Albert Pujols: For Cardinals, Cost of Signing The Machine Goes Beyond Dollars

It's the classic dilemma in sports: What do you do when all of your options result in a no-win situation? Well, I don't claim to have the answer, but that is what is facing the Cardinals with Albert Pujols.

My point here is that the cost of signing Albert goes beyond the mere contract numbers. Yes, it will be a lot of money, but it's the potential effect on the team's ability to compete that may be the true "cost" of such a deal.

Look, no matter what they do, they lose. If they fail to sign Pujols, St. Louis fans will revolt and may come to the park brandishing weapons.

Yet if they trade The Machine, no matter how good the bounty received, there will be many fans and media around the nation criticizing the deal.

Let's face it: If prospects are involved, the return on such a deal may not be obvious right away—only adding fuel to the fire.

And, worst of all, if the Cardinals simply allow him to walk after the 2011 season—well, that is simply not an option at all.

So what do they end up doing? I'm almost certain they will end up signing Albert to a humongous extension after this season—perhaps along the lines of eight years, $215 million.

With a possible opt-out if the team doesn't win. And a Brinks truck.

That may not be a huge problem for teams like the Yankees or Red Sox, but for a mid-market club like St. Louis, it may be.

The combined salaries of Pujols and Matt Holliday could end up comprising almost 50 percent of the Cardinals payroll in future years.

So unless they radically increase the team payroll, that doesn't leave a whole lot of wiggle room to build a winner around those guys.

Meanwhile, imagine what the Cardinals could get in return for even one year of the services of Pujols. Well, double that if the acquiring club were able to work out a long-term extension as part of the trade.

And hey, as great as he has been—and he has been historically great so far—there are many who doubt that his real age is 30.

But even if he is, Pujols is likely to decline at some point in the near future. Of course, a decline for Pujols may still be better than most players.

But most players won't be averaging more than $25 million per season.

The only real no-brainer is picking up the 2011 option year on his current deal. After that, it gets very interesting.

I'm not suggesting the Cards trade Pujols—and as I wrote earlier, I don't think that will happen. I'm just glad I don't have to make that decision.

For it's a decision that has no winners. Except for Pujols, of course.