Players seem more focused on 2011 than Albert Pujols’ future
The St. Louis Cardinals weren’t able to break the deadlock on negotiations with their top star, Albert Pujols. The hard hitting first baseman rejected the club’s offer to play for another 10 years
However, the players of the Cardinals were asked about their take on the situation and they responded with little interest as they are also looking forward to the challenge ahead.
The players that were queried represent a segment of the roster that has a major chunk of club investment hitting the deck. About $40 million has been pledged for the 2012 season.
However, many players are still left out and they may move out of the club if Pujols was, or, is signed to the franchise. Some of these players include the likes of Chris Carpenter, Yadier Molina, Lance Berkman and Adam Wainwright. There are a number of
arbitration eligible stars as well, who may not appear in the roster next year.
Ryan Theriot, Skip Schumaker, Kyle McClellan, Colby Rasmus and Jaime Garcia are the arbitration eligible stars for 2012.
Adam Wainwright was one man, who is likely to appear on the roster and his $9 million vested option is quite economical given his statistics from last year. He was disappointed by the way the deal went down.
"It doesn't make it over-over. He has 10 years with our club, and if he wants to go see what's out there, then you know what? That's what he's going to do. You never know, though. It might happen. It might not. It's out of our control”.
Carpenter was another man, who was asked about Pujols, but he didn’t want to talk about the matter as his main focus has been on the training camp. He has an option of $15 million hanging over him and if Pujols is signed, he may be the one to go out.
Matt Holliday, however, was unable to let go of the idea of seeing Pujols leave. In 2009, he signed a seven year deal with the Cardinals and is willing to see him perform alongside Pujols.
"I'm still pretty optimistic that they're going to get something done", Holliday said. "I don't know anything anybody else doesn't know, but I think it's a little premature to go writing it off that he's not going to be here. I'm still pretty hopeful that
it will get done and he'll end up being here".
Schumaker was another player, who remarked on the positive side of the negotiation process. He stressed that the deal wasn’t over yet and there was ample time to convert a deal soon.
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