2012 MLB Free Agents: Pujols Will Stay in St. Louis If Cardinals Win Word Series

A win in Game 7 of the 2011 World Series against the Texas Rangers will mean much more to the St. Louis Cardinals than another banner at Busch Stadium.

It will secure the future of the franchise by keeping Albert Pujols with the only team he's ever known. That is, if winning really is the objective for a future Hall of Famer who will be 32 at the start of the 2012 MLB season—although some think may actually be older than that.

Pujols has played the entire 2011 campaign without a new contract in place after talks between his camp and the Cards' front office broke down in spring training. His season this year would be great by any other player's standards, but with the prospect of free agency hanging over his head, Pujols put up the worst year of his career—.299 batting average with 37 home runs and 99 runs batted in.

It was the first time in Albert's career that he failed to hit .300 or drive in 100 runs in a single season.

That doesn't figure to diminish Pujols' value all that much on the open market. What will hurt him, though, are his age, his demands and the lack of suitors on the market willing and able to cope with both of those factors. The New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox, who usually dictate the market for big-money free agents, aren't likely to throw their hats in the Pujols ring given their glut of old stars (Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter) and/or first basemen and designated hitters (Mark Teixeira, Adrian Gonzalez, Kevin Youkilis).

The Los Angeles Dodgers would likely be in the running if not for the uncertainty surrounding the team's ownership situation. The Washington Nationals figure to have some cash to splash around but don't figure to be postseason contenders for at least another year or two. The same goes for the Baltimore Orioles and the Chicago Cubs, whose new general manager, Theo Epstein, may look to stir up one of baseball's biggest rivalries by poaching Pujols from the Redbirds.

Such a move would undoubtedly spur folks in the Gateway City to burn Albert in effigy—with plenty of barbecue sauce to spare.

The San Francisco Giants provide Pujols an excellent chance to win right away, but given their perennially tight payroll and the failure of Barry Zito's big deal, may not be willing to shell out for a guy already in his 30s.

Which brings us back to St. Louis, where Pujols still finds himself and may well be suiting up on Opening Day 2012. A win on Friday night would give Pujols his second World Series championship in three tries as a member of the Cardinals, making him one of the few big stars in baseball today to have two titles on his resume.

Pujols could very well deliver a third to St. Louis next season with a team that may be even better than this year's edition. Most of the other principles—Chris Carpenter, Matt Holliday, Lance Berkman, Yadier Molina, David Freese, Jaime Garcia and Jason Motte, to name a few—will be back, as will staff ace Adam Wainwright, who missed the entire 2011 slate after undergoing Tommy John surgery in spring training.

With all of those players in place, the Redbirds will need only Pujols to resume his spot at first base as the best player in franchise history since Stan Musial to propel the team to a fourth Fall Classic, and perhaps more.

If Pujols is serious about winning now and into the near future, then he'll come up big for the Cardinals in Game 7 and even bigger during the winter meetings.