How Much Is Too Much?

Albert Pujols is scheduled to be a free agent after this season is over. He claims that he will not give the Cardinals a discount like he did last time when he got a huge contract. Pujols wants a new deal in place before spring training is scheduled to start and he is seeking a 10 year $300 million deal.

Pujols is now a 31 year old first baseman. He has achieved a lot in his career. He has had 100+ RBIs and 30+ homeruns every year of his professional career. He has basically carried the Cardinal offense for the last few years, but is he really worth $30 million a year? I personally think he isn't worth that much money.

For all the great things that Pujols does, he can't pitch every 5th day, he can't close out ballgames on the mound and he cannot play two positions at one time in the same game. If the Cardinals sign him to the big deal he craves, they would cripple their franchise and ensure that they would be a losing franchise for a long time. If the Cardinals are smart, they will let Pujols move on if they cannot agree to a contract.

The plan of action would be to attempt to trade Pujols before the trade deadline and get some pieces in return for him. If the Cardinals let him walk after the season, they won't be able to get the maximum amount for him in return. The Cardinals can take the prospects and the freed up money and go get a replacement for Pujols in the free agent market. They would be able to fill more holes with the money freed up. Also, at the end of the proposed deal, Pujols will be 41 and the fact of the matter is that not many players play to the level of their contract after they get in their upper 30s, let alone early 40s.

I'm a Pujols fan and I applaud what he has done in his career, but for him to think that he can sign for 30 million a year in St. Louis and still be playing for a contending team is crazy. The only way he could do that is if he plays for the Yankees or Red Sox, and both teams have their first basemen in Mark Texiera and Adrian Gonzalez respectively.

11 Responses

  1. James Clary

    Am at work, so I don’t have time to look this up, but I would be interested at looking at Pujols win shares vs that of his team. I believe the average win share is valued at 3.4 million, so we would have to be worth 8.5 win shares (a whole lot) for ten years (a very long time).

    I also believe that Cardinals management has said that New York would not have done the A Rod deal in todays current economic enviroment.

    • All in all, you just threw out some more facts that further my point that the Cardinals do not need to sign him to this mamouth deal.

  2. Yea totally agree. 30 mill is ridiculous. I actually wrote about this in November, so this is what I thought and still do think.

  3. Simply put, Pujols is the BEST player in baseball and should be the highest paid for it. It has to be somewhere that’s a good fit tho if Cards don’t wanna ante up.

    • I’m not disputing that Pujols isn’t the nest player in the MLB, but at what cost do you pay him. In this economic climate I don’t think any team can afford the $30 million a year salary. If a team pays him this, then that team may as well say they aren’t going to win for the whole time he is there unless that team is the Red Sox or the. Yankees, and they are set at 1st base. His contract, if someone pays him $30 million, would cripple a team.

      • Its baseball’s system, thats why they need a CAP…but everything Selig does is from ancient caveman hieroglyphics…and dont let the $$ fool ya, baseball owners are just as if not more wealthier than football, they’re all BIG billionaires, they want this system and dont wanna change it

        • I don’t think the baseball owners have a ton of money as compared to the football owners simply because they have been losing money in terms of revenue streams that the NFL has compared to what the MLB has. That’s where the NFL owners have more money and are wealthier. The TV contracts.

  4. I think he is going to stay a Cardinal and end up with a 27-29 mil a year for 9 years contract. I agree that it is too much money, but the amount of revenue they would lose without Pujols makes the large contract worth it. The only team that can offer him a contract of that size and has a spot for Pujols are the Chicago Cubs, so there isnt much of a market for him in reality. Maybe they can work out a deal where a some of the money is deferred and take up on Holidays offer to reduce his contract.

    • That would be interesting if he went to the rival Cubs, but they would lose some money if he left. Holiday already said he would defer money to keep Pujols there in tha Lou. On the other hand, you can’t cripple your franchise by paying Pujols that type of money. It will be interesting to see what happens.

  5. Kareem Howard

    I think no man is worth over $20M, but then again, if you have the money to pay him as well as some supporting players that would help win a championship, then why not? The Yankees have 4 guys with contracts topping at least $100 and they win all the time. But then again, the Yankees are the highest grossing team in sports. If St. Louis caves in and forks over this contract, the Cards will be in the same position as the Texas Rangers when they signed A-Rod to the $250M contract. They had no cap room to sign other decent players, and despite his numbers, they continued to be in the bottom of the AL West. I say, just give him a 5yr deal and make him earn his way to an extension.

    • They’re going to have to pay over $20 million for him, but I do agree that you cannot pay him ridiculous money that cripples your franchise.

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