Albert Pujols says he wants "to be a Cardinal forever," according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (on Twitter). The slugger, who failed to reach an agreement with the Cardinals before yesterday's deadline for an extension, arrived at Spring Training this morning and addressed the media.
Pujols says he isn't disappointed that he and agent Dan Lozano didn't come to an agreement with the Cardinals by his deadline, according to Scott Miller of CBS Sports.com (on Twitter). There's lots of time to work something out, as Pujols points out, but he has said he won't address his contract situation during the season. That means the Cardinals have to wait until the fall, when they'll have a five-day period of exclusive negotiating rights before Pujols hits free agency for the first time in his career.
Pujols says he will not announce his decision on a TV special like NBA superstar LeBron James did, according to Yahoo's Jeff Passan (Twitter link).
Looks like the Cubbies will continue to lose
Even if he came to the Cubs he would somehow get injured and hit .250 throughout the contract… Coming from a Cubs fan that’s just how things work for us!
I’ll take the over.
If Pujols is gonna cost 300 million, I don’t mind losing out. There are other, and probably smarter ways to spend that money over the next few years.
The Cubs would also have to sign somebody to hit behind Albert in the order. With A Ram gone, who would hit clean-up?
Pujols would walk at least 250 times a year with the Cubs. Who would ever give him good pitches to hit?
Couldnt agree more. I dont blame the cardinals for not agreeing to terms! Its almost crazy to give a person that much when you can have 4-5 good peices to add to your team.
Cubs could get a lot of peices for 30mm and would ultimately make them a better team
Well you have plenty of possible candidates to bat clean up behind Pujols if he was to go to Chicago. Why not bat either Marlon Byrd or Tyler Colvin behind him? Have a batting line like this:
Starlin Castro – .300
Alfonso Soriano – .277
Albert Pujols – .331
Marlon Byrd – .282
Aramis Ramirez – .282 (I see Aramis striking a 3 yr deal with the Cubs)
Tyler Colvin – .251 (yes I know its a low avg. but he can stroke the long ball)
Geovany Soto – .268
Jeff Baker – .270
Ya that was the problem when Ludwick (.282 hitter) batted behind Pujols… they walked him all day. You need someone like a Matt Holliday to force pitchers to pitch to Albert.
Ludwick isnt even on the same boat as Marlon Byrd when it comes to comparing these two. Ludwicks career batting avg. is .266 to where Byrds is .282
Byrd never hit 37 HR’s in a season either.
Ludwicks 37 HR season was a fluke. He has been on the decline ever since
Ludwick has be in the league a lot longer than Byrd
If you mean league as in up and down from the minors, then yes he has been in longer… Ludwick was a flash in the pan and only put together a couple good years! Look at their lines
Ya league as in Major League Baseball
They have both been in the MLB since 2002.
Good… Let the cards overpay… I don’t trust Jim hendry enough to write a reasonable contract for poophole anyway. There are much better ways to spend 25 – 30 million per year over a 7 plus year term that don’t include signing a guy headed for his decline years.
It’s not unhelpful PR before the season begins…
OK. Sign a deal then. Talk is cheap.
Agreed. I mean posting on Twitter is such a reliable source these days in sports
What you can’t see in his statement are the parentheses. As in “I want to be a Cardinal forever (as long as the price is right).”
Yes, meaning if the price is right. The Cards have all year to fin the “right price”.
Cardinals offer 28 mill per year > cubs offer 31 mill a year
I still believe Cardinals will have to offer just a bit less than any other team to get this done.
They just said Cubs would be willing to offer anywhere from 32-34 mil per season at 7 yrs
No, they said one source “guesses” that they may offer that. Which if the cubs do land Albert, I hope they pay him that much. That would be absolutely outrageous but hey its the cubs, they are know for making “great business decisions”..
It would take 34mill for Albert to agree to the cubs.
If I were a cubs fan I would be furious if they spent that much on Albert “just to spite their rivals”. There are all kinds of wrongs to that comment.
For 34 million you can get 2-3 amazing players over Pujols
Here comes the “decision” part 2
Maybe he’ll sign with the Marlins so he can take his talents to South Beach.
