St. Louis Cardinals Parade: Albert Pujols Will Receive Hero's Farewell

This is the end for Albert Pujols' stay with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Sunday's parade to honor the World Series champions will be the last time the fans see Pujols in a Cardinals jersey.

The star first baseman will soon be a free agent, and is likely to head off elsewhere after winning his second World Series with St. Louis.

This is going to be Pujols' swan song. This will be his goodbye. Although he won't come out and say it, he knows deep down in his heart that he won't be back in St. Louis. Pujols and the Cardinals have worked on and off over the past year to work out a new contract for the slugger.

The two teams were never able to agree to terms; thus, it remains highly unlikely that he returns to the Cards this offseason. After last night's victory, Pujols refused to give any indication of what he planned to do in the offseason (via MLB.com):

"

"To talk about my contract right now, that's the last thing that I'm thinking about," he said, sitting behind a news conference podium alongside his son. "I'm just kind of letting everything come in and the game that we won today.

"Listen, I'm going to be prayerful about it. Whatever decision I make hopefully is the best decision I make for my family and the fans and everybody. Right now, I am just going to enjoy the moment and just celebrate with the guys and pretty much just thank that my teammates that helped me out to accomplish another world championship, because at the end of your career, those are the sweeter moments that you take."

"

Obviously Pujols doesn't want to talk about it now, and he won't want to talk about it during the team's parade. Nevertheless, everyone knows that Pujols is going to get more money from other teams on the open market. The Cardinals gave it their best shot, and their best shot just wasn't good enough.

The Chicago Cubs and Theo Epstein will be the first ones on the other end of Pujols' telephone at the start off free agency, and are likely to make him a financial offer he can't refuse. This will be Pujols' last chance to cash in on a huge contract. It's not always about the money, but when you can land a much bigger deal elsewhere, you have to take it.

It will be disheartening for Cards fans, but at least Pujols is going out on a high note.