The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported on Wednesday that the Cardinals have reached out to Albert Pujols in an effort to resign the three-time MVP.
Pujols is in his final year of an original seven-year deal he signed with the Cardinals in 2004. The terms of that deal called for a club option in 2011 and St. Louis exercised that right shortly at the end of last season.
St. Louis general manager John Mozeliak will have to get exceptionally creative in order to offer Pujols the type of contract that’s proportionate to his worth in the marketplace.
The Cardinals don’t have deep pockets like the Yankees, Mets, Red Sox, Angels and Phillies. If Pujols were allowed to walk at the conclusion of this season, he could potentially sign a new deal in excess of $30 million annually.
If St. Louis pays him what the market may bear, the Cards will more than likely have to offer Pujols a contract for more years than they wanted for no other reason than to spread out the payments.
If the Cardinals attempted to sign Pujols to another six or seven year deal, they would have to pay him more based on an average annual salary than what the Phillies Ryan Howard received last season when Philadelphia signed him to a 5-year, $125 million extension.
St. Louis could pay that amount annually, but in doing so that would mean the bulk of their payroll would be obligated to a handful of players.
Another option – the least popular among most Cardinals fans – is to trade Pujols before the start of the season and reap the benefits while they have the chance.
Trading Pujols – while potentially pragmatic – would cause an uproar in baseball heaven. Many fans are already very displeased with Tony La Russa coming back as the Cardinals manager and they haven’t been too happy about their offseason moves either.
The future success of the Cardinals organization could very well depend on the outcome of the Pujols negotiations.
If Mozeliak can work out a deal that keeps “the machine” in St. Louis without mortgaging the Cardinals long term financial stability, then he’ll be viewed as a wizard and a hero.
But if the Cardinals GM can’t sign Pujols to a new deal, trades him or allows him to walk via free agency at the end of the season, Mozeliak will probably have to call the FBI and ask to enter the witness protection program.
