The Cardinals are not seriously exploring the possibility of trading first baseman Albert Pujols because the superstar slugger, who has full no-trade protection, would veto any swap, writes Buster Olney of ESPN.com.
Pujols, slated to become a free agent after the 2011 season, is willing to work out a contract extension with St. Louis but has said that those talks will be tabled on Feb. 19, his first day at Spring Training, so as not to create a distraction.
That means, as Olney notes, the only remaining possibilities are that Pujols signs an extension with the Cardinals or becomes a free agent at season's end. The next 10 days are critical to the Cardinals' efforts to re-sign Pujols, tweets Olney.
Olney speculates that Pujols, who turned 31 this month, will probably command a contract similar to the one Alex Rodriguez signed with the Yankees following the 2007 season — somewhere along the lines of 10 years and $275MM.
For his career, Pujols has posted a ridiculous .331/.426/.624 over 10 seasons, never playing fewer than 143 games in any campaign.
Hey, if he leaves the Cards get two draft picks. That’ll take the sting out, right?
Why doesn’t he want 2 go anywhere
Well, he rarely confides in me, but I’m guessing that he wants to remain a Cardinal for his whole career and plans on an extension getting done before he hits free agency. He also may just not want to adjust to a new team right before the season starts and then have to do it again if a different team signs him as a free agent? I have no idea.
Theo needs him
Theo WANTS him, like any sane GM would, but Theo probably NEEDS him less than anyone.
Red sox can sign him in free agency
when he’s 39?
Veteran power, leadership ability who knows?
I’m pretty sure Theo and dombr
The Red Sox already have two first basemen. Don’t need a third, son.
I’m not a son and DH ability son
Pujols would never agree to DH
When he’s 39 sure why not
I wish that Lebron had Puljols attitude.
Because hes earned the right to choose his future!
If he leaves via free agency, the Cardinals net two draft picks, since he’s a Type A free agent, plus he’s being sarcastic.
Because, contrary to popular belief in the New England states, not everyone aspires to play for the Yankees or Red Sox. Albert and his wife have made their home in St. Louis and are happy there.
I don’t doubt his desire to stay in St.Louis but I’m pretty sure that the main reason they’ve made their home in St. Louis is because that’s where he’s played since 2000.
If St. Louis doesn’t pony up to what he wants then my guess is he and his family will relocate w/o giving St. Louis a second thought.
Pujols is from the DR, but he went to high school in Independence, Missouri. So he has ties to there from before his Cardinal days.
Thanks, I’m well aware. That being said, if the Cards don’t present him with a good enough deal then he will sign and relocate elsewhere. That’s been a pretty consistent theme throughout FA history.
Maybe, but there is a class of player that tends to stay with one team their whole career: The Ripken/Jeter, down-to-earth, hometown WS hero, certain Hall of Famer type. I suspect Pujols is more this type than not, and he might agree to take a 9 year deal instead of a 10 year deal to stay in STL. Not saying he will, but it’s not like Pujols is desperate to play for the Yanks or Sox. And it’s not like he’s Manny: only caring about money. Then again, I doubt he takes a hometown discount quite like Mauer did. It’ll be interesting.
Mauer took 8/$183 or $23 mil per. Not exactlya hometown discount. It’s the highest deal ever offered to a catcher. I don’t think anyone would’ve offered him more to be honest.
And as great as Jeter and Ripken are/were, neither are in the same league as Pujols. I can see Pujols giving the Cards a discount but I would still think he would want to eclipse what Mauer signed for. I think $25 mil per is the starting point.
Agree with everything you say. If Pujols were to give STL something of a discount, the comparison might be more along the lines of Griffey’s contract with the Reds, signed when they acquired him from Seattle. It was huge deal at the time, but it was likely less than what he could have gotten as a free agent. Pujols probably won’t give that big of a discount, however.
