Pujols would be worth 35 mil/year to the Yankees. We better start trying to get him signed now!!!

Why are we worried about 2012 right now? He may not still be productive in 3 years and if he is, we pony up then. There are too many other needs to be concerned about right now, like maybe getting Holiday in here and even maybe Cliff Lee.

The Post-Dispatch is a disgrace. Trying to create a fictional story, just to get more interest in their bankrupted company.

Albert Pujols will be a St. Louis Cardinal for years and years to come. And Pujols has already said (to Channel 5 on Sports Plus) that he is happy with the effort the organization has put on winning, in it’s current state… and that a continued effort of this magnitude is good enough for him, if they are still doing it two years from now.

Burwell just conveniently left that quote out of his article, because it doesn’t fit is agenda - which was to make up a fake story.

And St. Louis fans, along with the idiot writers like Gerry Fraley, have proven to not even be close to the best and most knowledgeable in baseball.

I have been a Cardinal fan my entire life (41 years) and I am literally nauseous imagining #5 in a Mets uniform. No other player has ever given me that feeling. Please sign him to a forever contract or I’ll puke on my computer screen.

Gordo:

I don’t think it’s ever a buyers market for the elite player. The rich franchises always pay top dollar, and there won’t be any discount for this future HOF.

The Cardinals have a middle-of-the road payroll.
That being said, they’ve never made a McClouth-like trade since since probably the late 90’s.

I personally think if the cards have LaRussa or Oquendo as manager in 2012, Pujols will be here.

If management doesn’t sign him to be a Cardinal for life, I’m done with this team. You don’t let the best player of his generation leave because you’re stingy (I’m looking at you, DeWitt!). Hopefully the front office makes him a competitive offer and convinces him the team will contend while he’s here, which is going to take quite a few moves over the next year or so. (Oh and BTW Cardinals, that nice gravel pit where the Ballpark Village was supposed to go will sure look nice to all those visitors during All-Star weekend, won’t it?)

Please tell me we will not see another article on this every day for the next year or two until this is resolved……….

They have the money to sign him. Don’t be fooled by the talk from management that they have to be wise with their spending. This organization brings in 3-3.5 million people into the stadium every year. Add in parking, concessions and television/radio contracts, and they can afford a payroll of $100-120M. They just choose not to do it. If the Cardinals show Albert they are committed to winning, then Albert will take $25M/year for 5 years. That’s a $10M increase from his current salary. However, they better sign Albert or I guarantee the fan base will drop by a million. Here’s the kicker. If Bill DeWitt ever decides to sell the team in the next couple of years, like I think he might, he better make sure #5 is on the payroll.

It’s pretty simple, Pujols will be a Cardinal forever. He has too many ties to the area, and I don’t think that an extra 8-12 million a year is too important to him. That said, the best thing Dewitt could do with Pujols getting paid more but not too much to kill a team is over ownership rights. Making Pujols a partner owner in the Cardinals could eat up a big chunk of his market value and would also have a solid, respected voice having some input in the direction of the team. why not?

I’m not usually one to criticize, but does anyone else think Jeff Gordon drinks too much Kool Aid? Everything he writes is about how building from within is working perfectly, and the Cardinals can do no wrong. He thinks it’s inevitable to Pujols will re-sign here, when the rest of the sports media say it’s a 50/50 shot.

PINSTRIPES ARE SLIMMING TO THE FIGURE. THANKS #5 FOR THE TIMES HERE IN STL.

Pujols WILL NOT leave STL. I’m sorry Gerry Fraley but you are beyond wrong. Every team in Professional Sports craves star power and where the Cardinals sit right now Pujols is the only real national star. Pujols will retire with the birds on the bat the only uniform he ever wore.

Well, Pujols was paid 100 million in his last contract and resulted in one championship. Pay him 200 million this time to get two championships (because one player makes a team) but then raise ticket prices 500 percent every year. Who cares anyway. They’re all a bunch of overpaid, useless cheats.

I kind of see it going down like this: Pujols signs elsewhere. Cardinals FO goes into damage control mode and claims they made a competitive offer, but that a few million dollars more is obviously more important to Pujols than playing for the best fans in baseball. Pujols responds that A) The Cardinals FO failed for years to show a commitment to winning, and/or B) They did not, in fact, make a competitive fair market offer. Remember, the Cardinals have a history of “just missing” out on a number of free agents (Fuentes, Burnett, etc.). In 2012, Brett Wallace moves to first, payroll hits $40 million, 3 million fans show up at Busch.

