The Cardinals have opened extension talks with Albert Pujols, according to Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Negotiations between the team and agent Dan Lozano have been “positive” so far, Strauss reports.
The Cardinals are discussing potential deals with considerably more urgency than they were a year ago, when Pujols was two seasons away from free agency. The first baseman is now just months away from the open market, so he’s the team’s top remaining offseason priority.
Lozano did not exchange figures with Cardinals GM John Mozeliak when the pair discussed a Pujols extension at last month’s Winter Meetings. Pujols has said he will not negotiate once he reports to Spring Training in February, so the sides have less than two months to work out an agreement.
please just don’t go over 8 years and 30million a season. 7yr/200million would be ideal, cards don’t have to go an exorbitant amount of length and Pujols gets to be the highest paid player in terms of AAV of his contract.
Just keep him in StL. Albert is/will be iconic (although certainly not Stan). That’s almost worth a handful of World Series wins in and of itself. A WS, especially in today’s sensationalist society, is almost all too quickly forgotten. Stan and other iconic players have left an impact upon the city (and through the team’s spread-out fanbase, a huge territorial region of the country) that is much more valuable to a club than a Series win, in my opinion.
And it’s not like paying the best player in baseball what he’s worth automatically keeps the Cards from seriously contending for a World Series… it might just make it a little harder than if they could spread the money around.
7 for 200? are you serious. Albert is the best player in baseball right now and has been the best since coming to the bigs. If he stays healthy He could very well go down as the best position player ever. If the cards give him 7/200 you can make it a certainty that he will leave, unless he decides to take a pay cut to help the team. But i can bet you 100% there are at least 5 teams that will offer him more than 7/200. And considering how he instantly makes the team better and will put buts in seats every where his contract wont hurt as much. If im the cards GM I start at 8-10 years 250-275 mill (maybe even defer some of it) and go from there
The Yankess, Red Sox, and Phillies are already out, so only the Mets, Angels, Cubs, and maybe the Dodgers could possibly get involved, and not even all of them would be willing to go that far, especially in years.
if u believe sox wouldn’t make a run at him you must be insane,they would have no qualms moving youk back to third if they could aquire albert,i do understand yanks not going there cause there wouldn’t be anywhere to put him,ditto with the phils,certainly the mets would give just about anything he wanted and then some,as well as the angels,as much as the cubs would like to they couldnt find the cash i believe being swamped with to many bad contracts as is.And im sure at leats a half dozen other teams would make a run for him.
It has nothing to do with Youkolis (sp?). The Red Sox are going to extend Adrian Gonzalez as soon as the luxury tax deadline passes.
Oh, they are talking about extending THAT GUY. At this point, it is anyone’s guess. I’ll give mine. Albert extends for less than many think. It will be a lot, but just not a break the team amount.
I think Pujols and the bottom line won’t look nearly as bad with heavy deferments well after he’s retired (say, 2030). If we see 8+ yrs./$250MM+, I would not be shocked at all.
I can easily see deferred payments to Albert years later. He will want to make sure the Cards can compete by signing other people when needed.
The Busch family has not owned the team for a long time. So I guess the Cards can’t give him a beer distributor like they did to Ozzie Smith back in the day. I’m sure Pujols will take deferred money and like it.
Don’t forget that he’s already getting deferred money from his current contract throughout the 2020’s.
I knew he was getting deferred money, but was not sure how long it was on the current deal. Well, he will get more deferred money…or he will get to take the Arch home with him.
I can easily see deferred payments to Albert years later. He will want to make sure the Cards can compete by signing other people when needed.
The Busch family has not owned the team for a long time. So I guess the Cards can’t give him a beer distributor like they did to Ozzie Smith back in the day. I’m sure Pujols will take deferred money and like it.
Call the team the St. Louis Pujols and get it over with!
Call the team the St. Louis Pujols and get it over with!
Nooooooo!!!! He’s supposed to play 1b for the Cubs; I blame hendry
lol
I just noticed your username. You got a beef with Al?
