St. Louis Cardinals’ Albert Pujols becomes a free agent – MLB News
As Albert Pujols became a free agent on Thursday, there are speculations which team will extend an offer to the player par excellence, if not the St. Louis Cardinals themselves to retain the first baseman.
Considered to be one of the top players baseball has produced in its recent history, Pujols for the first time in his career is no longer part of the St. Louis Cardinals which was a team he represented for over nine years, debuting back in April 2001.
Since then, the player has won the All-Star award nine times. Not only that, he has been the National League Most Valuable Player Award winner three times. In the uniform that he wore for the Redbirds, he has achieved a lot and has given a lot to his team.
Now that he is part of the 166 free agents this year, it is to be seen how big an offer he gets. The Cardinals had offered him 25-30-million-dollars per year. But there are reports that say that he wants to have a contract that extends beyond that of Alex
Rodriguez, the New York Yankees’ star.
Rodriguez got a 10 year deal of $275 million which made him the highest paid player of history. What he decides once the bid opens is a guess that cannot be made accurately. Whether he stays is a prediction that cannot be uttered reliably.
"There's certainly some things that when you look at putting this club together [for 2012], the big question marks are going to be: Will we get Albert Pujols re-signed or not?" Cardinals’ GM John Mozeliak said during the World Series.
Given the fact that the likes of Jose Reyes and Prince Fielder are among others and are not limited to, in the list of free agents (which is 166 this year), it is indeed tough to say what lies ahead for both the St. Louis Cardinals and Albert Pujols.
But when it comes to Albert Pujols, he stated that he will make a decision which will not only be good for him, but for the family and fans. "Whatever decision I make, hopefully, is the best decision I make for my family and the fans and everybody."
With a batting average of .328 and the slugging percentage standing at .617, he has a record that will force any team to place a bid on him. Among other things, he is 37th when it comes to the number of home-runs in the history of Major League
Baseball.
If nothing else, his 2011 performance was responsible for taking the Cardinals into the winning stand, marking him as one of the most valuable and resourceful players available to the Cardinals.
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