The Story So Far: Aftermath

Posted by JE Powell

It’s been two days now since Albert Pujols accepted a $254 million contract from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. I think many people have had the time to cool down a little and look at the situation a little more logically now. At least I have. Since The Announcement, some items have come to light:

• The Miami Marlins offered Pujols a cool $275,000,000.
• The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim didn’t get in on Pujols seriously until the last 24 hours.
• Bob Nightengale at USA Today has a good article explaining why the Angels got Pujols and the Cardinals didn’t.

If you spend the time sifting through the article and listening to radio and watching TV about this whole ordeal, you get a pretty good picture of what happened. I will do my best to explain why and how the Angels got Pujols and why, believe it or not, I DO NOT blame Pujols for leaving (thought part of me wants to, but I will not).

Back in Februrary of 2011, the Cardinals offered Pujols 9 years, $198 million, which Pujols declined. From what I have heard, it sounds like he and agent Dan Lozano were pretty clear to the Cardinals that Pujols was seeking fair market value (I.E. a similar contract to the 5 year and $125 million that Ryan Howard recieved in 2010 from the Phillies and the 8 years $180 million Mark Teixeira received from the Yankees. That’s $25 million and $22.5 million respectively). It was pretty clear from the get-go that Pujols wanted 10 years and at LEAST $23 million a year. Pujols was not signed before the 2011 season started and refused to negotiate during the season. Fast forward to the winter of 2011. Pujols becomes a free agent and talks resume. Miami gets in on the bidding and offers $275 million for 10 years. Pujols took his time thinking about this contract and then either Pujols or Miami backed out. To me, it sounds like Pujols was waiting for St. Louis to up the ante. I get the distinct impression that Pujols wanted to sign with St. Louis, but he also wanted a fair deal. The Cardinals offer of $210 million over 9 years works out to be a little over $23 million a  year, but Pujols wanted the 10th year. The Cardinals offered a vesting option if he meets certain conditions, but Pujols wanted 10 years gaurenteed. The Cardinals were not willing to go that far.

From what I have heard, Pujols would probably have signed with the Cardinals for $230 million over 10 years. Which, honestly, if this is the case, then Pujols WAS willing to give the Cardinals a bit of a discount. Just not the discount the Cardinals wanted. From a business standpoint, what the Cardinals did makes sense. Had Pujols been 27 years old instead of 32 (at the start of the 2012 season), I think the Cardinals would have been more apt to pony up the money. But, it seems, there were some concerns about paying a 39 or 40 year old $23-25 million a year. With the Angels, however, Pujols now has the ability to DH in the later years of the contract, if necessary.

The fact that Pujols is gone is not just about money or greed. It’s also about ego. It seems pretty obvious to me that Pujols wanted to be wanted and the Cardinals organization (namely Bill DeWitt Jr. and John Mozeliak) just were not willing to chase after him that hard. I am most definitely putting words in the Cardinals organization here, but it has come across like this, “We want you to stay, Albert, but we’re the Cardinals. It’s an honor to play for us, so you should accept our less than market value contract. Sure, you’re one of the best players to ever play the game, but we just don’t want to pay you like you are.” So enter teams like the Angels and Marlins. “Pujols, come play for us! You are the best player since maybe Babe Ruth himself and will will pay you what it takes. You are a special player and we are going to pay you special money.”

The Cardinals made a business decision, but have, in my opinion, come across in the media like, “Oh well, he’s gone. We can win without him, no big deal.” Again, I am putting words in mouths again, but actions, as the old cliche goes, speak louder than words. DeWitt Jr. and Mo can say they made every effort and that it’s a huge loss, but I just do not see them making every effort. It’s like your spouse asking you to mow the lawn. The lawn does not get mowed and your spouse asks you why it wasn’t done. You respond with, “I made every effort. I took the lawn mower out of the garage, filled it with gas, and pulled the pull start cord once, but it didn’t start. I did everything I could, but in the end I just couldn’t get it done.” No, you made the appearance of trying to mow the lawn, you just didn’t try hard enough. Every effort means you exhausted every single avenue. Did you prime the mower? No. Did you pull the pull start cord more than once? No. Did you check to see if the idle switch was in the correct position to start the mower? No. The Cards offered $198 million and then offered $210 million. That’s an increase of $1.2 million a year. For an extra $2 million a year, you could have had him. Pujols would make up the difference just by his mere presence. In years 8, 9, and 10 there is very good chance that he will be chasing records and fans will want to see that. Attendance in every stadium he plays at will go up. Revenue will go up. Jersey sales will go up. There would be more national attention. The list goes on and on.

I can respect an baseball decision made for the benefit of the team. Maybe Dewitt Jr. and Mo really think this will benefit the team in the long run, but when you own a team, you have to think about the fans, too. If baseball is a business, then the Cards should listen to the customers (the fans). It’s obvious that the customers are dissatisfied right now. The only cure for this is winning. If Mozeliak can put a team together that makes a deep run in the playoffs in 2012, I think fans will be OK with the decision.

I said that this is about ego, but not just Pujols or the Cardinals. It’s about the fans’ egos, too. This is about fans not being able to brag about having the best player in baseball on our team. This is about fans being hurt because most of them, it seems, felt like Pujols couldn’t leave the best fans in baseball. And in all honest, I am one of those fans. But let’s be fair.

The Cardinals made a decision. Pujols made a decision. Now fans must make the decision to move on and start thinking about what’s next. The 2012 season is just around the corner and it’s going to be an interesting one!

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