Kuzul

Those tryouts for a “sixth starter” seemed to have just gotten a lot more significant today, after Adam Wainwright was shut down with what is being called a “significant elbow injury.”

Wainwright has had major improvement in almost every season since his debut in 2005, and over the last four seasons, Wainwright has a total 17.5 WAR; compared to the rest of the league, it’s 11th among all starters.

Compared to Chris Carpenter’s 9.9 WAR in those seasons, Wainwright will make out to be a huge loss in 2011.

The Cardinals will now have about five weeks to find a replacement and Tony La Russa has already declared that the solution for their rotation will come from within, which most likely won’t involve a current low-end free agent such as Kevin Millwood.

One likely candidate could be Kyle McClellan who, despite being a reliever through his Major League career, was already going to be tried as a starter this Spring and that chance seems to be a lot higher now.

McClellan has all the makings of a quality starter, with four pitches, including his fastball, that ranked at 3.5 runs above average. McClellan’s projected FIP for 2011 is a respectable 3.96 and if it could translate as a starter, the Cardinals would benefit more than expected.

On the prospect side, Shelby Miller and Lance Lynn are possibilities if the Cardinals are willing to stretch. Despite being the Cardinals No. 1 prospect, Miller seems more likely to begin the season at low-A for the Cardinals, with a lot left to accomplish. Miller has a high-quality fastball that can run up to 98 mph with improving command.

In his 104 innings last season, Miller also held left-handed hitters to a .194 average. Miller reached single-A last season and looks likely to be back there as I said, but if something clicks, Miller could see a couple starts come August or September. 

Lance Lynn, who came into 2010 as the Cardinals No. 1 prospect, slid down to No. 7 this offseason, and the fact that he seems to be changing in a negative way won’t likely draw any confidence from the Cardinals.

Lynn’s FIP rose to 4.43 in his full season at Triple-A, which was a significant increase from his 3.47 in his 2009 season at the Double-A level. Either way, Lynn will have a chance with the Cardinals, because of the fact that he has significant experience as a starter.

Another name worth mentioning is P.J. Walters, who amassed a 3.87 ERA in 18 starts in Triple-A last season, despite having a 6.00 ERA in seven games last season with the Cardinals, but most of the runs given up were as a reliever, not a starter.

His threestarts seemed to be a story of extremes, as he started by throwing five shutout innings against San Diego, then lit-up by the Reds for seven runs in four innings. In his last outing against the Pirates, he only had to throw 80 pitches through seven innings, and didn’t surrender a run.

Adam Ottavino was also another player who made his debut in 2010 for the Cardinals. Despite posting a 8.46 ERA in 22 innings, Ottavino, who is recovering from a shoulder injury, had also made some real progress at Triple-A as well, as he had increased his strikeout rate while more than halving his walk rate from 2009. He only threw 47.2 innings in Memphis, but as a first-round pick, Ottavino seems to have a legit shot at getting a chance with the Cardinals.

If nothing from within can make an impact, the Cardinals might have to look outside and go after someone like Jeremy Bonderman or possibly Kevin Millwood.

Bonderman posted a 5.58 ERA in 29 starts with the Tigers last season, but if limited, he could have an impact and is currently projected to have a 4.58 ERA in 2010. In 31 starts with the Orioles, Millwood had a 5.10 ERA, but despite that, is also projected to improve, to a 4.63 ERA.

Despite where the Cardinals go for starts, beyond innings, no one can replace Adam Wainwright. Shelby Miller seems to be the future for the Cardinals, but between now and then, the Cardinals must find someone or find themselves in fourth place come July.

FIP = Fielder Independent Pitching on an ERA scale

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Let’s make this clear right off the bat before some of you start popping off a hate filled comment aimed in my direction, stick needles in a doll with my name on it or chant some ancient curse on me based simply on the title of this column (If I wake up tomorrow with blue hair on my tongue I will know it was one of you)…

Pujols, barring some freak career ending injury or some as of yet unknown steroids related scandal with his name attached to it, is a first ballot Hall of Fame member five years after he hangs up his glove. 