On the contrary, his site is one of the funniest trainwrecks on the net; it’s like the Fox news of Cubdom.
lol
I just noticed your username. You got a beef with Al?
Nooooooo!!!! He’s supposed to play 1b for the Cubs; I blame hendry
i’d love to see him go to free agency. half just to see the anticipated “albert-watch”. also i think he could wind up with the mets; heres why: (im only going to talk about big market teams)with the yankees already having a gold glove MVP type first basemen i doubt they will sign pujols and move him or tex to DH. the red sox just got a powerhitting first baseman and he has a very good glove as well. the dodgers are going through financial problems with the owners divorce. The phillies already have tons of money commited and they have howard. the angels have morales.(i could see them DH’ing him though). the cubs i could see signing him. the mets have tons of money coming off the books. beltrans 18.5, castillos 6, perez, 12, and jose reyes is coming off(i think he makes 9 per yr). so thats over 55mil per yr coming off the books. thats a lot of money that plus enough to sign pujols and another big name player or two
This really doesn’t matter because there is a less than 2% chance he makes it to free agency in my opinion, but I thought I would just mention that the Sox have yet to extend Gonzalez and if the Pujols extension doesn’t happen by spring training I could see them putting off the Gonzalez extension until they know what happens with Pujols and the Cards.
Do you really think the basics to a deal with Gonzalez are not already in place? They won’t sign him before opening day for luxury tax purposes and i dont think you can really compare Pujols and Gonzalez… Pujols is out there on his own little island looking back at everyone else… Im thinking Gonzalez has a deal looking around Tex (maybe a little less) but the Pujols contract should have very minimal effect on the Gonzalez deal.
I think you misunderstood what I was saying. I’m sure that the basics to a Gonzalez deal are already in place, but do you think that if Pujols doesn’t re-sign with the Cards that the Red Sox wouldn’t rather have him than Gonzalez?
I was in no way comparing Gonzalez to Pujols, simply saying that if by some crazy chance the Cards don’t extend Pujols then the Sox may put off the Gonzalez extension in hopes that there is a chance they could land Pujols instead.
This really doesn’t matter because there is a less than 2% chance he makes it to free agency in my opinion, but I thought I would just mention that the Sox have yet to extend Gonzalez and if the Pujols extension doesn’t happen by spring training I could see them putting off the Gonzalez extension until they know what happens with Pujols and the Cards.
the redsox could wait to extend adrian to see what happens with albert, if albert goes to spring training without an extension look for the sox to do the same with adrian…The cubs might have the money but if their owner stays true to him self they wont have enough to spend on albert. Yeah the cubs have spent money this season but not a ton. The mets are very interesting they do have a ton of money but they have a very good cost controlled 1stbasemen going into only his second season this year. The angles might try and lose out tlike they did this year. The mariners could make a play or the A’s(they seem to be willing to spend the money on the right guy)..If Texas continues to improve look for them to make a play at him….Maybe the twins could come out of no where and sign him and move justin to DH…
Regardless of Pujols, AGon won’t be extended until opening day at the earliest. Of course, this is for luxury tax purposes.
i’d love to see him go to free agency. half just to see the anticipated “albert-watch”. also i think he could wind up with the mets; heres why: (im only going to talk about big market teams)with the yankees already having a gold glove MVP type first basemen i doubt they will sign pujols and move him or tex to DH. the red sox just got a powerhitting first baseman and he has a very good glove as well. the dodgers are going through financial problems with the owners divorce. The phillies already have tons of money commited and they have howard. the angels have morales.(i could see them DH’ing him though). the cubs i could see signing him. the mets have tons of money coming off the books. beltrans 18.5, castillos 6, perez, 12, and jose reyes is coming off(i think he makes 9 per yr). so thats over 55mil per yr coming off the books. thats a lot of money that plus enough to sign pujols and another big name player or two
Who is “worth” more? a tainted Alex Rodriguez or an apparently clean Albert Pujols? Do you go all in and say sign him til 2020 for 300 million? Offer an ownership stake at the end of his career?
In my opinion, he’s one of the iconic names in the Cardinal’s history, along with Stan Musial, I just don’t know what is an amount that makes sense for both sides.
