Tony La Russa discusses Albert Pujols and Playoff changes
The winter meetings are almost about to close down and while the free agency is still buzzing with activity, there have been indications that more action is left for Thursday to boil over. The month has run the market faster and
it has to be credited to the meetings. 30 teams from the National League and the American League are looking to sign in the best players from the market. While there have been moves made along the line, there are still a few agents left in the basket.
Cliff Lee is still the top agent in the market and alongside him, there is Adrian Beltre. However, some teams are looking to extend existing contracts and the St. Louis Cardinals are not far behind on that move. Their manager,
Tony La Russa, recently held a press conference, where he discussed Albert Pujols, Ryan Brendan, Lance Berkman and MLB (Major League baseball) Commissioner’s Special Committee for On-Field Matters.
Albert Pujols’ contract is expected to run out at the end of next year’s campaign and Tony stressed on the contract signing situation by saying, “You know, there's only so much time before we start Spring Training. I mean, I know
Albert well enough that once he gets into Spring Training, he doesn't like distractions. I just know where the heart and heads of both the team and the player are, they want it to work out. They'll work at it, and we'll see what happens. Once we get into actually
getting ready officially for 2011, Albert's the strongest between the ears that you can find, and nothing's going to get in his way. “
Signing Pujols on for another 5 years would be the right choice and for the hitter who won the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards, the club would be willing to do anything to make that happen.
Tony went on to discuss the playoff extension development which Commissioner Bud Selig recently launched. The idea is to expand the post season and La Russa commented on the proceedings by saying, “I know that officially, the best
comments are going to come from the Commissioner's Office," La Russa said. "So it's not official, but just an opinion, I think any opinion a fan would have is what I would say. You just compare the excitement of one game versus two out of three, which is a
little different test of which team should go forward.”
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