Albert Pujols is the best player in the game today, it’s not even close and if anyone deserves to be the highest paid player in the game it’s this guy.

However, for as good as he is, and all that he brings to the game, no man, not even Albert the Great, is worth the kind of contract he is reportedly seeking.

Pujols has played his entire career thus far for the St. Louis Cardinals, a franchise well known for being player friendly and in a city with some of the best fans of the game. Pujols is an icon in St. Louis and claims to want to be a Cardinal for life.

It’s kind of hard to believe him when his current salary demands hold his current employers hostage.

About that “I want to be a Cardinal for life” thing? Apparently his loyalty and desire to the Cardinals comes with a price tag that would cripple the franchise well beyond the length of whatever contract he is given.

Pujols reportedly turned down a nine-year deal worth $200 million. How is that not enough for one man?

It was apparently not enough for him to remain loyal to the franchise that he supposedly loves and wants to be a part of for his entire career.

It seems that Pujols wants a deal north of the record contract handed to Alex Rodriguez, who, like Pujols, is equally undeserving of such riches.

Pujols desires to be baseball’s first 30-million dollar man. In comparison to Rodriguez, Pujols deserves to be baseball’s highest paid player but this is getting completely out of hand.

It is hard to blame Pujols for not only asking for, but expecting that kind of payday for his skills towards a game in which he utterly dominates, but I do have issue with his turning down a rather generous deal from a franchise that has been very good to him and one that he claims to wish to remain a part simply because he wants to be the highest paid player.

He is 31 years old and the best overall player in the game. Will he still deliver a plus .300 average, hit 40 plus home runs and drive in 100 plus RBI half way through his contract? 

Unlikely.

Will he still be the best player in the game over the majority of any contract he will be given?

Unlikely.

Can he pitch? No. Can he deliver a World Series to St. Louis all by himself? No.

So he should be given this ransom just because Rodriguez makes more?

Please save the “He is a draw”, “He puts asses in the seats”, “He is worth that and more just from a marketing standpoint.”

Those arguments did not work for Derek Jeter and they don’t apply here either.

Sorry Albert, your math does not compute.

Just because the Yankees are incredibly stupid does not mean the Cardinals Franchise has to follow suit. I sincerely hope they don’t give in to Pujols’ ransom demands.

The real blame here lies in part with the owners, MLB, The Players Union and the agents that represent the players themselves. It lies within the player to realize their worth to the history of the game and beyond just a payday.

At some point someone with the authority to halt this must realize that this is a team sport that is bigger than any one man, even a man such as Pujols.

Recently the New York Yankees have voiced that they will not be in the market for Pujols, which is a start. Of course, if you believe the Yankees will not get involved I have some ocean front property in Utah to sell you, but it is the right way to go.

Just ask Ken Williams.

I applaud Ken Williams, GM of the Chicago White Sox, for recently stating that $30 million for one man is “asinine” and harmful to the game. He stated what many owners think but lack the balls to say to the media out of backlash from the fans. 

I mean, can you imagine any fan of any team not wanting Pujols on their roster?

Williams stated that tying up that much money in any one player, Pujols included, was ridiculous and damages the franchise and the game for decades.

“Sorry White Sox Fans, we are not gonna do it.”

However, there are many that will argue that Williams and the White Sox failure to spend the money is the direct reason why the White Sox are strangers to the postseason.

Then a smart person mentions Florida, Tampa Bay and other teams with low payrolls that actually won on talent and heart.

Bravo Mr. Williams, bravo.

Now we just have to wait while others follow your lead and force Pujols back to Earth and make him realize that while he is the greatest player in the game currently, and will go down as one of the greatest of all time, he is but one man in a team sport and he is smaller than the game itself.

It would be AWESOME if the best deal for Pujols came from the Kansas City Royals and he had to take what was offered. 

It would serve him right and it would right the sinking ship that the MLB has become.