Well said.
Where is the point where he gets what he deserves without blowing up his own team’s future?
Well said.
Where is the point where he gets what he deserves without blowing up his own team’s future?
I’m on the same page, Madraider. I brought up the part-owner idea on another blog. I’ve been told that it is (unfortunately) illegal. I think you’re onto something, tho, in the sense that STL will need to be creative and throw in some non-traditional perks aside from a large stash of hard $ to sweeten the deal and make it happen. Maybe with each milestone, offer him not only a hefty $ bonus (a la A-Rod contract), but also donate to a non-profit tied to relief in the Dominican(?) That’s just one idea. STL’s FO should have a long list of others, if they want The Machine to stay.
I’m on the same page, Madraider. I brought up the part-owner idea on another blog. I’ve been told that it is (unfortunately) illegal. I think you’re onto something, tho, in the sense that STL will need to be creative and throw in some non-traditional perks aside from a large stash of hard $ to sweeten the deal and make it happen. Maybe with each milestone, offer him not only a hefty $ bonus (a la A-Rod contract), but also donate to a non-profit tied to relief in the Dominican(?) That’s just one idea. STL’s FO should have a long list of others, if they want The Machine to stay.
Big Mac kept it reasonable on his last contract and took fraction of ticket sales over 3 million sold so that they could focus on getting more talent. Didn’t Albert also encourage ownership to lock up Matt Holliday first and worry about him later? I think Albert gets 10 years/$280 million with big chunk deferred either through cash or ownership options.
Without the Yankees as a suitor, nobody’s going to pay him $28M when he’s 40 and 41 years old.
Who is “worth” more? a tainted Alex Rodriguez or an apparently clean Albert Pujols? Do you go all in and say sign him til 2020 for 300 million? Offer an ownership stake at the end of his career?
In my opinion, he’s one of the iconic names in the Cardinal’s history, along with Stan Musial, I just don’t know what is an amount that makes sense for both sides.
Yay!
Albert,
Here’s a signed blank check.
Sincerely,
John Mozeliak
John,
An unspecified AL East team handed me a blank check with a prettier logo. Do you have a counter-offer?
Signed,
Albert
yeah, John would have this AL East team charged with tampering because Pujols is still under contract.
I feel confident that foxtown was kidding, but thanks for the joke-murdering clarification of the obvious.
Which AL east team exactly? The one with Mark Texeira or the one with Adrian Gonzalez??
No the one with no firstbaseman, the Blue Jays
i have a hard time believing we couldn’t outbid the blue jays.
the Jays are owned by Rogers communications… Anthopolous has a green light to improve the team however he sees fit… I don’t think there are many teams that could outbid the Jays on players they truly want (as long as they are within the FO’s perceived value)… but i have an unfortunate feeling they are more like the Angels.. “We’ll spend big money on free agents” every off-season but once the Angels perceived price is blown out of the water by the Yankees, Bo Sox, etc… They are out of the running. Did anyone really see Crawford signing for as much as he did? And he was on the top of the Angels wishlist…
well the cardinals are owned by Bill Dewitt Jr who is one of the richest mans on the plan
et(forbes had him on there top 20) and the cardinals who are perennial leaders in attendance. They also have an edge over other teams for Pujols because he lives in STL and has been here for longer. If the difference is a handful of millions, he will probably choose STL.
Bill Dewitt Jr isn’t even on the Forbes top 100 in the US let alone the planet. Also, I’m fairly certain Pujols lives in Kansas City, MO in the off-season. Having said that, I doubt the Blue Jays are going to be major players for Pujols. He will most likely be a Cardinal for the rest of his life. No other team would be willing to pay him the amount of money it is going to take to sign him, or give him the amount of years he wants. The Cardinals would have to be the only team he would allow to defer money over several years after his retirement.
rogers comm is so rich yet Jays big offseason signing was octavio dotel. woopie.. they are a rich corp but they do not care about the jays
I’m a blue jay fan, and I can never envision Pujols leaving the Cards to come to Toronto, its pretty absurd.
