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Albert Pujols Rumors: Wednesday

By Ben Nicholson-Smith [February 16, 2011 at 8:48pm CST]

The countdown that began weeks ago continues in earnest this morning as the Cardinals and Albert Pujols enter the final few hours before the Pujols-imposed deadline to reach an extension. If the sides don't agree to terms by 11am CDT, Pujols says he'll stop negotiating until after the season, when he'd become a highly-coveted free agent. There's "zero" momentum for a deal, though the talks still have a pulse. Here's the latest on the Cardinals and their first baseman:

Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports that Pujols has informed the Cardinals that he's willing to revisit talks after the season (Twitter links). He doesn't want any distractions during the season.
Rival executives expect the Cubs to pursue Pujols, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com. One exec says “They'll give him the A-Rod deal'' and another guesses "They'll give him $33MM or $34MM for seven years.''
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports hears from a source that St. Louis' offer would have given Pujols about the tenth-highest annual salary in the game, which translates to about $19-21MM (Twitter links). The exact length of the offer is unknown.
GM John Mozeliak said the team will not consider trading Pujols, reports SI.com's Jon Heyman (on Twitter). Pujols has already indicated that he would invoke his ten-and-five rights to veto any deal.
The Cardinals announced that they weren't able to reach a deal with Pujols and will meet with the media at 11:30 CDT.
There's zero chance of a deal by the deadline, according to Nightengale (on Twitter).
The sides are not engaging in last-minute talks and there's no chance of a deal in the next hour, according to Scott Miller of CBS Sports (on Twitter).
The talks are over and the deadline will pass without a deal, according to ESPN.com's Buster Olney (Twitter links). The sides have not exchanged proposals in the last four days or so and there's still a significant gap on annual salary.
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports agrees: there will be no deal today (Twitter link).
The sides aren't expected to reach a deal by the deadline, writes Scott Miller of CBS Sports (on Twitter).
The Phillies anticipated this situation before locking Ryan Howard up, according to ESPN.com's Buster Olney (Twitter links). The Phils discussed a possible Howard-Pujols trade internally.
Pujols doesn't have illusions of reaching a miraculous deal, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today (on Twitter).