It's too early to know if the Cardinals' negotiations with Albert Pujols will lead to a new contract in St. Louis or a new beginning for Pujols with another franchise. I'm still inclined to believe they'll get it done and that Pujols will stay. And I'm not convinced Pujols will bolt after the 2011 season unless he receives a new deal with the Cardinals by the start of spring training.

This will be an excruciating, difficult process. It's premature to dig in and take sides and rip team chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. for being cheap, or to accuse Pujols of being greedy. We do not know what the Cardinals plan to offer. We do not know the specific price of Pujols' demands.

But I do believe the Cardinals made a mistake with their decision to slow-play these negotiations. If you go back to 2009 you'll find quotes from DeWitt and team president Bill DeWitt III describing the winter of 2009-2010 as the "optimum" time to discuss a contract with Pujols. But it never happened. And during the lull, market factors have worked against the Cardinals.

In April 2010, Philadelphia first baseman Ryan Howard agreed to a five-year deal with an annual average salary of $25 million. In recent days and weeks, teams have handed out humongous seven-year contracts to outfielder Jayson Werth ($126 million from Washington), outfielder Carl Crawford ($142 million from Boston) and first baseman Adrian Gonzalez ($154 million from Boston.)

Those star players are roughly in the same age group as Pujols. And their major-league production, while outstanding, isn't as consistently excellent as what Pujols has provided for the Cardinals.

These megadeals only raised the cost and lengthened the contract terms of doing business with baseball's best player. And the delay will probably make it even more difficult to reach a new agreement.

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Here's how our friends at www.makeNFLplayoffs.com assess the Rams' playoff hopes: With their win at Arizona the Rams increased their chances of making the NFL playoffs to 46.3 percent. If the Rams go 3-1 in the final four games, they have an 87.6 percent chance of making the postseason. At 2-2, it's a 45.3 percent chance. Interesting. ... NFL Network analyst Steve Mariucci spoke highly of the Rams during the Thursday Night Kickoff show. "This is a Cinderella story for sure with the Rams," he said. "I think Steve Spagnuolo and his staff are a year ahead of the game."

Congrats to DeSmet grad and Indiana junior forward Will Bruin, a finalist for the Missouri Athletic Club's Hermann Trophy. It marks the first time a St. Louis player has been a finalist for soccer's version of the Heisman Trophy since Matt McKeon (DeSmet, St. Louis U.) in 1995. Bruin was the Big Ten offensive player of the year, with 18 goals and five assists on the season, and helped Indiana reach the third round of the NCAA Tournament. The other Hermann finalists are Darlington Nagbe (Akron) and Colin Rolfe (Louisville.) The women's finalists are Melissa Henderson (Notre Dame), Alex Morgan (California) and Christen Press (Stanford.) Former St. Louis U. and U.S. national team star Brian McBride will be the featured speaker Jan. 7 when the awards are presented at the MAC. Call 314-539-4470 for reservations.

St. Louisan Loren Woods (Cardinal Ritter) was featured in the Wall Street Journal this week in a story about former NBA players playing in other countries. Woods is playing for a pro team in Lebanon. Woods told the WSJ he appreciates the arena security in Lebanon. "You see 20 guys with AK-47s, you're going to think twice about hurling a bottle," he said. ... Chris Carrawell, Woods' former teammate at Ritter, is a graduate assistant for his alma mater, Duke. Carrawell played pro ball in Europe before returning to Duke, which hosts St. Louis U. today.

If you watch college football's greatest game of the season today — Army vs. Navy — keep an eye on Navy's new middle linebacker. St. Louisan Matt Warrick (Marquette HS), a sophomore, will make the first start of his Navy career. He's No. 51. Matt's parents (Vince and Nancy) and sisters Hollie and Emily will attend the game in Philadelphia. Perhaps Warrick will get a chance to tackle St. Charles native Brian Cobbs (Francis Howell), the sophomore Army slot back who wears No. 32 ... Congrats to CBC senior soccer player AJ Cochran, who was named an NSCAA Boys High School All-American.

Rams QB Sam Bradford has more rookie-season wins (six) than fellow former No. 1 overall draft picks Terry Bradshaw, Peyton Manning, Troy Aikman and John Elway each had in their first seasons. ... Commenting on the Pro Football Outsiders website, NFL historian (and longtime NFL Films producer) Greg Cosell offered this observation on Bradford: "Because of his accuracy, he will always make his receivers better in the long run. Because he's very compact, and he's very accurate. Believe me, I'm not comparing him to Tom Brady at this point in time, but I think he has attributes like that. Brady had (Randy) Moss for a few years, but for the most part, Brady has not had elite receivers. And Bradford is the kind of guy ... who can make receivers that you would not say are Top 10, better."

On his weekly radio show, Indianapolis Colts president Bill Polian suggested he'd make a mistake by not drafting offensive tackle Rodger Saffold with the last pick of the first round; the Rams drafted Saffold one pick later, at the top of the second round. ... Speaking to reporters in his native Puerto Rico, Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina said the team has offered its backup catcher spot to his older brother, Bengie Molina, and is waiting to see if Bengie accepts. Christmas gift idea: St. Louis Browns' logo shirts, caps and more are available at www.stlbrowns.qbstores.com.

Former Mizzou quarterback Chase Daniel is moving up in the NFL ranks; he's the New Orleans' Saints No. 2 QB behind starter Drew Brees after spending much of 2009 on the team's practice squad. The Saints' coaches like Daniel and believe he has some Brees-like attributes. Daniel is also serving as the holder on field goals and extra points. Daniel won the No. 2 job after completing 70 percent of his passing attempts in the 2010 preseason. He's yet to attempt a pass in a regular-season game but said, "It's worlds away from where I was last year."

Last season the Rams didn't have a defensive tackle amass more than five quarterback hurries and knockdowns and more than one sack for the entire season; new Rams DT Fred Robbins already has 13 knockdowns-hurries and five sacks. I'd be surprised if Robbins didn't get some serious Pro Bowl consideration. He's had a significant impact on the Rams' defensive turnaround. And the Rams' transformation on defense has been pretty dramatic; they are tied for eighth in fewest points allowed, 14th in yards allowed, second in preventing third-down conversions and are third in sacks.