Well wouldnt that require the Marlins to atleast have some talent first? If he wanted to go with a talentless team he would sign with the Pirates
Coming from a Braves fan, I guess you haven’t seen the Marlins play. They have some good talent…
Na, Albert is happily married..
so did he sign or what
Yes, 4.5 mil per for 5 years, with potential to reach 37 mil a year through incentives.
First part reminds me of Kerry Wood.
Albert wants to be a Cardinal forever, but he also wants the Cards to pay him like they’re the Yanks. I don’t blame him necessarily, but that doesn’t mean it’s gonna happen.
They should pay him what he deserves the last 7 years they were getting a huge discount so now it’s time to pay up.
You can’t have it both ways though. That’s effectively saying “I want to be a Cardinal forever…only if I am paid full whack.” It’s a little disingenuous, no?
No. There’s absolutely nothing inconsistent about what he’s saying and doing.
Inconsistent? No.
It is totally consistent. He isn’t asking for any special compensation. All he wants, presumably, is to be paid fair. I don’t think that is asking too much considering what he means to the organization.
The Cardinals took a risk in signing him to his extension in his arbitration years and were rewarded and Pujols got job security arbitration players didn’t get until Tulo set the standard. Don’t see how that affects todays negotiations.
Well said – this is exactly why a lot of fans are not understanding the failure to reach an agreement. Most fans want Albert paid on past performance, but the GM’s job is to pay him appropriately for his future performance.
Exactly. Arguably the best baseball player ever to play the game and he was playing for $16M per year – half of what the top salary is. I agree. I’d like to see him retire a Cardinal as well (and I’m a Met fan) but the Cardinals need to buck up. I understand their hesitation of not wanting to sign a 10 year contact but, basically, the guy is saying he wants 10 years so he can retire a Cardinal.
If he signs a 7 year contact he’ll be a FA at the age of 38 and he’ll still want to play the game. Then what? The Cards shaft him on a deal? Let him walk? Sign the guy to a 10 year $300M contact and be done with it. Front load the contact if you need to but make it happen….
Actually he was playing for an annual salary of about $14.5 million and that’s only after you factor in the 8th year option. Before that it was less than $14.3 million a year. Now consider that some journeymen who can’t do a tenth of what he does frequently get paid $14MM annually (J.D. Drew anybody?)
Definitely cannot blame Pujols, he has been paid below market value for well his entire career.
so he should continue doing so!
All non-FA players should be paid below market value. It’s how things work and it’s worked out very well for baseball.
thats unfortunate because i was looking forward to the albert watch and “the decision”
It seems like the press is begging the Cardinals to give into Pujols because they know how mediocre the sports in St. Louis will be when he leaves. I mean really all you have is the Blues and this team they call the Rams.
Besides the Cardinals*
Going on 103 or is it 104 years? I’ve lost count. LOL!
Dont know. Ive only been alive for 25 yrs
The Rams won the Super Bowl in 2000. Unless you are a fan of one of the 8 teams that have won since then, you shouldn’t bash them. For example, I live in Chicago and Bears fans bash me; hey, that Bears championship was awesome and all, but it was 1985.
Just remember that My Bears are the 2nd winning est team in all of the NFL dating back to the NFL Championship era before the whole Superbowl era.
Yeah, but why would you care? You’ve only been alive for 25 yrs
Or as a Bears fan I could act like a Cards fan and say the Bears have 9 Championships! How many do the Rams have?
Ha. Fair enough, I must admit I have used that taunt on Cubs fans before. From now on, I will take the Rams-bashing in stride.
Rams are on the up right now… Id guess the Rams are on the way to becoming an elite team. They are just missing a few pieces. Ill bet the Rams win another Super Bowl before the Bears do.
They play in the weakest division. Might as well move them to baseball and allow them to compete in the NL West
Some is upset to wake up and see “Pujols wants to be a Cardinals forever”
geez.
Nope, I woke up just fine today. Like I do everyday, one foot at a time. Thanks for caring.
On the up as in almost winning 8 games? Dude dont get your hopes up on the Rams getting anywhere for awhile
Going from wining 1 game to 8 is pretty good buddy. Id say that would be consider the up n up
yea, hes made over $120mil in his ten year career..how does he eat??