I think comments like Fraley’s “Ownership knows it merely has to open the gates to draw about three million” are mistaken. They only have to go back 12 years to see what happens when they put a non contending team on the field two years in a row. (2.6MM) It’s hard to argue the Cards don’t value star power either. Even rebuilding they have three All Stars. And by the way, star power doesn’t guarantee world series. The current Yankees have much more star power than the Yankee teams the actually won multiple world series in the 90s.

Seriously “Not a Frickin Idiot” how do you know Pujols means what he says? Is he just saying this so he does not rock the boat? How many more years of finshing 4th place and having guys like Rick Ankiel and Chris Duncan hitting around him will he have the same tone. If in two years the Cards have not made the playoffs due to lack of talent, Pujols’s opinion could turn around real easy. Fraley is right to the extent that all the owners have to do is open the doors and that will draw 3 million fans. There is a lot of Kool Aid out there and some people need to stop drinking it.

This won’t be the most popular idea but I say trade Albert this year before the trade deadline. If Gordo was right in what he’d bring in a trade…
“A couple of blue-chip young starting pitchers, a power-hitting OF prospect and a couple more position players.” that is more overall value than Albert has over a replacement player.
Albert is great but one guy doesn’t make a winner.

The Pujols equation in relation to the FO efforts to put a good team on the field is the factor that moves and will move the FO to do what it takes to build a contender. If this ownership does not get it done, Albert is gone and the tsunami of public outcry will cause this ownership to flee. “Pujols ability to hit a baseball and his stewardship over his conduct on and off the feild” and “ownerships commitment toward Pujols and the Cardinals” could create a fault line greater than the San-Andreas. If “Pujols leaves” due to “lack of commitment” on ownerships part, those two faults will collide and that will be the quake that creates the great tsunami of public outcry against the cardinal ownership. So, Alberts ability to hit a baseball and the love the fans have for this prototype ballplayer and human being are a public relations disaster that this ownership must avoid if they want to have any amiable relations with their fan base. I may be way off, but I think this ownership wants to avoid that disaster. These people did not get to be where they are out of stupidity. …And remember they did bring us a World Championship, as the team they put together in the 03-06 years finally got healed in October of 2006 to the degree they won it all. I applaud Albert for setting his parameters of what he wants to see happen with the Cardinals. His spoken desires of what he wants the Cardinals to be is the largest mouthpeice we fans have. His patience with ownership by not popping off at the mouth against his teammates and ownership is praise-worthy as he lets ownership work out the tough issues to get a winner on the field. That being said, I will be utterly shocked if this ownership does not do what it will take to get Pujols signed, unless they show they don’t care and turn their backs and run while the whole thing gets washed away and falls through the quaking cracks. It’s that big a deal and ownership knows it. Hey…its the Cards and Tigers tonight…#5 will be playing 1st base and hitting 3rd. Ahhhh….life is good in Redbird heaven. ‘;>)

No offense, but Gerry Fraley’s remarks may be the most stupid I have ever heard concerning whether or not Albert stays. Yes, loyalty runs deep with this fan base…deeper than most. But need I say look back to the 70’s and see what happened then.

the home team is too smart to pay so much for one player. im afraid that with all the double talk… they will end up with nothing for him. after this dec. his value will start to go down.

wow. relax. 2012 is a long way away. i honestly can’t believe this is getting people fired up already. this conversation should happen in a year and a half, at earliest. as a cardinal, albert has won a world series and been to the playoffs a bunch of times. it’s not like he’s on the pirates and has done .300/30/100 for 8 straight years while the team played .400 ball every year. he’s tasted great success here. sure, the yankees are always a wildcard, but there are plenty of great players on other teams, the yanks don’t get every player. an x factor in our favor…does albert strike you as the type to want to be in nyc? i don’t know him, but you don’t see/hear much about him around town, other than some charity stuff.

