Some baseball insiders expected St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols to draw a contract worth around $300 million before he helped lead the Red Birds to an altogether unexpected World Series championship a month ago today. But something strange happened when the ticker tape stopped pouring down in St. Louis: the anticipated Pujols frenzy has mostly been a murmur. Yes, there was a "significant offer" made by the new look Miami Marlins very early in the process, but there's been little news on the Pujols front since.
From Yahoo's Jeff Passan:
...three executives last week suggested the number of landing spots for Pujols is frighteningly thin. A team-by-team rundown with those executives placed the St. Louis Cardinals as heavy, heavy favorites – "I’m 100 percent certain he’s going back there," one said – with … well, there’s the rub: They had trouble identifying another team Pujols seriously would consider.
In an age with heavy statistical analysis and bountiful recent examples of declining production from aging, once proud superstars, maybe it's not so surprising. If there's one takeaway here, though, it's that it looks like Albert Pujols will likely remain a Cardinal. Can these last three months get any better for baseball fans in St. Louis?
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