Ken Williams’ stance should be the mantra of all MLB teams that can afford to consider such a salary but resist the temptation to offer it.

Are you listening Hal and John?

Over the last few seasons we have witnesses more fiscal restraint, a harder line if you will, in regards to salaries of aging stars. Players like Andy Pettitte, Johnny Damon and Derek Jeter were looked at more from a business standpoint than the star status attached to their careers.

That vision, that hard-line needs to continue, even more so, towards players like Rodriguez and Pujols. It’s too late to change the monumental waste of money that was hurled at the feet of A-Rod, but the MLB has a golden opportunity, with Pujols, to set a hard line on would be greedy robber barons.

Jeter’s 189-million dollar contract should have never happened.

It did and it set up A-Rod’s ridiculous current contract. His previous one in Texas is what set this train wreck in motion.

A-Rod was and is not worth the money he has stolen, I mean, been paid.

Cliff Lee? Ditto.

Pujols’ salary demands should be boycotted for the future of the sport. Yes, I know it’s not my money and it does not affect my wallet but it’s still mind boggling.

What better way for baseball to send the message than to deny Pujols. If they do, A-Rod’s contract will never again carry any weight into any negotiation.

However, we all know that it wont happen.

He will be, unfortunately, baseball’s first 30-million dollar man.

Pujols will get his payday and along the way to the bank, while he is laughing, he will lose the respect of many that he earned through his abilities.

He will be looked upon by many as yet another greedy player, another A-Rod, and the game will continue to depreciate from a once hallowed, respected tradition of sport into a cess pool of money and greed.

However, if an owner, such as John Henry of the Red Sox where I predict Pujols will sadly land, is dumb enough to pay the ransom…don’t hate the player.

Hate the game.

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St. Louis muscleman Albert Pujols has done a pretty good job of imprinting himself on Major League Baseball’s collective consciousness these past several months as followers of the grand old game have been compelled to consider a radical change of venue for the stand-out Cardinal first baseman.  

The numbers being bandied about are pretty heady, as Pujols, at least for now, seems intent on becoming the games highest paid player — something in the area of $25-30 million per year with the only possible harbinger being there are but a handful of clubs who could possibly consider crunching that number.   

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Shhh…do you hear that?

If you’re a baseball fan, a sports enthusiast, or if you simply happen to hail from the Greater St. Louis area, I’m sure you are hearing the same thing I am.

Silence.

That’s right, for the first time in recent memory, the day’s sporting headlines have not been dominated by Albert Pujols chatter and, I must say, the silence is deafening.

I was truly surprised to visit the ESPN website today and not see ONE update on the Pujols contract saga. Soon after, I was downright SHOCKED to see that Pujols’ name was absent from the home page of MLB.com as well. It looks like, at least for the time, Pujols is staying true to his word and ceasing contract negotiations after his self-imposed Wednesday afternoon deadline.

To say the Pujols’ story has been well-documented would be like saying 12 year-old girls like Justin Bieber; both are vast, vast understatements. Yet, while the obligatory “what if Pujols were traded to my team” articles and blogs have surfaced, most of the Pujols coverage has been dedicated to dissecting the extension he is demanding from the Cardinals, or the kind of deal he could get if he were to enter free agency in 2012.

The media’s focus on Pujols agreeing to an extension with St. Louis is not unfounded, however. Pujols has made it clear that he wants to retire a Cardinal, and that he will block any trade on the strength of his 10-5 no-trade clause (10 years in the Majors, five with one team).

However, one has to believe that, especially in a situation that has gotten as sticky as Pujols’ (Pujols and the Cards are way off on their numbers), nothing is outside of the realm of possibility.

Straight out of the “stranger things have happened” file, here are the ten things that must go down in order for Albert the Great to be traded.

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The possibility that the St. Louis Cardinals trade Albert Pujols before season’s end is a very real option for the Cards.

