MLB Free Agents 2012: Will World Series Ring Keep Albert Pujols with Cardinals?

Even in this day and age of big-money free agency in MLB, it's tough to imagine a player as synonymous with his team as Albert Pujols is with the St. Louis Cardinals bidding farewell to the only franchise he's ever known.

Especially, when that franchise has gotten him to the World Series three times, with only three more wins against the Texas Rangers standing between him and his second championship.

The Cards failed to sign the nine-time All-Star and three-time National League MVP to a lucrative contract extension before the start of the season, leaving the team and Pujols to move forward knowing the latter would inevitably delve into free agency for the first time in his career this winter.

That's not to say that Pujols won't decide to stay in the Gateway City. He's enjoyed tremendous success playing in St. Louis under Hall of Fame manager Tony La Russa, who has shown few signs, if any, that he's ready to slow down or even call it a career.

Certainly, there will be plenty of temptation for "The Machine" to leave Busch Stadium, and rightfully so. The Yankees and the Red Sox, with their glut of first basemen and designated hitters, don't figure to have much of a say in where Pujols ends up. However, that hardly precludes Pujols from garnering "A-Rod" money from other teams around the Majors, including the Chicago Cubs, the Baltimore Orioles, the Washington Nationals and the Los Angeles Dodgers, to name a few.

The only problem for Pujols, though, is that none of those teams are particularly close to contending. The Redbirds, on the other hand, are likely to return the bulk of their roster from this season along with ace righty Adam Wainwright, who underwent Tommy John surgery in spring training. As such, staying in St. Louis would give Pujols his best chance to win pennants now and into the near future.

An important consideration, is particularly his age (31). With that said, pegging Pujols to a win-now cause may not be as easy as it would seem. He's accomplished just about everything any baseball player could hope for—a Hall of Fame caliber career, World Series glory and legendary status in a baseball-crazy town. At this point, all that's left for Pujols to do in St. Louis, aside from continuing to win, is to challenge Stan "The Man" Musial as the best player to ever wear a Cardinals uniform.

On the other hand, the challenge of moving to a new, perhaps less stable, situation could very well intrigue a competitor like Pujols, especially if the price is right. Ending the Cubs curse would be a remarkable feather in his cap, as would bringing World Series success back to Baltimore or LA, or bringing the Fall Classic to DC for the first time.

In the end, it's tough to envision Pujols doing anything other than playing first base for the Cardinals for the foreseeable future. Another ring would go a long way toward holding Pujols in place.