The latest Albert Pujols contract talk ahead of his February 16 deadline: Jon Heyman of SI.com suggests there is no chance for a deal between Pujols and the Cardinals between now and then. Pujols is not represented by Scott Boras, so it's unclear as to where Heyman's sources familiar with the topics are placed, but certainly it's possible that the Cardinals and Pujols fail to come to an agreement before the deadline.
↵It's possible, of course, that a number of things happen. Pujols could forego his deadline when he realizes that he's going to be incredibly distracted by a contract-hungry press whether he has it or not; the Cardinals could put together a deal during the year; Pujols could have second thoughts about leaving or staying.
↵I find the unnamed sources unconvincing so long as they're basically betting on the field: The Cardinals and Pujols won't come to an agreement in a week, sources tell SB Nation St. Louis. The St. Louis Rams won't draft a wide receiver, the St. Louis Blues won't not suffer another concussion, and in general predicting one specific outcome is much less likely to make one look like Nostradamus than predicting in the direction of a vaguer set of options.
↵I don't doubt that Pujols and the Cardinals are far apart; I doubt the source is close enough or has purchase enough on Pujols's mental state to derive a worthwhile column about it.
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