Albert Pujols and the Cardinals were unable to reach an agreement on a contract extension before their self imposed deadline passed at noon on Wednesday. But Albert is still a member of the Cardinals, and he reported to Training Camp this morning. You'll never guess what the reporters wanted to ask him about . . .
"Once the 2011 season is over, we hope to revisit those talks," Pujols said in a statement late Wednesday.
With the talks off until after the season ends, Pujols is now fixated on winning.
"The last thing anyone in this clubhouse needs to worry about, is what's going to happen to me after the season," he added.
So from here on out, let's everybody just talk about Baseball and baseball only, ok? The members of the Cardinals locker room have done a pretty good job of telling everyone who will listen that they won't let it affect them on the field, but I'm not really sure that can ever be the case.
I can see Albert coming out of the gates hitting extremely well just to prove a point, but I can also see him struggling a little bit in the beginning of the season if the contract situation actually does distract him. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.