Last night, it seemed like the Miami Marlins might be establishing themselves as frontrunners in the Albert Pujols sweepstakes, but Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com is reporting that Pujols' agent, Dan Lozano, recently phoned the Marlins and let them know that they're out of the bidding.
It's a tad surprising to see that the Marlins have dropped out of the competition so soon after looking like a leader in the pack, but it appears that the Cardinals may have increased their offer since seeing how aggressive Miami was. Bob Nightengale of USA Today has confirmed that the Marlins are in fact out of the bidding, and he adds that Pujols still has three different offers on the table worth at least $200 million.
At this point, it's hard to imagine who's offering over $200 million other than St. Louis, but some possibilities could be the Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Angels. The Washington Nationals, Baltimore Orioles, Seattle Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays could be dark horses in the discussion, too.
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