I’m a blue jay fan, and I can never envision Pujols leaving the Cards to come to Toronto, its pretty absurd.
No the one with no firstbaseman, the Blue Jays
Probably the AL East team that only “officially” has Gonzalez until the end of the season, that would be my hunch at least.
gimme a break
I didn’t say I thought it was going to happen, simply that my guess was that was who he was implying.
gimme a break
the one with Adam Lind
Ya.. Pujols always did say his dream was to play in Toronto.
C’mon man, be serious
please, Albert Pujols to the Blue Jays is the definition of serious
Ya.. Pujols always did say his dream was to play in Toronto.
C’mon man, be serious
I already said the one with the prettier logo. Geeze….
See Lunchbox, I told you he was talking about the Red Sox. Those funny looking Socks are awful pretty!
Clearly the Rays! They have the prettiest logo in the AL East 😛
“Prettier logo” guys.
Everyone knows that the Oriole is a prettier bird than the Cardinal and the Blue Jay.
Plus, I intercepted this correspondence between Pujols and Mozeliak:
“John,
The unspecified AL East team also offered a 430,000 square foot home that would be custom-remodeled to fit anything that my heart desires. They have informed me that this home is located about 432 feet from where I’ll go to work every day.
Can the Cardinals match that?
Sincerely,
Albert”
It doesn’t get any prettier than a bright, radiant red Cardinal bird.
Good joke, xub. Don’t think that would work, tho. Even tho he could easily buy a multi-million $ mansion, Pujols’ STL home is quite modest for a superstar. IIRC, it was under 500K.
Modest schmodest.
Albert would love the orange and black Apache helicopter and the matching orange and black helicopter landing pad on top of his new home. And for Albert, the O’s would forget about Brooks Robinson and slap a big number 5 on the chopper and the landing pad.
And they would get rid Brooksie’s #5 in the retired numbers courtyard and replace it with a 100 foot tall solid gold, diamond encrusted statue of Albert wearing #5.
I hear the Rays are offering St. Pete Beach to sign Albert.
John,
An unspecified AL East team handed me a blank check with a prettier logo. Do you have a counter-offer?
Signed,
Albert
Ah, just like the Red Birds did in another era and with another man…Stan ‘The Man’. I doubt that happens, but it makes a nice thought for the Cards fans.
I guess the Cardinals must choose between competing and signing Albert Pujols longterm.
I’d much more prefer his free agency, the buzz will be great like never before!
If the Cards have Pujols, Holliday, Rasmus, Wainwright, Garcia, and Molina for several years to come they will be competing.
So it begins
I can see the Cards getting put into a corner here and getting wrangled into a 7 year $222 million contract, or maybe even more cash than that, the dude is worth it
Just a hunch
Everything is about to get VERY interesting
If it came down to the team being handcuffed financially by Fat AL’s new deal, I really Can’t see Pujols allowing that to happen..
For how good he is, he probably wants a few more rings to go down as one of the best who ever played, sure he wants to get paid, but I have a feeling the contract will be modest. Enough to feed his Great great grandkids but also not enough so that the cards end up a consistent 3rd place team
If it came down to the team being handcuffed financially by Fat AL’s new deal, I really Can’t see Pujols allowing that to happen..
For how good he is, he probably wants a few more rings to go down as one of the best who ever played, sure he wants to get paid, but I have a feeling the contract will be modest. Enough to feed his Great great grandkids but also not enough so that the cards end up a consistent 3rd place team
“Open” extension talks. Jeez, Mo. Did your mama not school you on procrastination? Extension talks should have “opened” at least a year ago.
*crossing fingers*
They probably were opened before. There was a gentlemen’s agreement to avoid releasing any information regarding extension talks to the media if I recall correctly.
They probably were opened before. There was a gentlemen’s agreement to avoid releasing any information regarding extension talks to the media if I recall correctly.
Pujols has never negotiated during the season, and extension talks stopped before opening day 2010. They may have been going on for the last month but knowing how Pujols operates I do doubt that happened.