The Machine will stay in STL as long as we stay competitive and thats it. they’re are very few teams out there where he can go… Red Sox, Mets, Dodgers thats it. yanks just sign mark tex to an 8 yr deal so their out the sox just sign the youkster to a four year at first but thet’ll move him for an albert. mets best make some money b/c that lost their fortunes in the maydoff thing and the dodgers just have money so their always in

I love how these blurbs now count as journalism at the Post! Couple these with BM’s 5 minute “gems” and I see a paper quickly going down hill in terms of serious sports coverage.

I think it would be a travesty if the Cardinals don’t sign Pujols. I was in Cleveland this past weekend, and saw first-hand what he means to the team. 3 HR’s in the first 2 games. Saying that Pujo is an icon is a massive understatement. If the front office can find another bat for this year and next (and pitching); Pujols will see that they are trying to put the pieces in to win. The last few winter meetings, the rest of the off-season and before the trade deadline is not evidence of the front office wanting to do the aforementioned. It is very much up to Pujols, but it’s a two way street. You can throw all the money you want at him, but it doesn’t solve the problem (this is starting to sound like a political discussion). Bottom line: You want Pujols…build a better team behind him.

This may be one of the most important issues facing the community for generations! We must take this seriously or our entire society will fail! We should drop all of our petty personal concerns about our families, jobs, homes, our massive wars of aggression, torture, the economy….. and rally to lift Albert Pujols to our shoulders and carry him through the streets like the God that he is! He is our God, our Messiah! Our Saviour! He will save us from everything and the sun shines out of his a$$!

I think this team has more immediate issues that have to be dealt with before they start worrying about signing Albert. If they don’t cough up
more $$ along with making a couple of trades, Albert will go elsewhere. If they do those things (which are the more immediate issues) signing Albert will be easier.
I think our St. Louis sportswritters need to keep the heat on management to improve the team now, making it more competitive and increasing Alberts interest in staying here.

oh my! did you ever hear sheep sing kumbia? the economy is good here.

“Only a rebellion by the obedient fan base will get ownership’s attention.” If Pujols is traded I will quit being a Cardinal fan. So will my father, who has been a fan since he was a kid. I say we start a million man petition right now stating that Cardinal fans everywhere will boycott the organization should Pujols be traded.

For those of you who constantly complain about the quality of the stories the Post journalists are writing here… shut up. This is a blog. It is posted on the Blog Zone. It is written for conversational entertainment purposes, and that’s what this media is all about. You want real journalism, don’t read blogs. Next, I don’t think there is any way to underestand Albert’s true trade value. There is NO other player in the Major Leagues that is such a catalyst for winning. He is invaluable. We need to keep him in St. Louis as long as he is capable, and not let him go any sooner. Unfortunately, Bill DeWitt seems to be perfectly likely to move toward a salary dump at some point, and certainly not want to spend a quarter of his yearly payroll on one player. Pujols SHOULD retire a Cardinal, due to his being irreplacable, but I wouldn’t bet my hard-earned money on it…

i concur that burwell is a complete hack. typical lazy reporter cut from the same cloth as guys like terrance moore in atlatna. of course he leaves stuff out to push his own agenda. that’s the first problem, a reporter with an agenda is doomed to failure, or resort to cheap ploys like often writing columns that dance around the race card….

If the Cardinals management wants to keep Albert Pujols in a Cardinal uniform, and they darn well should, they need to show a committment to winning. The pitching staff has been the week link in the lineup the last few years, especially in late innings. Cardinal’s management should ask Albert who he thinks are the five hardest relief pitchers in baseball to get a hit against - then put two of them in Cardinal’s uniforms.

You best sign that guy til he’s 110 and crawling out to the plate. Sign his great grandkids if you have to. Otherwise, that would be the ONE thing that would buy you an empty stadium. Let him go…. EVER… and you may as well ship the franchise on down the road. Now, can we please concentrate on getting some pitching THIS season?

Players come and go. I remember when I couldn’t imagine the Cardinals without Lou Brock and Bob Gibson. Which would you rather have, a Cardinals team with Pujols that is competitive every year, or a team that actually wins championships? If Pujols is 30% of your payroll, it will be much more difficult to put a team around him. Anyway, this is pie-in-the-sky stuff, way too early to worry about it. The team has nothing to lose by waiting until 2011.