I understand the Cardinals’ hesitation. What if Pujols gets hurt and declines the way Griffey did, or is even worse? That’s a lot of money for a mid-size market team like STL to spend on any player over 30, even one of the all-time greats. There’s a lot of risk involved. The Yanks and Sox can more easily absorb a huge deal if it looks like something of a mistake, but for the Cardinals it’s bigger risk. Not that Mauer is in the same league as Pujols, but I wonder if the Twins are getting nervous about his contract based on his somewhat disappointing performance last year.
I fully expect Albert to resign with the Cardinals. With that said, I think all the St. Louis people have to get over the notion that there is no way in the world Albert would ever even consider leaving St. Louis.
In fact, he already is considering his options, of which there are plenty.
I wonder if the White Sox could be one of those options.
Probably not because they already have Konerko for 3 more years and Dunn for 4 years. Somebody would have to go.
Trading Dunn or Konerko and moving the other to DH could be a possibility for the White Sox. In comparison, the Yankees and Red Sox have too much invested in Teixeira and Gonzalez to move them to DH, on top of the fact that both players would resist moving to DH. Plus both players would be tough to trade given their salaries and likely no-trade clauses.
being from independence is in no way a tie to st louis…at least no more than being from chicago would be a long standing tie to st louis
True, I didn’t realize Independence was a suburb of Kansas City. But it would be a lot easier for Pujols to honorably sign with the Royals than with the Cubs (not that the Royals would be bidding for Pujols’ services). Even if he hits free agency, the more I think about it I think the Cubs’ chances of landing Pujols are quite slim. Yet, knowing Kenny Williams aggressiveness, I wonder if the White Sox would consider making a serious run at him. I think Pujols stays a Card, however.
No way-two draft picks are no where near Pujols.
If he leaves it would absolutely decimate that organization. N
Oh. Thanks for that insight.
what if one of the draft picks ends up being better than pujols? BOOM! mind BLOWN!!!
I know, right? And they would get TWO shots at it, so the odds would be pretty good that at least one would be better than Pujols.
do you even think he will be a type A?
This is big news for the Cardinals and maybe Pujols and the Cards got an agreement close.
Trading Pujols will be one of the most craziest thing Cards can do. There is not a single player or a group of prospects can replace him. I think Pujols will be with Cardinals for rest of his career.
This is just Pujols forcing the FO’s hands (as if they need to be), letting them know that if they don’t get a deal done by ST they’re either gonna have to bid for him as a free agent or get two draft picks.
I wonder if two-thirds of baseball fans can override his vetos?
do you think that 2/3 of baseball fans would want him to go to a team that isn’t their own?
Trading Pujols to the Redsox or anyone else will not happen. Signing him as a free agent might be possiblity but the Sox just signed Gonzales from the Padres and would need to do something with him. I see Pujols staying with the cards for his career. 6 yrs 175mil with a club option.
DH is your answer for Gonzales
Between Pujols and Gonzalez you’d be paying $45 million to $50 million a year for a first baseman and a DH. I doubt even the Red Sox would want to pay Gonzalez that kind of money just to be their DH. And I doubt Gonzalez would be happy at DH.
You break conventional rules of wisdom for hitters like AGonz and Pujols! 81 games each at first and dh is not crazy!
Why would Pujols agree to such an arrangement? Why would the best player in baseball want to be a DH half the year? Just so he can play in Boston? Not gonna happen. If Pujols agreed to go to Boston, it would be as the full time first baseman. Then you’d have probably an unhappy Gonzalez.
And that doesn’t even address the fact that the Red Sox would have a quarter of their payroll tied up in two players, only one of which is in the field at a given time. I can’t see Theo making a move that unwise.
If the Red Sox acquired Pujols (which they won’t), they would trade Adrian Gonzalez.
Thats absolutely crazy, Pujols will never DH at this age, NEVER. He is a Gold Glove 1st baseman, he is not sitting on a bench for 81 games..28M/8years, automatic option maintaining 300..
technically the sox only have agon for 2011. if pujols becomes available and they havent signed agon to an extension, i suppose it becomes a possibilty
Make agon play third
no
Why
are you being sarcastic or are you oblivious? Gonzalez is not going to be playing third base for any team. EVER. period. end of story. done.
