The St. Louis Cardinals fail to sign on Albert Pujols beyond 2011
There wasn’t much surprise there when the St. Louis Cardinals failed to notch up the fiery first baseman, Albert Pujols. The news came in recently and though there weren’t many details, it was quite evident
what the major issue on the plate was. The Cards wanted the player to sign on for another 10 years. The only problem on the forum was Pujols’ wage demands.
The top hitter had been rumoured to have a demand of $300 million. That has not been confirmed yet but the management team in St. Louis had offered the hitter a $250 million payout distributed throughout the next 10 years. General Manager, John Mozeliak
and Chairman of the club, Bill DeWitt Jr. confronted the press after the deadline time had passed.
Pujols had set a self imposed deadline on the negotiations on the talks had been scheduled to last till 11 am, today. The announcement of an offer rejection was conveyed to the press afterwards. Pujols is on the last year of his eight-year, $111 million
contract. Though he will still remain a Cardinals’ players, he will join the free agency in 2011 when the season concludes.
"We felt very good about the offer we made," Mozeliak said, "and we felt that it recognized his iconic status and it also still allowed us to put a successful club out there. So as we sit there and reflect today, I certainly believe that we made every effort
to try to get a deal done."
The Cardinals still have a chance to breakthrough to the playoffs, this season but they face a tough challenge in the National League Central Division as all teams have made adjustments over the winter break period. Pujols agent, Don Lozano, was able to
summarize the deal effectively as the negotiations ended today.
"At the beginning of this process, Albert decided a timetable needed to be established in which we would negotiate," Lozano said. "We exchanged proposals with the Cardinals during that time. While both parties were hopeful that an agreement could be reached,
a difference of opinion in determining Albert's value simply could not be resolved."
With Albert in the mix for the Cardinals for one more season, how much does the club weigh its chances for the off season campaign?
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