Instead of the Cardinals watching Pujols walk and get nothing in return, trading him before the 2011 trade deadline would help the Cardinals reload with new talent as they figuring out how to handle life after Pujols.

There will be many teams who will put it all on the line for a chance to trade for the best active player in the MLB, but it’s going to take a lot to pry Pujols out of St. Louis.

A deal will need to involve several players from the major league team, while also including valuable talent from the minors.

This is a list of the 10 players the Cardinals can receive from an Albert Pujols trade and while there will need to be many other players involved to get a deal done, these 10 players should be the center piece each teams offer.

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Center fielder and Cardinal great Jim Edmonds is retiring. After deciding his injury is too severe to risk a comeback, the eight-time Gold Glove winner is retiring as a member of the team he is most associated with. It’s a shame, too, as he was very productive last year with the Brewers and Reds. 

Nevertheless, as with all retiring greats, talk now moves to Edmonds’ chances to make the Hall of Fame. And if you don’t think of Edmonds as a good choice for the Hall, you may want to reconsider.

His straight counting stats do not immediately jump out as Hall of Fame numbers; he only reached 393 home runs and 1949 hits. His .284 batting average may also seem lackluster.

However, there is much more to these facts than meets the eye.

For example, as Aaron Gleeman at Hardball Talk notes, Edmonds compares quite well to center fielders already in the Hall.

Only seven center fielders have 350 or more home runs and most of those are considered legends. In some cases, they are even recognizable by one name: Mays, Griffey, Mantle, Dimaggio and Snider. The only other player on that list is active outfielder Andruw Jones.

Additionally, his offensive case is strengthened by 998 career walks and 3615 total bases, giving him a .376 on-base percentage and a .527 slugging percentage. His .903 on-base plus slugging is already remarkable; when accounting for league and home park, Edmonds had an OPS+ of 132, meaning he was 32% better than an average hitter over the entire course of his career. That ties him with Hall members Joe Morgan, Al Simmons and Tony Gwynn, and puts him ahead of Rod Carew (131), Wade Boggs, Roberto Clemente, Dave Winfield (all 130), Eddie Murray and Carl Yastrzemski (129), to name a few.

Of course, his offense is only part of his case, as Edmonds is also noted for his incredible defense.

Over his career, he won eight Gold Gloves and was a nightly fixture on Web Gems. More advanced stats agree on his defensive reputation; for example, Total Zone has that Edmonds saved 91 runs over the course of his career with his glove, the equivalent of over nine wins. And this came while manning a demanding position (most analysis has center field roughly on level with third base for difficulty to field, with both just after second base).

As an all-around player, Edmonds is definitely worthy.

One final note; a newer stat, Wins Above Replacement or WAR, encompasses a player’s offense, defense and position to determine roughly how many wins they are worth to their team.

60 WAR is usually where a player enters into the Hall of Fame discussion, and 70 WAR is usually where players are considered a lock for Cooperstown. Edmonds has 68.3 career WAR, putting him in a virtual tie with Hall members Luke Appling, Brooks Robinson, Tony Gwynn, Duke Snider, and Carlton Fisk and contemporaries Manny Ramirez, Ivan Rodriguez and Barry Larkin.

In fact, Edmonds has a serious claim as seventh-best center fielder in baseball history. Willie Mays, Ken Griffey Jr., Mickey Mantle, Ty Cobb, Tris Speaker, and Joe Dimaggio are all clearly better. After them, Edmonds and Snider are neck and neck (Snider was the better hitter, but Edmonds was easily the superior fielder). 

As a Cardinals fan, Edmonds brought an excitement to the game through his excellence in every part of the game.

Hopefully, in five years, the BBWAA will realize this and make the right choice.

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After 17 seasons, Jim Edmonds decided to call it a career. Edmonds, 40, agreed to a Minor League contract with the St. Louis Cardinals, but his Achilles tendon injury wouldn’t allow him to go any further with his career.

“Although I feel that I can still play and contribute, the risk of permanent injury is too much for me to chance,” said Edmonds. “As much as I regret this announcement, I feel that it is for the best.”