Where one of the top 3 3b play in Youk? Riiight!
Top 3? He hasn’t played there for more than 80 games since 2003. I think Beltre, Zimmerman, Longo and others might take exception to your comment.
pssheee who are those guys? youk is def not top 3 and probably not top 5.
The Red Sox just traded 2 top prospects and an up and comer for Adrian Gonzalez — they would have to give far more than that for Pujols and they wouldn’t have made the Gonzalez deal in the first place without the assurance that he’ll sign the extension — it wasn’t a rental deal…
Kind of a classy move by Pujols that even if the Cardinals can’t extend him he still wants to remain a Cardinal no matter what.
Or is it slightly selfish that he wouldn’t waive his no trade clause and help his team net some top prospects that they would probably not acquire in the draft after next season? Either way, he’s baseball’s best player (or at least one of), and he has the right to do what he feels is best for him and his family, and if St. Louis is the answer, so be it.
That said, I’d love to see either him or Fielder in a Jays uniform this time next year. Fielder being the much more likely possibility, seeing as I see Pujols agreeing to an extension with the Cardinals at some point.
You’re a Jays fan and your name is Motor City Bombshell? Just asking.
(I’m the same guy posting on a different account from my iPhone)
No, I’m definitely a Tigers fan (actually I’m one of those guys who likes all 30 teams) going to college in western Michigan but used to live in Metro-Detroit. But I’m not one of those fans that is going to suggest that the Tigers should get either of those guys because it simply isn’t realistic. I see the Jays being a great fit for Fielder and would not be surprised to go hard after him next season especially if Jose Bautista hits free agency and with all that Vernon Wells money off the books. Just seems logical to me. 🙂
In other words, Pujols is making it clear they need to get an extension done in the next three weeks. If the Cardinals front office screws this up, a majority of St. Louis is going to throw a collective sh!t fit, and rightly so.
don’t worry, he’ll sign. we have this dude on the case. blogs.riverfronttimes.com/dailyrft/2011/01/give_us…
Cardinals need to offer Pujols AROD $$ + 1 dollar and give him 10 days to sign. On day 11 if he didn’t sign, announce to the public that Albert rejected the chance to become the highest paid player in baseball history and it is now clear he does not want to be a Cardinal. Follow that statement up with making overtures that he is available to the highest bidder. At this point he would no doubt drop his no trade at this point.
Many prospects are much safer for the Cards than the draft picks.
I think the big suitor should he reach FA, will not be the Red Sox. I think it will be the Cubs, who signed Pena for only one year. They have the cash, the willingness to spend, and would love to mess with St Louis. I think Albert’s LAST ten years would easily be worth $275 million, but I’m not so sure about the next 10…if they keep him, STL fans should be VERY happy…for about 5 or 6 years.
Blue Jays. Blue Jays. Blue Jays. Blue Jays. Blue Jays. Blue Jays. The stars are aligning. Come on Albert!!
Neither the Red Sox nor the Yankees have a need for a first baseman, so if King Albert leaves St. Louis (which I don’t think he will), then it will be to a team like the Angels or the Cubs or the Dodgers or the Giants or the Mets or the __________. There will be plenty of bidders for his services because he is Albert Pujols. Players of his level don’t hit that market that often. A-Rod’s probably the last in that class. Could he go to the Yankees or the Sox to be a DH? Sure, but he has no desire to do that. He may be the best defensive first baseman in the NL, and the Yankees and Sox both already have two excellent defenders. I am assuming A-Gon’s contract does get announced right after Opening Day as the Sox continue to try and dance around the luxury tax. And on the Yankees side, not only do they have Teixeira, their young catcher, Jesus Montero, is most likely suited better for first base and DH. He projects out as a .300/30 HR player, who will be playing for league minimum for a few years. Just no room on either team.
