Albert Pujols leaves door open for renegotiation with Cardinals
St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols hasn’t agreed to a contract extension with the club yet, but has left the door open for renegotiation after the season.
In a statement he said, “After spending the last few weeks working toward an extension, we've suspended our conversations with the Cardinals, due to this morning’s self-imposed deadline. Once the 2011 season is over, we hope to revisit those talks. My agent, Dan Lozano, and I have been on the same page throughout this entire process, and we strongly feel this is the best course of action.”
Pujols made it clear that he did not want any distractions that could affect his performance during the season. He said this was one of the main reasons why he had put a deadline to his talks with the club about his extension for the next season. He went on to ask the media to be respectful towards the Cardinals’ organisation, coaches, teammates and his family.
He said that he had utmost respect for the club’s chairman, Bill DeWitt Jr, and the entire management in the Cardinals’ board room. He urged the club to not let the negotiations affect the relationship between him and the club.
Albert Pujols promised to his fans that he would be the same player for the club throughout the season and nothing would affect his performance. He assured his fans and the club that he would give his best efforts to the side as he had done in the past 10 years of his career with the Cards. Pujols maintained the general stance that he and the club were working towards the ultimate goal of sending St. Louis to the World Series.
Pujols added that the last thing for him to focus on would be his career after the season. It is important to reach the playoffs and he told his peers that he felt healthy for the coming season.
He also congratulated ‘The Man’ Stan Musial on receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom. “He is a person that I have come to know and deeply admire and respect,” said Pujols.
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