Edmonds played for six ball clubs that included the Angles, Cardinals, Padres, Cubs, Brewers, and Reds. He didn’t just have a regular career but a good career. Throughout his career, the four time All-Star won eight Gold Gloves and a World Series. He was most known for his skills with the glove in the outfield with his amazing catches, like the diving Willie Mays type catch in centerfield just to name one example.

I’m sure many of you have seen most of his catches live at the game, on TV, or on the internet. One thing is for sure, Edmonds was a fun guy to watch in the field. He’s never won an MVP, but to a lot of us, we’ll agree that he was one of the most exciting outfielders in the game to watch.

Not only was he a terrific fielder, but he was a great hitter as well. He retires after 2,011 games with a .284 batting average, 1,199 RBIs, 1,251 runs scored, only seven home runs shy of 300, and 51 hits shy of 2,000. They aren’t exactly Stan Musial numbers, but fans are just as thankful for what “Jimmy Ballgame” has done for their respected  organizations. Edmonds may not make the Hall Of Fame, but he still had a great career. As one can say, he can ride out in the sunset a champion.

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Well, “Albertgeddon” has come and gone.  Finally.  

Everybody in St. Louis okay?  All present and accounted for?  Looks like there was minimal damage.

There is a sense of relief even if no contract extension was signed.  It’s better than not knowing what’s going to happen.

Much like Cardinals skipper Tony La Russa, I like to let things digest for a night. He doesn’t like to address a player or fellow coach immediately after a loss in regards to something he may be upset about until the next day to control his emotions.

The Albert contract deadline certainly had some emotions involved. It also gave me a chance to hear from Pujols himself. You know, the guy whose life path will be determined by this contract. Might as well hear from him first right?

Pujols said he wants to be a Cardinal for life. Jason Stark is right to mention he didn’t say “at any price.”

But Pujols has to realize who he’s dealing with.

The Cardinals don’t ask for a hometown discount because they feel they deserve it or that the player should be willing to take less money for the privilege of playing for the St. Louis Cardinals. They’ve signed or offered other all-stars less money because they have to.

They are still a small-market team that can have a $100-million-plus  payroll because of their attendance.

They are 10th in profits and 10th in payroll. So it’s not like they’re getting by being miserly or cheap. They’re being smart.

Should Pujols go after top dollar? Sure, it’s his life, his prerogative and his contract. He’s a very charitable guy, and probably has that in mind in these negotiations as well.

But I hope he understands saying he wants to “be a Cardinal for life,” while potentially asking for a contract that isn’t realistic for St. Louis, is a bit misleading to fans.

Pujols has never been on any other MLB team. And he’s never had a sales pitch from another team or been wined and dined by them… well, just dined in Pujols’ case.

But he’s never trudged through a season that was over in August either. Even the 2007 hangover season had life in September.

Scott Rolen, Jim Edmonds, Mark McGwire, Chris Carpenter, Matt Holliday and others had been elsewhere before, and had experienced less-than-desirable situations. To them it was worth a few million less than what they could have demanded in free agency or from another big-market team in Holliday’s case to stick around with the Cardinals.

Perhaps, though, we’re talking about more than a few million. Tough to know the truth. Pujols scoffed at the idea of him demanding 10 years and $300 million as has been reported.

“That’s so funny because me and my agent talked every other day about you guys throwing numbers out there,” Pujols said. “Assuming the Cardinals offered this and ‘Albert is asking for 10 years’ and we just laughed about it. I’m pretty sure the Cardinals are too because you guys don’t have any clue. You guys are way off on what the numbers are you guys are throwing out there.”

That’s certainly reassuring. It does show he isn’t making unrealistic demands.

If he were, I would have an entire omelet on my face after telling friends I thought he would sign for around $23 to $25 million before the Ryan Howard extension.

I still thought there was a possibility he’d ask for A-Rod money, but took his statement of “I want to be a Cardinal for life” seriously. But perhaps we’re only talking about a few million as the difference there as well.

