Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt and GM John Mozeliak have the fans on their side. This illustrious franchise just won its 11th World Series, and we're still in the afterglow, the grace period.
And based on the early reaction, most Cardinals fans aren't steamed at team management over the free-agent defection of Albert Pujols to the Los Angeles Angels.
This has always been an intelligent baseball town, and most fans realize the Cardinals have no reason to apologize for offering Pujols a guaranteed 10-year contract worth $210 million.
It would have been foolish for the Cardinals to match the Angels' bid of 10 years and $254 million for a player who turns 32 next month.
The fans get that.
But the goodwill won't last if the Cardinals sit tight and fail to make some meaningful moves to upgrade the roster for 2012. With Pujols headed to LA for the overdue payday and the "respect" that he didn't believe he received in St. Louis, the Cardinals have payroll space for home improvements.
Pujols made $16 million last season, and now that money is free to be utilized in the designated 2012 payroll of $110 million.
For their sake, I hope DeWitt and Mozeliak understand that their credibility is on the line. If the franchise pockets most of the Pujols money and does little with it, the sentiment will turn against them.
The Cardinals need help in the outfield, at shortstop, second base and the bullpen. There isn't a great free-agent pool out there. Mozeliak says it's "highly unlikely" that the Cardinals will make a run at free-agent first baseman Prince Fielder.
A free agent such as switch-hitting outfielder Carlos Beltran, who can play right field or center, could bring stability and quality depth to the outfield. Corner outfielder Michael Cuddyer — who can also play first base and a little at second base — is a righthanded bat with decent pop.
There are some prominent bullpen arms on the market, including Ryan Madson. The shortstop pool doesn't have much to offer unless the Cardinals want to do something crazy like overpay Jimmy Rollins or Rafael Furcal. But they could pursue a trade for a shortstop.
There are a lot of ways to make this team better for 2012. And the fans know that, too. The large percentage of customers may have backed team management on the Pujols sweepstakes, but everyone is watching DeWitt and Mozeliak to see what they'll come up for a Plan B.
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No Blues player has raised his game more than T.J. Oshie since Ken Hitchcock became coach Nov. 8. In 15 games with Hitch, Oshie has six goals and five assists and is a plus five. In 13 games before Hitchcock arrived, Oshie had three goals and five assists and was a plus one. But the biggest difference is Oshie's aggressiveness; he had only 19 shots in the first 13 games. He has 44 shots in 15 games under Hitchcock. ... The Blues' goaltenders are seventh-best in the NHL with a .920 save percentage so far. Last season the Blues were ranked 28th in save percentage.
When the Cardinals approached Pujols and agent Dan Lozano about a contract extension, two years (or so) ago, this is what they were told: Pujols wanted the Alex Rodriguez contract of 10 years and $275 million. That was the starting point. So what was there to negotiate unless the Cardinals were willing to do the A-Rod deal or something close to it?
Confident in their chances of hitting a mega jackpot, Lozano and Pujols were understandably willing to explore free agency to make it happen. And they were correct; Pujols got $254 million. But there was never going to be an early-bird contract extension at a discount rate for the Cardinals. Lozano delayed Pujols' entry into free agency by accepting a short-money deal with the Cardinals for Pujols in 2004. Team Pujols wasn't going to settle for the short money again.
Best wishes to our friend Rick Majerus, the St. Louis U. basketball coach, who goes for win No. 500 today against Illinois-Springfield. I don't know if Majerus has anything special planned to celebrate No. 500, but I'm thinking there's a steaming bowl of delicious cioppino waiting for him. ... Our town's Devon Alexander will make his next appearance as a headliner on an HBO-televised boxing card set for Feb. 25. Alexander, Ring Magazine's fourth-ranked fighter at 140 pounds, will take on a tough opponent in Marcos Maidana.
Rams middle linebacker James Laurinaitis is pleased with the hiring of Tim Beckman as the new football coach at Illinois. Laurinaitis congratulated Beckman on Twitter and said, "(He) was defensive backs coach at Ohio State when I was a freshman. Great guy and great coach." ... The Rams have brought so many quarterbacks in for auditions as of late, I expected to see Steve Pisarkiewicz, Rusty Lisch or Gary Cuozzo at Rams Park.
So what does the always fair-minded Bob Costas think about the Cardinals' offer to Pujols and our town's reaction to the defection? Costas offered his take Friday on the MLB Network. After explaining why the Angels and their owner Arte Moreno were in great financial position to take on the enormous Pujols contract, Costas said:
"The Cardinals made more than a fair offer, and they went about as far as their economics would allow. All of those things might have made sense for Arte Moreno to go to a number that the Cardinals couldn't reach. But the Cardinals certainly put out a fair number, which is why you won't find in St. Louis a lot of anger directed at the Cardinals. They're not saying the Cardinals screwed up. Their reaction is disappointment, sadness. And if there's any resentment at all, at least at this point it's directed at Albert Pujols. They believe their devotion to him, and their appreciation of him, in the end, was not reciprocated."
The 42nd annual Missouri Athletic Club Jack Buck Sports Awards banquet has been sold out for weeks, but if you don't have a seat for Thursday night's dinner you can listen to a broadcast of the evening on KMOX on Friday night, Dec. 16 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. The honorees include Lance Berkman, (Sports Personality of the Year), David Freese, Keith Tkachuk, John Kadlec and Harry Statham.
How much more money will Pujols really make in LA, anyway? Dr. Patrick Rishe, associate professor of economics at Webster University, points to the tax rates and cost of living differences between St. Louis and Southern California. Keep in mind that Pujols was offered $21 million a year by the Cardinals. The Angels gave him $25 million a year. According to Rishe, "One would have to earn $33.1 million living in Los Angeles to account for the cost-of-living discrepancies."
And that's before the tax differential. This was Rishe's summation at Forbes.com: "In the end, the Angels offered Albert more gross income. But given the higher cost of living and higher taxes in CA compared to MO, was the Angels' offer actually more lucrative than the Cardinals? I don't think so."
Why could Moreno afford $254 million for Pujols? The Los Angeles Times reports the Angels are about to announce a new broadcast deal with Fox Sports that will pay them $3 billion over the next 20 years, or $150 million a season. The Angels were getting $50 million annually in the old deal.
Condolences to the family and friends of Marilyn Gehner, who passed away this week after a lengthy battle with cancer. Gehner, 76, was a one-time owner of The Locker Room, a popular sports bar located in Florissant. Pitching star Roger Clemens, a family friend, was a regular visitor on trips to St. Louis.