The Cards and I will have some issues if he is not signed. With that said,
I DO expect Albert to finish his career as a Cardinal. The Cardinals have the capital to pay him what he deserves. St. Louis is a huge market, they can do it. The Cardinals need one BIG star on the team, an icon, if you will, and that icon is Albert.

It won’t happen. Gerry Fraley is dead on.

Just like the Rams moving stories, creating hype over Pujols future in 2012 is making the news instead of reporting the news. This is not the typical reporting and commentary that I appreciate from Bernie Miklasz. Wondering now about Albert is only churning up emotion.

I want to hear more about Bill DeWitt and why he thinks this team heavy with left-handed hitting that has no left-handed starters and is weaker defensively than last year is going to improve on last season. Is Mo the GM or is he an administrative assistant for DeWitt. The point is, there are other stories that I want to hear about. The newspaper has become a talkshow.

In the 45 years that I have been a Cards fan, I have never seen ANYONE compare to Albert. He is simply the best! It will all come down to Albert
and his family to do what is best when that time comes. I know it would sure be nice to see him at Busch 20 years from now, like you see Stan, Brock and Gibson today. Good luck Albert!!!

Is Jeff Gordon claiming the Cardinals are going to shed even more payroll next year? How is that possible since DeWitt has promissed payroll will once again exceed 100 million again this year?

Someone who isn’t a complete and fricking idiot - you are a right thinking kind of guy! The thread proves how far the Post Dispatch has fallen. Sportwriters should be forced to bet their predictions and disclose them to the public so they can be held accountable.

What is the best player in baseball worth? I keep seeing the 22-25 million figure and if I’m Albert, I”m shaking my head. There is no way the Cardinals will get a home town discount as things stand today. Unless the economy heads south of where it is today, or Albert falls into serious decline/injury…doubtful. The Cardinals will be looking at a 30 million price tag on Albert. I truly hope he remains a Cardinal for life, but lets get real.

I completely agree with Rick Hummel. A significant number of contracts go off the books this off-season: Glaus, Greene, & Pineiro would be around 25M a season freed up, & if the Cardinals replace that with Wallace, Ryan, & Mortensen or another Memphis starter, they have ample resource to sign Albert to a long-term contract. In addition, it needs to be done sooner rather than later. If Adrian Gonzalez hits the open market before the Cardinals re-sign Albert, the price inflates from Manny & A-Rod type money to just pure insanity.

Derrick Goold says “Any extension negotiated now would be making a gamble on health that the current contract makes unnecessary”. This is missing the point. By extending Pujols now you ARE taking a risk, and in return receiving a lower price than if you allow him to reach free agency. If Albert Pujols is a free agent after 2011, there is a very good chance another team makes an offer the Cardinals simply will not be able to match. In the end I agree with Rick Hummel: if Albert is not signed before the 2010 season, the chances he retires a Cardinal take a pretty big hit.

Gotta love how some media members are stirring the pot just trying to get people all worked up.. Great work guys!!!!!! Tools

I have been a Cardinal fan all my life.. They let the best general manager since whitey Herzog, Stan Musial go which was Walt Jockerty go to Cincinnati. They need to send this general manager to the Cubs, or Cleveland who have been the laughingstock of the game, for years. Sounds like this idiot of a general manager, doesn’t have a brain! If he does, it’s in his rear end, and not in his head. he can’t seem to make any wise decisions.If he doesn’t sign Pujols, to a forever contract, where he can finish his career,as a Cardinal, they need to clean house in the front office.Kick and run all their butts out of St Louis. Come on you idiots in the Cardinals Office, don’t let a fan favorite like Pujols, go who is certainly the best player in the game of baseball.Are you going to be stupid like Bing Devine, who let a 27 game winner like Steve Carlton go,in 69? It cost the Cardinals another pennant! If they don’t sign Pujols, to a long contract,I’m done with the Cardinals.They can take the team & shove it as far as they can!

Pujols will be heading to the big apple to play for the Yankees. It will be a sad day in Cardinal history and I will boycott the Cardinals! The fans should make it known that Pujols is the franchise!

The Yanks just signed Tex to an 8 year deal for $22.5M per, Pujols doesn’t fit there. If he does go anywhere other than the Cards it would be the Mets.