He’ll be a Cardinal. I doubt the issue is paying him $27+-million a year so that he’s up in the A-Rod range. The Cardinals can afford it and if they’re not going to pay a once-in-a-generation player like Pujols the money, then I’d be pretty upset if I was a Cardinal fan. It’s probably the length of the contract. Going ten years is crazy. The Yankees will probably have to eat the last couple of years of A-Rod’s contract and no way the Cardinals want to put themselves in that same situation. And, while I know it will annoy Cardinal fans saying this, but there are still questions about Pujols’ real age. He could be a couple years older, and that’s huge. A ten-year contract for someone who will be 32-year old in 2012 is crazy. Total insanity if he’s 34.
Finally someone actually making some sense on here, well done
if he becomes a free agent, he will be a met. the mets have a ton of money coming off after this season.
I think Barrt “made off” with the money it might take to sign Pujols.
Damn..”Barry”….messed up a good joke.
It was still funny.
you can edit your messages.. just sayin
There is absolutely nothing “greedy” or “selfish” about Pujols vetoing any deal. He is 100% committed to being a Cardinal for the duration of his career, so I believe staying true to his word is, instead, admirable. The Cardinals, meanwhile, will never want to do anything to slight their franchise player in any way. This will be 100% respectable through and through.
That said, Boston fans must be truly delusional if “DH” and “Albert Pujols” were to ever appear in the same sentence. The Red Sox already have a Gold Glove first baseman; there is no need for two of them. And when considering moving a great defender like Pujols to full-time DH, something he would NOT want to do anyway, why would any team in the AL dole out that much money? Yes, he is Albert Pujols, the single-best hitter of this generation, but his value takes a serious hit once he’s removed from the field. Only a fool would take the total package and ask, “Can I pay you full price for 70%?”
Since I’m a Rays fan, I would trade almost anyone for Pujols… Maybe even Hellickson! Hahaha.
Maybe Longoria is better all around(or projects to be) but Youk is a fine defender and is in any conversation for top 3 all around with Longoria, Wright and Arod! Beltres bat, outside of 2 big years, doesnt measure up to these 4! Actually lets say Youks top 5 to make it easier!
I think that what the cardinals do with Larussa and some clubhouse cancer(rasmus) is going to have a lot to do with whether or not he stays. I think it would be a very smart move for Pujols to wait and see what the organization is going to do to give him a chance to win before he signs.
He’s going to get the money he wants from any team; I’m sure he wants it to be a winner who pays him. You can’t blame the guy if he pulls a lebron James and skips town if they fail to give him a competitive team….not to say the cards won’t do that but it’s definately a possibility.
Pujols loves to play for LaRussa and he does not mind Rasmus. You thinking of Ryan. Both Pujols and Carpenter had a problem with Brenden Ryan.
As a Cardinals fan, I’d rather see this than a headline of “Pujols would approve a trade to New York, Boston, Toronto or Anaheim” or something like that…
Far fetched scenario:
Yankees trade Tex to nationals. They wanted Tex, they actually offered more $$$$ then the Yankees. The Yankees would still need to some $$$$. They receive some decent prospects back only because they are willing to take the rest of Tex’s contract off of their hands. This only happens (of course) if Pujols agreed to sign with the Yankees.
The Yankees sign Pujols for $30 millions a year.
The Yankees are even more hated by the fans of baseball with the Cardinal Fan base projecting its full wrath upon the Yankees organization.
The only part I am not sure about is if the Yankees could truly be hated anymore then they already are…….
so i will address all of the pujols to boston possibilities and it could be a very good possibility if he becomes a free agent. I hope he does not but man it would be nice to have him.
1. Boston has 50 plus mill comming off the books next year, after arbs and gonzo we should have about 30 mil left to spend.
2. Boston has set themselves up to be very competitive for the next 6-8 years.
3. Pujols would be able to extend his career and save his legs by switching between dh and 1st. It cuts down on wear and tear.