Maybe he is still asking for A-Rod money, roughly $27 million per year. We’ve all assumed he wants to at least be paid as well as Ryan Howard. Pujols reportedly turned down $21 million per year over eight seasons. Which, if is true, is lower than I would offer.

Even though it’s not my money to spend, I am realistic about the current baseball market.

I can’t blame Pujols for asking for Ryan Howard money. But I also can’t blame the Cardinals for thinking the Ryan Howard deal is an overpay as well and having the team’s long-term financial security in mind.

But if Pujols really wants to stay with the Cardinals, why demand an amount the Cards feel is unfair? Will Pujols feel like he chickened out by not demanding for more? Will it be embarrassing for him to be considered the best hitter in the game, but not the highest paid at his position?

Is his pride—one of the seven deadly sins—part of his motivation?

Getting this next contract shouldn’t be another competition for a competitive guy like Albert. It should be about finding the right compromise for him and the Cardinals, so he can remain on a competitive team without having to uproot. The higher paying job isn’t always the best one to take.

I can’t think of one Cardinal who left the team strictly for more money who ended up in a far better situation taking the cash St. Louis couldn’t give them.

Anyone? Seriously, please tell me if you can think of one.

They only ones I can think of would be Edgar Renteria or J.D. Drew. But they are a mixed bag at best. I don’t think I could consider either to be distinctly better off leaving St. Louis.

J.D. Drew is the Adrian Beltre of outfielders, and Renteria was shipped out of Boston after one season.

Renteria did well in Atlanta, struggled in Detroit and didn’t stay healthy in San Francisco outside of a remarkable playoff run. Both he and Drew won titles and had some success, but would any of that had been better than staying in St. Louis and winning a World Series in 2006? Renteria’s replacement got hot and won World Series MVP himself, after all.

But like Pujols said, this is all part of negotiations. There’s a back and forth that happens. He should start high, the Cardinals should start low and eventually—hopefully—they’ll meet near the middle.

The Cardinals unfortunately drug their feet on this, but are doing what a team normally does by trying to start off as low as possible.

They’re taking an awful risk by letting the negotiations get to the post-World Series negotiating window. One team who wants to make a splash could throw a ton of money at him. Pujols’ options are slightly limited in comparison to previous seasons, but there are still enough teams with a spot and money available. The Yankees could could always make a spot available too.

But again, we may be talking about a difference of a few million that Albert is willing to trade off. Perhaps $28 million from the Cubs is a wash with $25 million from the Cardinals, in which he would most likely choose the Cardinals.

So the Cardinals didn’t make this deadline, but there are still more to be made. And though Pujols’ comments may seem slightly contradictory, he did reassure fans he’s not out to top the biggest, most foolish contract in baseball history.

The wild card in all of this is Pujols’ agent Dan Lazano. He broke out on his own this past year, a la Jerry Maguire, leaving the Beverly Hills Sports Council.

He needs a big splash and big contract to put his business on the map.

What’s he telling Albert? Is he telling Pujols he can get a mega deal, and that he should try for it? It seems as if it’s been his intention all along to take this to free agency. Pujols considers Lazano a friend and would like to help him out as much Pujols would like to take care of himself.

Lazano is who I’m directing my angst towards, as I really dislike agents, if I can make any recommendations on that to Cardinals fans.

Basically, we’re a tiny step closer to an extension than we before the spring training deadline. The negotiations haven’t gone horribly wrong, as Pujols has no ill will towards Cardinal management and still wants to try to work out a deal after the season.

I’ve said all along the negotiations would have to take a really bad tone for Pujols to consider signing with the Cubs.

He would have to hate the Cardinals to accept being hated by Cardinal fans. And that after all is the biggest fear of Cards fans in letting Pujols go to free agency.

