Memo to Cardinals Chairman Bill DeWitt Jr., GM John Mozeliak and Albert Pujols: Gentlemen, it's time to get it done.
Work out a contract that will keep Albert in St. Louis for the remainder of his brilliant career. DeWitt, Mozeliak and Pujols are all on record, saying they want it to happen, and I don't think they're lying. So if both sides are telling the truth, let's wrap it up by Christmas.
What could possibly get in the way?
One word: ego.
If Pujols and his agent, Dan Lozano, are determined to set an industry record for the largest contract in major league baseball history, the challenge becomes more difficult. The popular Cardinals draw 3 million fans a year and have ample resources, but they aren't the New York Yankees. Pujols doesn't have to be reasonable — he's a free agent and can do what he wants, but if he really wants to stay here, then surely there's a way to carve out a deal.
If the Cardinals are entrenched and resistant to being flexible on a Pujols contract, then they'll increase the risk of losing him. No team is obligated to hand out an irresponsible contract. No team is obligated to crazily overpay a star player simply because another team erred in doing so. The Cardinals shouldn't have to pay for mistakes made by other franchises. But they should be willing to push their limits to make an acceptable arrangement with Pujols.
Pujols has frequently said he wants to be like Stan Musial, an iconic and beloved figure who spent his entire Hall of Fame career with the Cardinals. By staking out that admirable position, Pujols risks being exposed as a fraud if he bolts St. Louis in pursuit of the highest dollar, or the desire for a new lifestyle in a more glamorous environment.
Question for Albert: Do you want to be Stan Musial or LeBron James?
For their part, the Cardinals have said they won't pay Pujols based on what he's done in the past. And that their offer will reflect their internal projections of what he'll do in the future. That seems rigid. Of course, the past is relevant; in his first 11 seasons, Pujols put together a set of numbers that already have him on the short list of the greatest righthanded hitters in MLB history. If the past didn't matter, the Cardinals wouldn't have forwarded their initial offer of nine years, $200 million (roughly) to Pujols.
That said, the Cardinals aren't being cold-hearted and miserly for having real concerns over Pujols' ability to maintain the production over the final years or a long-term contract.
And really, that's what this comes down to.
The length of the contract.
Pujols understandably wants to see the Cardinals franchise back up its stated desire to make him a Cardinal for life by offering a contract that will, in fact, cover the remainder of his career — and at a premium rate.
The Cardinals understandably don't want to get stuck paying an aging, broken-down player $25 million or more a year when he's 38, 39 or 40 years old. If a long-term deal goes sour, the payroll repercussions could be severe. The Cardinals could struggle to consistently field a winner.
Pujols doesn't have to buy into that premise. The Cardinals' long-range concerns aren't his problem. He's a free agent for the first time, and he's earned the right to cash in.
But isn't Pujols the same guy who always tells us how winning is his No. 1 priority? If that's the case, then surely Pujols can grasp the potential consequences of clogging the payroll with an enormous salary covering eight or nine years that makes it more difficult to put other good players around him.
And if winning is so important to Pujols, then why would he consider signing with a losing or underachieving franchise?
The Cardinals should be subjected to the same scrutiny. If the Cardinals are sincere in their desire to maintain a winning tradition after the retirement of manager Tony La Russa, they'll need Pujols in the lineup.
If the Cardinals want to give untested rookie manager Mike Matheny a legitimate shot at being successful, he'll have a better chance with Pujols at first base, batting third. Pujols won a lot of games for La Russa, and it would be almost cruel to take Pujols away from the inexperienced Matheny.
This isn't easy, trying to determine what's fair. On one hand, the Cardinals have received 11 years of excellence from Pujols at a bargain rate. He's averaged about $10 million a year in salary with the Cardinals. The Cardinals' investment of about $111 million in Pujols clearly worked to the team's advantage through 2011. In that context, overpaying Pujols in his late-career phase isn't so awful. The franchise would also be in position to financially benefit from the mania surrounding Pujols when he moves in on important career milestones such as 500 homers, 3,000 hits.
It should also be pointed out that Pujols and Lozano have only themselves to blame for making less money to this point. Before the 2004 season, Pujols signed an eight-year deal for a little over $100 million. Lozano could have pushed for a shorter deal, and Pujols could have emerged from that contract as a free agent at age 27 or 28.
Can you imagine the unrestrained bidding war over a 28-year-old Pujols on the open market? But by committing to eight seasons in '04, Pujols will be 32 by the start of the 2012 season. And his age is clearly a factor in what teams are willing to offer. It would be idiotic at this point for the Cardinals to bid against themselves in the absence of a legitimate, substantial offer from another team.
Age concerns are the likely reason why the market has been slow to form for Pujols, at least so far. While Pujols' numbers are still outstanding, he's already showing signs of decline. His on-base and slugging percentages have dropped in each of the last two seasons. His hitting performance against fastballs dropped in 2011. And staying healthy will become more of a challenge for Pujols. What will he look like at age 39?
If we don't blame other teams for hesitating in giving Pujols a deal that lasts eight or nine years, then why should we demand that the Cardinals disregard similar anxiety?
Like I said, this isn't easy to scope out. If you're trying to be objective about this, you can see merit in both sides of this negotiation.
So here's my version of a compromise: a huge bump in annual average salary for Pujols but over fewer years. Make him the game's highest-paid player over the next five seasons.
Give him $28 million a year through 2016. Obviously, the amount of money can be tweaked, and there is plenty of room for creativity, including vesting options. That way Pujols establishes a new MLB record for the highest salary, which he's earned. But by going five years, the Cardinals will reduce their potential liability. Pujols would be 36 in the final season of a five-year contract.
Pujols wouldn't get the number of years that he wants.
The Cardinals would pay a higher salary than they wanted to.
Hence the word compromise.
Pujols gets to stay at comfortable place that makes him happy. He gets to move closer to a Musial-type legacy. His status as an icon remains unchanged.
The Cardinals would stretch their limits, yes. But the projections show that Pujols is likely to remain at an elite level for the next five seasons, and that gives the organization time to develop more power hitters through the draft and player development. And if Pujols is still banging at age 36, there's time for another contract to cover his final seasons.
Put the egos aside.
Get it done.