4. He would have tons of protection in the lineup and would put up even more crazy numbers in fenway
5. He would play in the best division in the game and compete with the best every night.
the list could go on. I hope he stays in ST louis though. I love that city and watching him play there.
I honestly dont know if its the best option for the team to sign him for 30 mil per. They could take that money and sign two or three key peices to make them a better all around team. the problem is, i feel they locked up too much with holliday. But i do hope he stays. Will be very interesting if he hits FA.
Stop stealing my ideas Theo! Dont make me call Duquette! Lol!
that Matt Holiday signing was a very bad one
After looking at the Jason Werth signing and many others, that Matt Holliday signing is a BARGAIN.
This is seriously the dumbest article ever written by ESPN. ESPN has nothing to write about for the negotiations so they are making up hypotheticals about the Cardinals. The Cards will never trade Pujols and they will resign him a few days before Spring Training.
Great piece Onley! Buster has all the answers!
Man I hate Buster Onley.. Guy is such a bore and never says anything interesting, its pretty obvious Pujols would veto any trade.. why wouldn’t he? He not the rental type for any ball club. Buster do us all a favor and wait till you hear of actual news before you open your mouth again.
Yeah…. this coming from Buster Olney, the guy who suggested an Albert Pujols for Ryan Howard trade straight up, that was realistic wasn’t it BUSTer. I might just start referring to him as BUST from now on. I mean the man seems to make up half the information he writes.
Before I go on, I regard Albert Pujols as the best player in baseball if not one of the best in the history of baseball.
But for the subject of debate as a lifelong baseball fan, I have to ask the question: Is ANY player worth ~$30 million dollars a year?! Disregard the number of years for a second (and also disregard that no one who plays a silly game should make that much money, but we live in this fantasy world called MLB)
Studies have shown that attendance and fan support is all about winning and getting to the playoffs. One player will not draw fans, so inherently the question really is: “how can a GM get the most value out of the dollars that they spend?”
1. $30 million per year puts full risk in one player. While we know Albert isn’t much of a talent risk in terms of his ability to produce when healthy, this is a guy with a history of elbow issues going into his early 30s after 10 years in the league; certainly the wear-and-tear is going to catch up with him. Not to mention that fluke injuries can happen to anyone; especially when in their mid-30s.
2. Albert Pujols at 1B arguably plays at one of the deepest positions in the majors. $15 million can buy a quite productive 1B, which gives the team another $15 million to cover gaps elsewhere. Like #1, it also mitigates risk by having 30% of the team’s investment in one player.
The numbers floating around for Pujols are approximately $30 million dollars per year. This is 30% of a mid-market team’s payroll for one player. I have to ask the question, “is one player who’s 30% of a team’s budget giving the value back to his team to win divisions?”
I am pretty sure the Cards sign Pujols to an extention. You never know what can happen. Maybe the Cards will sign him as a FA, like they did with Holliday. The Yankees and Red Sox won’t sign him as a FA, if it goes that far. They wouldn’t spend that kind of money on a DH. Non of the players would agree to being a DH.
The free agent market has never seen the likes of Albert. As far as most are concerned, he is clean, for 1 thing. He, like the greats before him, plays first where careers are lengthened. He won the decade of the oughts, the triple crown for the ten year period. There is no reason to believe that his performance will depreciate appreciably. His eye is a once in fifty year batting machine. He keeps himself in peak physical and mental condition. He will be 32 in his first contract year. Ask yourself, how will he play when he’s 41? I’m willing to bet he still hits for average and power. He’ll lose foot speed which is not a great difference maker. And most telling, he is a very good off speed hitter, can spray the ball, and has great plate coverage.
If an owner cannot figure out a way to turn 300 million into more than five, he should not be an owner. If you ever had a product to market, this is a fine one. If the Cards don’t at least offer 10 years – 300 million, Dewitt should just sell the team. It will be obvious that he doesn’t understand baseball.