Pujols has never negotiated during the season, and extension talks stopped before opening day 2010. They may have been going on for the last month but knowing how Pujols operates I do doubt that happened.
“Open” extension talks. Jeez, Mo. Did your mama not school you on procrastination? Extension talks should have “opened” at least a year ago.
*crossing fingers*
The Cards can declare bankruptcy and use the bail out money to sign Pujols. God bless America.
well done!
well done!
The Cards can declare bankruptcy and use the bail out money to sign Pujols. God bless America.
This is were the Pirates swoop in and snatch Pujols away! They’ve been saving for years for this moment, nearly bringing the franchise to complete bankruptcy in order to sign Albert Pujols as he becomes a free agent. 15 YEARS 350 MILLION DOLLARS!!! HAHAHAHAHA
But seriously, he’ll give St. Louis a discount in exchange for the key to HIS city and change the capital to Albert St. Pujols.
Am I the only Cardinal fan that would prefer to trade him over resigning him? I would rather field a competitive team for the next decade than pay Pujols 25-30m when he’s 38.
this is an abstract statement. Well what are we trading him for? its not like some team is gonna offer us a Evan Longoria/Dustin Pedroia/Jason Heyward type player for one year of Pujols. If it is for prospects, than it should be no less than 1 top 10 prospect and like 3 more top 100 prospects. That would be his prospects value. Unfortunately, the only teams who could theoretically offer such a package are the Royals and Rays. The Royals aren’t competitive and wouldn’t take Pujols and the Rays can’t afford him. If we do trade him, the likely hood of us getting fair value is low, especially at this point in the off season when most teams already have there team for 2011 set. At deadline, it wouldn’t make sense to trade him either because we would get less value than right now and more than likely, STL will be making a playoff push. So in that regard, yes, you are the only person who would prefer trading him than resigning him.
You’re not alone. I’ve heard other Cards fans say this. I’m on the other side of the fence, tho. Maybe its just the romantic baseball purist in me, but I’d love to keep him in STL for keeps. He’s a living legend. His story is great. And I think it would only add to his legacy if he stuck in STL rather than jumping into the FA foray.
I’m not saying that I wouldn’t like him to stay in St. Louis. However, given the contract he will receive, I just don’t know if it’s realistic to expect the team to stay competitive without an increase in payroll or improved scouting and development of prospects.
I’m not saying that I wouldn’t like him to stay in St. Louis. However, given the contract he will receive, I just don’t know if it’s realistic to expect the team to stay competitive without an increase in payroll or improved scouting and development of prospects.
Keep in mind he has 10 and 5 rights so any trade they make he’d have to give the OK on.
I’d rather lose games with a group of stand-up guys playing clean than win with a bunch of mercenaries, thugs and/or druggies.
What do druggies and thugs have to do with anything?
I’ll clarify: I’d rather field a team I can be proud of rather than a team I can’t.
I advocated long ago letting Mitchell Report All-Stars McGwire, Ankiel and Franklin go, for example. (And can’t wait for Franklin and Mac [again] to leave.) The Cardinals used to get rid of bad elements but LaGenius doesn’t have much issue retaining or even recruiting these types of players. Would you root for a team if they were considered the Oakland Raiders of baseball?
There are plenty of other teams with more PED connections than just their closer and hitting coach.
Apparantly, you’re also the only Cardinals fan who already wants to throw in the towel for 2011. The Cardinals are major contenders and Pujols only makes $16M this year. There’s also the issue of blanket no-trade protection. In the very slight chance he leaves, it will be as a free agent who gives us two compensatory draft picks.
Cards will be more competitive with him. The payroll will be raised if necessary.
This just in, St. Louis has been sold to Canada to pay for Albert Pujol’s yearly salary. Details at 11.
More likely they get sold to China. Although China may actually already own St. Louis now that I think about it.
I know this will probably not happen….but I want Pujols in a Blue Jays uniform
He just became a U.S. citizen and was quite proud of that achievement. It would be odd for him to suddenly say, “I think I’ll play for the only Canadian team in baseball!” (Don’t misinterpret as a knock on TOR or Canada. I love both. I even know the Canadian national anthem.)