“Pujols says he will not announce his decision on a TV special like NBA superstar LeBron James did, according to Yahoo’s Jeff Passan”
Ben, by putting this, you have to expect a lot of jokes are going to come out. And just recently the moderator said to stop with them. I know it’s Jeff Passan’s words though and not yours, but still, assuming this comment board fills up which it probably will, someone was going to comment on this sooner or later.
I find it odd that the moderators delete comments that say “Take his talents to…” anyway. I realize the joke is old and tired but do the comments really need to be censored? Attica! Attica! Attica!
Albert Pujols says he wants “to keep it all about me by setting pointless deadlines, taking the focus away from everything else for the 2011 season, making the fans of St. Louis squirm, beg and plead for me to stay after showering me with God-like praise for years while I grappled with 100 million in poverty. Once I’ve satiated my massive ego and get my franchise crippling contract then maybe but not likely I’ll be a Cardinal forever”
Fixed.
I don’t buy this Feb 15th deadline. The two sides will be doing plenty of talking over the weeks and months to come, just not to the media.
Next week or next month, if the Cardinals decide to pony up the 10 years Albert wants, do you think he’d turn it down because of the date on the calendar?
If the money isnt there, I dont see why he wouldnt?
the thing is though the cards aren’t going to increase their offer. They are content to let the market shape pujol’s value and then offer an appropriate contract based on the other offers.
I agree, but the Cards front office is taking a big chance. Right now, Pujols might be as low in terms of $$$ as he will ever be.
Let’s say his 2011 numbers are .325 , 45 H.R.’s and 130 RBI’s. Then the price is going up and Cards organization has an even tougher call to make.
If pujols hit .325 45 home runs and 130 RBIs then he had a pretty average season
Ya they did a good job with this already. Set a “deadline”, ESPN covers nothing but the deadline, the day of the deadline, and now it seems it out of their system. For now.
“…to be a Cardinal forever.” (Yeah…only if they pay me what I want)
Guess he might pull a Cliff Lee and make the teams with the money drive up the bidding for him and then, when the Cards max out their offer to keep him, take their money and look good for the cameras. “He never really cared about the money from other teams”=”He just wanted his favorite team to give them every last penny they could.”
But he’d end up screwing himself. If he takes every last penny, the Cards won’t have the funds to put anyone around him. We’ll see a lot more of Skip and The Riot.
Pujols saying “forever” sets himself up for heavy criticism if he does indeed leave the Cardinals. Would St. Louis fans burn Pujols jerseys too?
Probably. I work with a few Cardinal fans who said they would burn all of his memorabilia that they posses and would quit watching baseball all together. haha
^^ Over-the-top. Wow…
Im serious. Call them up. haha
Maybe I’ll text them later.
I’m a die hard cards fan, if pujols signs with an AL team I’ll probably just not watch baseball for a year or two until the cards rebuild. If Pujols signs with the cubs not only would I never watch baseball again, but I would never speak to anyone I know from chicago again, and I would delete my facebook and change my phone number to avoid them contacting me.
People say well I’d rather win without Pujols than lose with him, but for me I wouldn’t. There’s just something magical about how Pujols plays the game, and it’s not just how awesome he is with the bat, but the little things he does like stealing on a gimped leg, or running through stop signs at third, Pujols is possessed with scoring that’s all he cares about, and watching him play the game for the last 10 years has left me so spoiled that I can’t bear the thought of not having him on our team.
Yeah, you are a true diehard cards fan! What you said in that paragraph is that you are a fair weather fan! LMAO Typical STL fans head for the hills when it gets bad and I expect the same if Pujols leaves…
I think its safe say the only way STL fans would burn the jersey is if Pujols gets drunk and signs with the cubs.
Id have to be wasted
i will believe “iwant to be a Cardinal forever” when & if Pujols signs!!!
I will believe it when I see it, but I think this is standard negotiating procedure for a guy in his position. The Cards don’t want him to walk- Holliday’s signing only made sense with Pujols batting in front of him. He’s not worth all that bank if he’s not with Albert. They need Pujols. Periods. I think he’ll come down a bit from $300. He’ll sign for something like 7 years/$200MM.
He must love St. Louis a lot if he’s willing to leave 80-100 million dollars on the table.
haha you said periods.
