It's hard to argue with Bernie Miklasz's latest take on the Albert Pujols Contract Armageddon—with contests looming throughout St. Louis as to who can be more easily berated, Albert Pujols and company or Bill DeWitt, it's easy to forget that what we're seeing here is, above all else, a business deal that's just barely begun to take shape. What I've appreciated especially about Miklasz's coverage is his reluctance to take the contract deadline at face value.
I've come to the conclusion that you can either take the deadline or Albert Pujols at face value—not both. If Albert Pujols really wants to avoid distraction, he's going to learn very quickly that an arbitrary deadline that passes and causes his absolute silence will prove incredibly distracting. He'll hear about Albertageddon all year so long as the option remains open for speculation.
So either he admits that the Cardinals and his agent Dan Lozano will have discussions throughout the season, or he admits that he wants to go to free agency. Those are the two least distracting things that he could do, and in either case his best bet is to ignore the deadline.