According to Steve Phillips of AOL Fanhouse, the Cardinals and Albert Pujols haven't made any progress in contract extension negotiations.
The length of any new contract for Pujols as well as its average annual value represent massive stumbling blocks to St. Louis. Concerns about both factors have prevented substantive conversations between the two parties in recent weeks and continue to stall talks as the slugger's self-imposed deadline nears.
This is the worst fear of Cardinals fans. That the deadline will pass and the Cardinals and slugger Albert Pujols will not have agreed on a contract extension. It won't mean that his time in St. Louis is officially over, but it is one step towards that conclusion. Phillips continues to analyze the obstacle in the negotiations.
Pujols is looking to be paid as the game's best player, a valuation that would take him north of the 10-year, $275 million deal Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez received after the 2007 season. The Cardinals have no argument that the three-time MVP is baseball's pre-eminent talent, but are maintaining that they simply do not have the resources to pay him as such.
It's easy to look at the contract the Yankees handed out to A-Rod and accuse them of ruining baseball for the rest of us, but it's important to remember that it was just a raise on the already ludicrous contract he had signed with the Texans. So let's blame them if anyone for destroying baseball.