There are some athletes in today’s world of sports that will seemingly never play for a team other than their current club.
Certain players are synonymous with their teams, and wrapping one’s head around the notion that they may play for a different team is just not plausible.
The likes of Tom Brady, Kobe Bryant, Derek Jeter, Peyton Manning, and Albert Pujols could each be placed in this category.
However, there was once a time when seeing Brett Favre, Michael Jordan, or Joe Montana in a different uniform was thought to be ludicrous.
Pujols is St. Louis. He has spent his entire career a Cardinal, brought them a title, is the face of the franchise, and his charitable work around the community has done wonders to endear himself to St. Louis residents.
Pujols is a free agent after the coming MLB season, and negotiations with the team have not been progressing, and a potential doomsday scenario is fast approaching for Cardinals fans.
Many members of Cardinal faithful would struggle to find the meaning of life in a Pujols-less world.
While it is quite likely Pujols re-signs with St. Louis to finish his career a Cardinal, there is the distinct possibility the best player in the game today takes a more lucrative offer to play elsewhere, ala LeBron James.
Here are the five most likely destinations if Pujols were to hit the open market.