The only AL team I see him playing for is his (adopted) hometown Royals. He said several years ago that he could see playing a season for them at the end of his career.
What if the Nats traded Harper, Strasburg, and Storen to the Cardinals for Pujols and Pujols signed a 7 year extension? Who hangs up first?
def the cards.
The Nationals because Strasburg is on the DL and Harper can’t be traded yet.
Assuming everyone was healthy and no other restrictions applied. Its a hypothetical, work with me here.
Assuming everyone was healthy and no other restrictions applied. Its a hypothetical, work with me here.
Lol idk man, that’s a pretty even trade and I’m a lifelong Cards fan.
Lol idk man, that’s a pretty even trade and I’m a lifelong Cards fan.
I would definitely consider it. I still think the Nationals would hang up first though.
seriously? because of what?
None of those kids have proven anything yet and Pujols essentially has proven everything.
thats interesting enough for me to listen if im the gm….but i wait till strasburg comes back and proves he is healthy which hurts the ability of the trade
There’s so much to think about with the Cardinals other than Pujols. Holliday was locked up for 7years/120million; plus Carpenter has an option thats 15(?)million and don’t forget about locking up Adam Wainwright. He’s only a stud pitcher after all.
whether it be permanent or not, the Cards have a 110million dollar payroll right now. If the cards signed pujols, i’d imagine they pay him less money in 2011 and 2012 and backload it from there. That way, the Lohse shackles will be gone and so will Westbrook which is a combined 21million dollars. Lets not forget Pujols isn’t exactly free right now either, making 16million. Carpenter i can see reworking his option into a 2yr/20mil sort of deal to keep him in STL and have more security. Adam Wainwright is locked up till after the year 2013, he is already locked up. Extending a pitcher a year or two before he is a free agent when he is already locked up for cheap is a poor choice to make IMO with how big of injury risk pitchers are.
Wasn’t aware that Wainwright was already locked up.
His two options years became guarenteed with his Top 5 finish for the Cy Young Award this past season.
I’m comfortable with the Carp/Waino contracts. If we do end up signing Pujols, I think the reality is that we let Carp walk. I love the guy, but age/injury-history work against investment. And as for Wainwright, we have him signed for very cheap through 2013. I’m okay w/waiting until then to negotiate. Pitchers are simply too much of an injury-risk for long-term, high-$ investment. With rare exception. If Waino keeps it up through 2013, he’ll deserve a CC or Doc type of contract. Also, keep in mind our farm system is doing okay on the pitching front.
Couldnt have said it better myself
I cannot wait til Shelby Miller digs his spikes in at Busch!
I cannot wait til Shelby Miller digs his spikes in at Busch!
275 mill for an 8 year mlb contract with options(player for 9th and club for 10th) to make it close to a 300/10…defer some of the money without interest for the next 10-15 years after that. Gives albert more security after he is done playing(not that he needs it dude has a ton of money now and will get job as either a hitting coach, manager, or front office) Or the cards could do something like we were all suggesting jeter got. a mlb contract with a team deal after that runs out..give him and mlb contract then make him a bench coach right away
It’s going to be hard for the Cards to contend if Pujols doesn’t give them the hometown discount. What kind of supporting cast will they have if they dedicate 20% of their payroll to one guy? Your scouts better be damn good so that you can keep feeding young, cheap talent to that roster.
Albert’s birthday is 11 days from now, BTW.
You guys are aware that Pujols is gonna be 31 in a few days right?? how on gods earth do you give him a 10 year contract??? hes already hit his peak..hes not gonna get any better.. matter of fact you can expect him to be even for the next few years then start to decline.. remember hes not on steroids like Bonds was.. as much as love him im not sold on signing him for crazy money is the best thing!.. if he by any chance gets $30mil per year this team is highly screwed!! we’ve had him at $15 mil for the last 7 years and Bill Decheap has been adamant about staying around $90-95mil payroll.. with Albert taking up a 1/3 of that..this team is destined to be a 3rd/4th place team till that contract is over!.. unless Decheap raised payroll to at least $120mil,.. is it is smart to trade him.. we can get 2-3 very good players for $30mil!!
