Show Me the Money

I’ve tried to let a good 24 hours pass before I verbalize my thoughts on Albert Pujols’ dash for cash to the West Coast. When I heard the news yesterday that Pujols would no longer don the “Birds on the Bat” I was stunned. In simple terms, I just couldn’t believe it was true. With all of the unconfirmed reports that had come from the Winter Meetings the previous 48 hours, I knew this just had to be a false report.

Well, much to my chagrin, it wasn’t a rumor, it wasn’t an unconfirmed report. Pure and simple it was a cold reality. As a life-long Cardinal fan, I’ve never experienced the array of emotions as I tried to fathom Albert to Anaheim. I just couldn't make sense of it all. Throughout this whole process I never thought that Albert would leave.

My initial thoughts took me back to Game 7 of the World Series when Albert came to the plate and we all knew it would be his last at bat of the season. In true form, the Cardinal fans stood and cheered Albert to not only honor him for his performance over the previous 11 years, but also let him warmly know they didn’t want him to leave. It was if 50,000 fans collectively got on their knees and begged him not to leave.

So I thought to myself, “I sure hope Albert has a video of that moment, because he’ll never experience that within the walls of Busch Stadium again.” And frankly, he’ll never experience the loyalty that Cardinals fans have shown, and would have shown him…EVER. (Apologies to all of the Angel fans, but it’s true.)

As the day wore on, I just couldn’t believe that Albert would give up the chance to play his entire career in St. Louis and sit alongside Stan Musial as the greatest Cardinal ever. I couldn’t understand why he would give up the moments of returning to Busch Stadium after his retirement, wearing his red sports coat and being honored as one of the Cardinal greats. Other than the Yankees, no team celebrates and honors its Hall of Famers more than the Cardinals and Albert would have been in the group.

Albert would have surpassed Brock, Gibby, Ozzie and Red and rivaled Musial as the greatest, most loved Cardinal ever. Schoendienst, who has been a Cardinal longer than anyone and was Musial’s roommate during their playing days said it best, “It's a funny thing. If he had stayed here, he could have had a statue right up next to Musial's.” For those of you not from St. Louis, that’s a BIG deal. Other than the Gateway Arch, Stan Musial’s statue is the most popular and well-known monument in the city.

But Albert chose otherwise. Look, for 11 years he gave Cardinal Fans memory after memory and in today’s crazy MLB salaries, he did it a bargain price. Not bargain to me and you, but bargain in the bizarro world of baseball. Make no mistake, Albert earned his pay day and he earned the right to hit the market and see what was out there. It didn’t matter how much I, or how much Cardinal nation, wanted Albert to make an emotional decision and choose legends and loyalty over dollars and cents, this came down to a business decision for all parties involved. In the end, I think that’s what disappoints me the most.

From a business standpoint, I would venture to guess that 99% of us would take $250 million (guaranteed mind you) and run. Heck, I’d move to Fairbanks, Alaska for $250 million. To the 1% that wouldn’t, you are lying.

In the short-term, as a Cardinals fan, this hurts. Within a matter of 6 weeks, we’ve gone from joy of winning the World Series, to losing the cornerstone of the franchise. Talk about experiencing the full range of emotions. However, in the long run, this is a good business move. There have been four, not counting Albert’s, 10 year contracts given out in baseball history and those clubs who have given those contracts out have all said it was a mistake. For a mid-market team like St. Louis this contract could have hurt the Cardinals far more than it could have helped them. Sure it hurts to see Albert gone, but the franchise is bigger than the player and I think when it’s all said and done, we’ll be glad to not be saddled with a huge 10-year contract.

I predict before this contract runs its course, the Angels will regret making this deal. The last person to sign a similar deal to Pujols’ was Alex Rodriguez when he turned 32, which is the ‘reported’ age of Pujols. Before Rodriguez signed his contract, he averaged 154 games per season and hit .306/.389/.578. His numbers have dipped significantly since, and he has played an average of 30 fewer games over the first four years. Even Yankee executives admit that the deal is a disaster. (HT to Jeff Passan, YahooSports!.com)

For several years now, Albert has had heel problems and elbow problems. He’s had offseason elbow surgery twice and is one throw home away from needing career altering Tommy John surgery. Frankly, a 10 year deal just isn’t smart, even if the player is Albert Pujols.

I’ve run the gamut of emotions over the last 24 hours and it has led me to this. All sides of this deal have done what they think is best for them. Albert, the Cardinals and the Angels. Gone are the days of playing baseball simply for the love of the game. I guess it’s my naiveté, but my disappointment lies in the fact that Albert should have been a Cardinal his entire career. Bill DeWitt said it, John Mozeliak said it and even Albert said it himself. Frankly, I think if Albert wanted to be a Cardinal bad enough, he could have been and he still would have made more money than he’ll spend in a lifetime.

At the end of the day, the color of Albert’s uniform isn’t changing. He’s going from Cardinal red to Angel red. But make no mistake about it; his decision had everything to do with the color green.