I think the deadline is crap, if he wanted to be a Card for life they have all of spring training to work out a deal before the season begins. How stressful is it to give your agent some framework to a deal while you stretch, work half assed at fielding drills and get 2 at bats a game? I get not wanting to negotiate while the season is going, but as Iverson said, we’re talking about practice.
Joe Mauer and Adam Wainwright both said it is a distraction. So, if it really is a distraction and say Albert isnt really doing to much in Spring Training, then you got the media reporting ever single stat and move the guy is making. Then that rolls into the season and thats not something you want going on during your contract year.
I can guarantee you that all of that is gonna happen anyways, so why not try to hammer out an extension while going through all of that.
Goodmorning from what I have read the Cardinals think they have a great offer on the table and when Albert hits free agency they feel he will have no choice but to accept. Are the Cardinals ownership that stupid this is whats going to happen.Albert Pujols will hit free agency 5 days after the WSC by the way the Philadelphia Phillies will win it in 2011. Anyway after that him and his agent will be talking to Ruben Amaro Jr. and take a unpresidented offer and sign with the Phillies.Well now that would creat a littlebit of an issue for the 2011 champs becouse they would then have an extra 1st baseman named Ryan Howard. Humm as deluded as this sounds LOL and us Phillies fans do think are shat don’t stank. With all the money are team has spent so why not believe anyway back to Howard, do Cardinals fans think maybe Matt Holliday for Ryan Howard makes sense. Now please remember we are talking hypatheticals hear and I am a deluded fan of the greatest show on the planet the Philadelphia Phillies…..LOL.
I’m really starting to find that the Phillies fans around here are stupider than the Red Sox fans.
If the cards don’t want to Pay Pujols 28 million why the hell would they pay an overrated that isn’t half the player pujols is 25 million, much less trade Holliday for him.
I’m really starting to find that the Phillies fans around here are stupidier than the Red Sox fans.
Andy_B Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday
(As a deluded fan of the Phillies it is my job to always think my glass is half full therefore I will call this plan operation why not the Phillies).
If the Cards don’t want to pay Pujols 28 million why the hell would they pay an overrated (Howard) that isn’t half the player Pujols is 25 million, much less trade Holliday for him.
Well again as I continue to say I am a deluded fan of the Phillies and facts are facts the Cardinals will not pay Pujol however maybe just maybe the Phillies will.
And you claim you would not take Ryan Howard for Mat Holliday now that I think about that trade posiblity it would take much more then Matt Holliday in a trade for Ryan Howard but I guess your a Deluded Cardinal fan just makeing an over valuation of your players LOL… Maybe throw in you top 4 prospects and we might talk… LOL
not a deluded fan just someone who doesn’t suffer fools well.
so by admitting that youre delusional you understand that this will NEVER happen and this is a byproduct of your own crazy mind, right?
Hey, what are you deluded Phillie fans gonna do when you dont win the world series?
A lot of pressure and expectations riding on your highly paid pitching staff.
Will you turn on them like you did Jimmy Rollins?
Will you boo them like you do after a former Phillie comes back to play on a different team?
Will you totally forget about them, give up hope, and run them out of the city like Kevin Kolb?
The_Birds writes Het what are you deluded Phillies fan gonna do when you dont win the WS??? My man Didn’t I say I was a deluded Phillies fan we can’t lose.
Will you turn on them like you did Jimmy Rollins?? I love this reply however I didn’t get that memo as far us deluded Phillies fan supposed hate for Jimmy…
Will you boo them like you do after former Phillies come back on different teams??? Well if your name is Pat Burrel.
Will you totally forget about them,give up hope,and run them out of the city like Kevin Kolb?? My man you kind of struck a nerve but and I must have missed another memo but humm or Kevin Kolb is still plays for the EAGLE.
The Phillies will not be stopped in 2011 put some money on it and become a Phillies fan you be happy you did for the next 10 years or so.
“My man” you guys boo every former Phillie, not just Burrel.
You guys still to this day boo Scott Rolen. Its a great way to show respect for your formal teammates.
Jimmy Rollins came on ESPN a little while back and said “The fans are different here, when your doing good, they are on your side, you make one mistake and against you, they boo”
And I guess you did miss a headline because the Eagles put the franchise tag on Vick the other day and Kolb wants out.