Bill Decheap has been adamant about staying around $90-95mil payroll..
Payroll right now is just under 110million. Good try though.
First of all prove it!.. all they’ve added was Berkman’s $8 million and and a mil here or there on raises and payroll was at $94mil last year so you do the math wiseass!! secondly.. so what if its at just under $110mil.. we’re a 3rd place ballclub as constituted and we’re out of money according to Decheap!! The moves made this year like Gerald Freakin Laird and Ryan Theribble were cheap moves!! this is what we will have to endure the rest of Alberts tenure here! i you dont mind being a sucker and supporting a ballcub that consist of Albert and the Chipmuncks thats your perogative! me i have balls and ima stand and talk about it! You are aware that Decheap is a Multi-Billionaire right??
Westbrook got $8M added to the payroll, too.
“First of all prove it!.. all they’ve added was Berkman’s $8 million and and a mil here or there on raises and payroll was at $94mil last year so you do the math wiseass!! secondly.. so what if its at just under $110mil.”
$102,237,500 not including a lot of young guys (Rasmus, McClellan, Freese, Garcia, Motte, Craig, Greene, Jay, etc.)
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=t_WBl5PYQPvrO7eNWGf0Vqg&output=html
Proven.
Did you ever think that possibly “Bill Decheap” has been staying around that payroll in the past couple of years because he has been looking towards the future… aka the Pujols extension. The Cardinals make enough money that they could probably get away with a 120-130mil payroll per year. One of the best attendances in baseball, best fanbases (tons of merch sales), consistently high television ratings, long standing advertising contracts, and they even completely halted putting money into ballpark village. Plus, what long term money have they committed in the past couple of years that will get in the way other than Holliday (which Pujols himself pushed for). To me, all the signs point towards a Pujols resigning… and Pujols in a Cardinals uniform for years to come.
After all, if the wanted to devote that Pujols money to a better supporting cast, I believe the probably would have done that this offseason and tried to win one last time with Pujols. And as a Cards fan, the moves the FO made this offseason did not scream that they were going for one last championship with Pujols. Basically, this offseason screamed long term and not short term. Any team that thought they only had Pujols one last season would have made big moves this offseason.
Actually, the Cardinals have below average TV revenue, which is why they can only support the payrolls they do despite 3M+ attendance each year. Still, the payroll has received a little bump this year, and you do have some good points.
It will be harder, but the Cardinals can remain competative with both Pujols and Holliday signed expensively long term. For one thing, the farm system is improving and should soon provide good cheap players like Daniel Descalso, Lance Lynn, Shelby Miller, and Zack Cox to go with other good cheap players we already have like Jaime Garcia, Colby Rasmus, David Freese, Allen Craig, Kyle McClellan, Jason Motte, and Mitchell Boggs.
AND… this could be optimistic, but I do see a quite an increase in revenue if the Cardinals resign Pujols. Cardinals fans like to support good moves by the front office and show their support through $$$ (and vice-versa if they let Pujols walk). Without the Pujols question looming over, the Cardinals can get back to business and the fans will too. Plus, even if the Cardinals decide to go young and cheap around Pujols, that’s quite a difference than old and aging like many fans have criticized the team of recently. An increase in younger guys on the roster and shorter time in the minors for draft picks might increase some revenue too. Plus, imagine those ticket and merchandise sales as the milestones start rolling in… and we all know they will. A $28million a year guy doesn’t really cost that much if he’s bringing in millions too.
I just think a player like Pujols makes way more money for a team like the Cardinals than he would for a big market team (they’re going to make the money regardless), so I can’t see a team like the Cardinals- in the market they’re in- passing up on a franchise player like Pujols. He will be resigned, no doubt about it.
Don’t forget that $7M ($3M for Pujols, $2M for Holliday, $2M for Carpenter) of that is deferred, but it doesn’t include McClellan’s unknown arb-elgible salary or the many unknown pre-arb salaries.
Mozeliak just needs to think to himself: “What would George W. do?”