This isn’t about the Cardinals re-signing a great player, it’s about the Cardinals re-signing one of the greatest players to ever play the game. The next contract should revolve around the fact that this will forever be known as the Pujols era. Ballclubs only have a once in a blue moon shot at this. Could you imagine Cardinal history if Slaughter, Musial, Gibson or any of the other hall-of-famers hadn’t been re-signed?! You bite the bullet and get it done. This is the stuff that Cardinal legend is built on and you can’t put a price tag on that and its effect on the larger fan-base. We don’t properly appreciate what the St. Louis Cardinals mean to MLB as a non-coast operating at that level of popularity of a top 10 city population team.

I think that the team is currently in this predictment now as they are not adding any good talent around because of Albert’s current salary already. If this was not so why have the Cards not improved themselves in the free agent market for the past couple of years. Outside of Pujols, this team for the past couple years has had just basic mediocre talent & it’s a testament to the managerial skills of Tony LaRussa that he has gotten as much mileage out of these players as he has. Unfortunately the problem is if you pay Albert his worth your not going to be able to afford to add any players to bulid around him & as good as he is, he can’t do it all himself. But if you let him go you stand to lose attendence because of his drawing capacity. If your a Cards fan it’s not a great position to be in let me tell you because on the one hand you have one of best all around players in the game & to keep him the quality of the team will suffer, but if Pujols goes the Cards probably hit rock bottom.

I see some ifs here. If the team is competitive, if he stays healthy and if the ownership is willing to pony up, Albert will be here. Albert IS the franchise right now. If Gussie Busch was still alive, this would all be a moot point and AP would already have a lifetime contract with the Cards. He loved baseball and St Louis. Making money on the team was secondary. Of course, the brewery created more cash for Gussie than he could possibly spend anyway.

Pujols is a once-in-a-lifetime player and they need to do what they can to keep him. THAT said, a lot of franchises have endured their megastars leaving; St. Louis would too. Let’s give this thing more time to play out. Can’t we discuss something else? A lot can happen between now and 2011.

I’ve been a Cardinal fan since 1964 and believe that Albert Pujols is the greatest baseball player to wear a major league uniform since that time.

Look at what he’s done since his rookie season in 2001! He’s only 29 and on pace to hit approxinately 54 home runs and 145 RBIs this year. He might very well take the batting title. If he is able to lead the NL or majors in all three categories he’s your first Triple Crown champioin since Yaz won it back in 1967 or 42 years ago!

Albert is a lock for the HOF so long as he stays relatively healthy. The Cardinals must sign him. They don’t have a choice. If they opt not to for whatever reason the P.R. backlash and fallout will be extreme. The organization can kiss their 3 mil annual attendance good bye. We as die hard Cardinal fans won’t tolerate that type of mismanagement.

Go Cardinals!

Cardinals management needs to start looking to add talent via free agency and trades. The farm system they advocate now might work, but if it doesn’t Pujols will head on out of town. Is it worth the risk? I think not.

If DeWitt does not get Pujols re-signed, he should be waterboarded until he sells the team. There is too much tradition at stake with the Cardinals for this cheapskate to continue as team owner.

HE BETTER BE!!!!!!!

I’ve been a die hard Cardinal fan since I was 9 yrs. old (43 years ago), but if they let Albert go then I’m finished also.

Hey folks, Pujols will resign for MUCH less than he is worth if he can stay in STL and the Cards (DEWITT AND MO YOU JACK***** LISTEN UP) attempt to put a winning team on the field every year. The problem is the DeWitt WONT do this, They pushed the old GM out because he wanted to spend money on a winner instead of riding the cash wave that us fans bring, and now we will lose Pujols. I will no longer be a Cardinal fan if Pujols leaves. I bought their story for 3 years despite KNOWING they were lying to me by buying season tickets. SHAME ON ME. If the Cards dont make a move and throw the same BULLS*** story out there next year they have for a few years now I would STRONGLY suggest all cards fans DO NOT RENEW TICKETS OR BUY SINGLE GAME TICKETS AT ALL!!!!

There is only one uniform big enough for the great Albert Pujols and it has Yankee pin stripes!

Why is everyone freaking out about this situation?

Pujols is the face of the franchise, someone that takes responsibility and does not take the sport or his fans for granted.

(Imagine the empty seats at Busch if Pujols were a Met, I’m sure DeWitt has thought of this. It will all work out.