Phillies will be stopped this year. Thats my bet. The Heat will not win the championship nor will the Phillies. If I were to bet Id probably put my money on Boston this year.
They really booed JD Drew and he was never a Philly :)
Ya I went to a Phillies Cards game a year back and all I can say is “wow”. People tried to pick a fights with me and my buddies for wearing Cardinals shirt 3 different times. Im not kidding. The highlight of our night was in the 8th inning wear a drunk Phillies fan yelled what sounded like “ahhhCArdinals, Pujoes suck, youll suck” and fell on his face, then got up, tried to pick a fight and got ushered out.
Albert said he didn’t want to have a TV special…but you left out the rest of the quote that said he would like a reality TV show based on his decision. :p
For the person who asked if St. Louis would burn Pujols Jerseys too…Absolutely not!!!! St. Louis Fans have much more class then that…Pujols is my favorite player wearing a cardinals uniform and he will still be my favorite even if he wears a different uniform next year!!!
Pujols Wants “To Be A Cardinal Forever”
—–
He’ll never be Pope with that attitude.
Yeah, I LOL’d
Too bad he isn’t on Boston. This way he would’ve signed already for below market value
Albert said today that what he was asking for was exaggerated by the media, meaning he prolly wasnt really asking for 300 million over 10yrs. but something less. He also said that he realizes that ppl may call him greedy but anyone that knows him knows that he is not greedy. IMO, Pujols will remain a Cardinal, sign for 8 yrs. between 25-27 million a year. As for the deadline, I honestly think that he means it and that not if but when a deal is struck, it will b after the season. Pujols doesnt want to go anywhere, he just wants the Cards to show him the respect that he has shown them. Dont forget there are prolly only 5 ppl that know what he actually wants: Dewitt, Mozeliak, Pujols, his agent Lozano, and his wife Deidre.
Yeah, heard that before Albert. Are you also going to say, “It’s not in my control.”?
Not that I blame Albert for not signing. I keep hearing different stories on how much the Cardinals final offer actually was. Until I know that for sure, I can’t place blame on either party.
Why not make him a Cardinal for life then? The Cardinals need to be able to field a playoff calibre team around him, so stipulate a working salary around that with deferred salary and a post retirement contract that might even include percentage ownership.
My man” you guys boo every former Phillies, not just Burrel. You guys still to this day boo Scott Rolen. Its a great way to show respect for you former teamates That is why they call it the City of Brotherly love LOL. AS a deluded fan of this great city it is are job to bring it to each and every game. However since you are complaining about Scott Rolen I personally never boo Rolen I kind of love the way he played for back when the Phillies were a laughing stock in all of baseball.
Jimmy Rollins came on ESPN a little while back and said” the fans are different here, when your doing good, they are on your side, You make one mistake and they are against you, They Boo”
Ahh Don’t no what Jimmy is complaining about in fact every game I have gone to it is almost to respectful at CBP. But this could be Jimmy being Jimmy as a deluded fan of this great team we will do what it takes to continue to win if that means ruffleing a few feathers along the way so be it. But IMO Jimmy wrong I have gone to other citys and Philadelphia is not the only city who Boos.
And I guess you missed the headline becouse the Eagles put a franchise tag on Vick the other day and kolb wants out. Franchiseing Vick is a big mistake IMO I like Kolb and Vick should be the one asking to be traded.
Phillies will be stopped this year. hats my bet. The Heat will not win the Championship nor will the phillies. If I were to bet id probable put my money on Boston…
Ya put your money on Boston as a deluded fan of the Phillies don’t forget the old saying Pitching wins Championships ,Roy Halladay,Cliff Lee,Roy Oswalt,Cole Hamels,and Joe Banton may change your tune after the Phillies win around 120 games in 2011. And being a deluded Phillies fan I can’t wait for another Phillies parade that will come in 2011.
Andy_B I am a Poker player and I don’t suffer fool well in fact I try to keep things real IMO if the Cardinals really believe that Pujols will not get paid they are really the Deluded ones. I believe if and when Pujols gets to free agency MLB could be shocked once again by another Phillies free agent surprise. Time will tell.LOL, Go Phillies…..
What the hell does being a poker player have to do with anything? My IQ has taken a severe by carrying on a conversation with you