BradTaylor

The Pujols Post

In about 20 hours, my favorite baseball team will hold a press conference, during which they will announce that they and the game’s best player, Albert Pujols, were unable to reach agreement on a contract extension. 2011 will become a season then full of distractions for said team and player, even though the deadline that is noon Wednesday is supposed to be in place in order to avoid said distractions.

For the last decade, while he has been busy obliterating baseball records, Albert Pujols has been equally busy doing all sorts of good things. He is heavily involved with his foundation, which raises money to help fight Down Syndrome. He is a man of faith (something that is important to me), and, unlike other superstars who often claim to be persons of faith but live a lifestyle that would indicate otherwise, he has been a tremendous individual in the St. Louis community. Sure, he’s been surly at times with the media, but who can blame him for that? He lives his life in a fishbowl, and by all accounts he is an intensely focused individual.

But when these negotiations began—if they ever really did—they just felt different. Of course, as a Cardinal fan, I’d like to see Albert play his entire career with the Cardinals. Of course I’d like to see him become this generation’s Stan Musial. Do I want that for 10 years and $300M? Well, honestly, no. I don’t see how that helps the organization at all. I’m not suggesting Albert should be trying to help the organization. But it’s very unlikely the Cardinals could field a competitive team if they were paying him that amount of money when he is 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, and 41. If he stays as healthy as he has most of his career, he’ll be pushing some very important and impressive numbers during those years. But will those numbers be equaling revenue to offset that enormous salary? The team will be hamstring, for sure.

So, I’m writing all this for a simple reason. To say “Thank you.” Thanks, Albert. You’ve been terrific. You’ve been a terrific teammate, player, role model, and humanitarian. And you’ll continue to be. I wish you could play your entire career with the Redbirds like Stan did, but I understand the game is different. I’ll always respect you, always cheer for you, and always be glad it all started with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Unless you go to the Cubs.