Much like when Pujols is at the plate, he is trying to be patient in these negotiations and see every pitch. He usually makes good contact and pleases Cardinal fans. We just have to sit back, and hope that trend continues.

www.twitter.com/timfitz76

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If you’re the type of person that reads this website, you’ve undoubtedly heard by now that the deadline has come and gone for Albert Pujols to reach a contract extension with the St. Louis Cardinals. 

The Cardinals reportedly offered “more than $200 million over nine or 10 years” for the future Hall of Famer and even an ownership stake in the team. But it just wasn’t enough for the game’s best player.

Pujols has apparently “told the team he’ll still give them a chance in the window between when the season ends” and free agency begins, but that still means he’ll play out his walk year with free agency looming.

The news will surely send shivers down the spines of Cardinals fans everywhere, as their heads are filled with nightmares of Pujols donning a Chicago Cubs jersey. Just ask Cleveland Cavaliers fans how they felt in LeBron James’ final year of his contract.

But there’s another—albeit less dramatic—story line here: What does this news mean for Pujols’ fantasy value?

Pujols enters the 2011 season as the clear No. 1 player in fantasy baseball. While a few fantasy writers have chosen to rank Hanley Ramirez or Miguel Cabrera ahead of Pujols, those rankings appear to come from an overemphasis on position scarcity or the desire to be different for the sake of being different.

Ramirez is the rare elite hitter at SS, but he doesn’t put up the type of eye-popping numbers in any rotisserie category that Pujols does.

Cabrera is Pujols-lite: He’s has never topped 40 HRs (Pujols has hit 40-plus HRs six times), and he’s a .313 career hitter (Pujols is at .331). The fact that Cabrera’s drinking problem has now resurfaced makes it even more difficult to compare him to Pujols going forward.

So does Pujols’ contract situation threaten his No. 1 fantasy player status, or does it vault him even further ahead of the competition? Let’s break this question down into two sections: the short term (this year) and the long term (the next five to 10 years).

Short Term

Many players have put together career seasons in their contract years. If Adrian Beltre was able to hit .334 with 48 HRs in a walk year, imagine what Pujols might be able to do.

Pujols may not show it on the outside, but he has to be motivated to show the world that he has every right to ask for the largest contract in baseball. On a rational level, he surely understands the economics of the situation from a team standpoint, but that doesn’t mean he won’t also feel slighted on an emotional level.

He could very well turn that fury into stats we haven’t seen since the end of the steroid era.

Of course, there are also some players who struggle in their walk years. Sometimes it comes down to circumstances or bad luck (injuries), but in many instances it comes down to whether a player thrives or wilts under the pressure of playing for a big payday.

This isn’t your typical walk year either. Pujols has tried his best to get out in front of the story and make it clear that he won’t talk about his contract situation with the Cardinals or the media during the season, but as the LeBron James situation showed, that doesn’t mean the story is going to hibernate for six months. Pujols is going to feel far more pressure than the Adrian Beltres of the world ever did.

That said, this also isn’t your typical player. Throughout his career, Pujols has displayed a level of class, professionalism and maturity that is equal to his on-field abilities. This isn’t Javier Vazquez (or Cabrera) we’re talking about here—if anyone can handle the intensity of this situation, it’s Pujols.

We already know everything we need to know about Pujols’ on-field skills. We also know a lot about his off-field demeanor, but after this ordeal, we’ll know more.

The bet here is that Pujols rises to the challenge and posts a fantasy line in 2011 at least equal to his average season. A true career year (50-plus HRs) is certainly possible.

Long Term

The long-term question when it comes to Pujols’ fantasy value gets to the crux of the situation: What team will he play for in 2012 and beyond?

If Pujols does leave the Cardinals, there is a good chance it will help his fantasy value. 

In 2010, Busch Stadium ranked as the seventh-most pitcher-friendly ballpark in the majors. Given the troubling state of the Mets’ finances, the Los Angeles Angels are the only potential team in the Pujols sweepstakes that plays in a worse stadium for hitters than Busch.

