MLB Rumors: Cardinals Shouldn't Break the Bank to Keep Albert Pujols

Albert Pujols is the premiere free agent this winter. He has spent his entire professional career playing for the St. Louis Cardinals, and will one day go into the Hall of Fame wearing their cap, but that does not mean the team should go crazy with an offer to keep him in town. 

According to Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Cardinals have kept their offer from last year—nine years, $200 million—on the table. The catch is that they have deducted one year from the length and the total value of the deal. 

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The Cardinals continue to operate under the assumption that they will have the right to match or beat any rival's bid. Their previous nine-year proposal is believed to have included the 2011 season, meaning only eight years would remain. If Pujols deemed the offer inadequate in January, any downward revision in term or average annual value could only further polarize the parties. A potential compromise would appear to be increasing the AAV for fewer years and possibly attaching one or more options.

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While I understand everything that Pujols means to the franchise, the city of St. Louis and the fans, I can't help but wonder why the Cardinals would be willing to go so overboard with an offer for a 31-year-old—and there are doubts about whether or not that is his actual age—first baseman after winning a World Series. 

That kind of contract is not going to end well for the team. As great as Pujols has been, and will likely continue to be for another two years, does anyone really expect him to keep up at this pace through the age of 40?

The Cardinals would be paying Pujols like he would still be that player, but the odds of that happening are virtually none. 

As painful as it is for Cardinals fans to think about, unless Pujols' contract demands come down, at least in length, than they should move on and allocate those same resources they would have used on him into other areas of need. 

Right now, I find it hard to believe that Pujols is going to go anywhere because without the New York Yankees or Boston Red Sox in the bidding, things aren't going to get too insane. 

But if this is the end of the road for Pujols in St. Louis, so be it. The team won two titles with him, and nothing is going to change his legacy with the franchise.