If reports on Tuesday from SI.com are true, Albert Pujols turned down an offer from the St. Louis Cardinals believed to be for eight years and a little over $200 million.
Pujols was right to reject the offer from St. Louis, mostly because the Cardinals showed no respect for the only player in MLB history to hit at least 30 HR’s, have at least 100 RBI’s and have a batting average of at least .300 for 10 consecutive seasons.
The Cardinals apparently don’t believe Pujols is worth substantially more than the Phillies’ Ryan Howard, who signed a 5-year, $125 million extension last season.
A contract that would pay Pujols roughly the same amount of money as Howard is a slap in the face to the 3-time NL MVP.
Pujols has generated superior numbers to Howard, and has nearly the same number of HR’s and RBI’s over the past 10 seasons as the Yankees Alex Rodriguez.
| Most HR’s and RBI’s in MLB Since 2001 | |||||||||
| Rodriguez | Pujols | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HR | 424 | 408 | |||||||
| RBI | 1,236 | 1,230 | |||||||
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If the Cardinals honestly thought Pujols would accept a deal that was on par with Howard’s, then owner Bill DeWitt and GM John Mozeliak are living in a fantasy world.
When Pujols’ arrives at the Cardinals spring training facility today, contract negotiations between him and St. Louis will come to an end.
The fact that Pujols is now guaranteed of becoming a free agent at the end of this season is a reality the Cardinals have brought upon themselves.
And you can rest assured there’s at least five teams that will offer Pujols more than Howard and nearly as much, if not more than Rodriguez before next season begins.
DeWitt and Mozeliak may believe they’re offer to Pujols was based on sound financial logic, or perhaps they thought he would give them a discount because of his desire to remain with the Cardinals.
But Pujols showed the St. Louis front office what happens when you don’t make a competitive offer to the player most believe is the best in MLB.
Now Pujols will show DeWitt and Mozeliak what happens when a team does make him a good offer, and the Cardinals are going to pay dearly for it.