If he does leave St. Louis, the most likely destination for Pujols is with the rival Chicago Cubs. The Friendly Confines of Wrigley Field is the third-most friendly park for hitters. The next most logical team to sign Pujols is the Texas Rangers, who play in the sixth-most friendly ballpark for hitters.

The Red Sox (seventh-best hitter’s park) and Yankees (second-best hitter’s park) both already have top-tier first basemen (Adrian Gonzalez and Mark Teixeira, respectively) but can’t be counted out when a player of Pujols’ magnitude is on the market.

All four of these teams would also likely be able to construct a better lineup around Pujols than the Cardinals can offer. OF Matt Holliday is as good a cleanup hitter as you could hope for in terms of providing protection, but St. Louis lacks impact bats throughout the rest of the lineup.

If the Cardinals are somehow able to re-sign Albert, it would seem as though his long-term value would remain unchanged. But that’s not necessarily the case.

St. Louis is a great baseball city with terrific fans, and the Cards frequently finish in the top five in baseball in attendance. But at the end of the day, the Cardinals are a mid-market team, and that’s not going to change whether or not they keep Pujols.

The biggest reason the Cardinals have been reluctant to give Pujols a record-breaking contract is that they worry they won’t have enough money left to continue to build a team around him. Or worse yet, they’ll have to immediately begin to dismantle the team they’ve already built.

Many eyebrows were raised last winter when the Cardinals managed to come to terms with Holliday (and his agent Scott Boras) on a seven-year, $120 million deal that included a full no-trade clause. That deal was meant to assure Pujols that the Cards were committed to winning and that he’d have protection in the lineup, but it also made re-signing Albert much more difficult.

The Cardinals had the 11th-highest payroll in baseball last year at $93.94 million. Holliday is scheduled to receive $17 million per year over each of the next seven seasons.

If Pujols were to sign a 10-year, $300 million contract, as has been rumored may be necessary for the Cards to keep him, that would mean the team would be committing $47 million—or about half of last season’s payroll—to just two players for the life of Holliday’s contract. Add in the $24 million the team will owe Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter in 2012, and there is barely more than $20 million left for the rest of the team.

Yes, veterans like Carpenter and Lance Berkman will come off the books in the next year or two, but Wainwright and Colby Rasmus are going to become more expensive.

The bottom line is that unless they start spending significantly more on payroll, the Cardinals aren’t going to have the resources to put any other decent hitters around Pujols besides Holliday and perhaps Rasmus. That could affect Albert’s run and RBI production down the road.

It’s also possible St. Louis could decide it needs to convince Holliday to accept a trade, which could take a bigger toll on Pujols’ fantasy production. Under that scenario, Pujols could end up seeing a record number of intentional walks.

On the other hand, the Cardinals have never really put a great top-to-bottom lineup around Pujols in the past, and it hasn’t seemed to bother him much. So the impact may well be negligible.

Pujols could hit in a lineup filled with Little Leaguers, and he’d probably still manage to hit over .300 with 35-plus HRs. He’s just that good.

In the end, whether or not he stays in St. Louis, Pujols is so talented that he should remain the best fantasy player of them all well into his mid-thirties.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Have you ever wondered what goes through your girlfriend’s mind when she stops dead in her tracks, her eyes glaze over and she goes into a trance while looking at that ring in the window?

That’s what this is for men. Players like this only become freely available once a generation, and we too have paused and slipped into an alternative universe where this shiny jewel could be ours.

Well, at the risk of being the bearer of bad news, the parallels don’t stop there. There are only so many guys who can drop five grand just to make their girl smile, and only so many teams who can throw $300 million at a player.

In case you’re just back from a sabbatical in the Himalayas, Albert Pujols has reportedly cut off negotiations with the St. Louis Cardinals and plans to dip his toe into the murky waters of free agency.

While his legs dangle off the dock and you have visions of the fortunes of your team turning around by way of the hottest free agent signing in baseball history, I’ll have to ask you to snap out of it.

For you, the fans of the forthcoming 10 teams, it’s just not in the cards.

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