eighth season in the majors, Pujols had even more impressive numbers, with a career batting average of .335, 319 HR’s, 977 RBI’s and 1531 hits.

When Rodriguez completed his 11th big league season in 2004, he had a career batting average of .292 with 381 HR’s, 1096 RBI’s and 1707 hits.

Midway through his ninth season, Pujols has a .336 batting average, 350 HR’s, 1059 RBI’s and 1625 hits.

Suffice it to say, Pujols will shatter the numbers Rodriguez put up through 11 seasons when his current deal is completed in 2011.

Prior to the 2007 season, Rodriguez signed a new 10-year, $275 million deal with the Yankees. The contract has incentives that include earning him millions more if he breaks the all-time home run record as a Yankee.

Pujols will be 32 years old when the 2012 season begins, and it’s possible he could play at least another seven years while producing respectable numbers.

The question is, since Pujols will have generated substantially better numbers than Rodriguez after 11 seasons, will he get a contract that exceeds A-Rod’s current deal?

On the surface, the answer would appear to be yes. It’s nearly a given Pujols could be offered at least $30 million per year by one of the bigger market clubs.

Realistically, there are only so many teams that can afford that type of deal, namely the Yankees, Mets, Dodgers, Angels, Cubs and Red Sox with an outside chance the Tigers and Phillies could join in the Pujols sweepstakes.

While the Cardinals would love to figure out a way to keep Pujols in St. Louis for the remainder of his career, more than likely the club won’t be in a position to offer him the type of deal he can get elsewhere.

Pujols has stated that he’d like to finish his career as a Cardinal and he’s willing to take less money, but only if the organization is prepared to put a winning team around him.

And therein lies the problem. While St. Louis could sign Pujols to an A-Rod like contract, the club would have virtually no chance to sign the additional pieces needed to field a competitive team.

Of course, circumstances could change in St. Louis over the next few years should new ownership take over. For many Cardinals’ fans, it would be a happy day to see Bill DeWitt, the frugal minded current owner, run out of town on rails.

In the event DeWitt remains the owner, it’s a sure bet St. Louis will not enter the team payroll level of the big market clubs. Thus, while Pujols’ deserves a contract that is more lucrative than Rodriguez’, he won’t get it if he remains in St. Louis.

In addition, there are legitimate concerns regarding Pujols’ health. In October 2008, Pujols elected to have surgery on his injured right elbow, a procedure that included decompression and transposition of the ulnar nerve, avoiding the more invasive Tommy John surgery.

Considering Pujols is leading the majors this season with 31 HR’s and 82 RBI’s, it would appear the offseason procedure was a huge success. But that doesn’t mean there won’t be problems with his elbow in the future.

For the man that is thought to be the face of Major League Baseball and who will probably remain as such until the end of his career, Pujols has earned the right to dictate contract terms after the 2011 season.

If Pujols isn’t the highest paid baseball player in 2012, it will be because he’s chosen not to be.

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Tagged with: A-Rod, Albert Pujols, Alex Rodriguez, Bill DeWitt, Contract, MLB, MoonDog, New York Yankees, St. Louis Cardinals, Texas Rangers, Tommy John Surgery

tophatal on Mon, 6th Jul 2009 10:00

MoonDog

The Cardinals’ hierarchy would be foolish not to re-sign him ! But then I’ve not always been trustful with many of the GM’s around baseball to begin with. They and their counterparts within the NHL may well have been the first of their kind to walk on two feet ?

Alan Parkins aka tophatal ……….

tophatal on Mon, 6th Jul 2009 10:03

Moon Dog

How tragic is the death former Titans’ qb Steve McNair ? And the actual circumstances surrounding it now becomes somewhat unsavory. Especially if the alleged allegations are said to be true.

Alan Parkins

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