I still remember that early December morning. I was at work and busy until I was told from the office that Pujols was gone. It’s not hard to remember the events that unfolded mere days after the Cardinals won the World Series and before that December 7, 2011 decision. Pujols and the team of Bill DeWitt and John Mozeliak went back and forth in negotiations. The Miami Marlins came into play and checked out quick. The Cards offered a contract close to 200 million that expanded over 9 years. Pujols balked, called Angels General Manager Jerry Dipoto and struck an outrageous 10 year, 240 million dollar deal. We remember this because many in St. Louis, including myself, wanted to see Pujols retire a Cardinal. We wanted our Ripken Jr. or Tony Gwynn. Albert Pujols put together arguably the greatest 11 years of any baseball player ever here in St. Louis. If he stayed, Pujols could have been the top Cardinal of all time. He could have been “the Man” that he idolized so much, Stan Musial. Instead, he bolted and that still leaves sour feelings around the Lou. At the time, I was a little mad myself and wrote about it here.
I don’t feel that way anymore. I don’t feel resentment. The Cards got the best of Pujols. From 2003 to 2009, Albert Pujols average WAR was 8.4. He won three MVP’s here. He helped the Cards win two World Series trophies. He was lethal in the postseason. People still seem to think Albert wasn’t as good in the postseason but they are wrong. In 74 career games, Pujols hit 18 home runs, drove in 52 runs, hit .330 and had an on base percentage of .439. I can appreciate what Albert did as a Cardinal and admire him from afar these days.
The Pujols Departure is also the gift that keeps on giving. When he left, the Cards got a draft pick and used it to draft a young man named Michael Wacha. The team had the funds to sign Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina to long term deals. The Cards replaced Pujols’ production with Carlos Beltran for two seasons while Allen Craig and Matt Adams took over first base. The Cards are not on the hook for Pujols’ 23 million this season or the 24 million in 2015, 25 million in 2016, and 30 million in 2021. That is called payroll flexibility. Something the blinded folks back in 2011(including me) didn’t recognize. The price of maintaining the Pujols legacy in St. Louis was absurd. When he left the team, the Cards gained.
Pujols didn’t have a productive 2012-13 and people got out the whipping sticks, forgetting all the injuries Pujols played with for his many years in St. Louis(elbow, foot, knee) came crashing down. His 2013 season was cut short in July. He had surgery for his plantar fasciitis in the offseason and has proved to be stronger this season. His numbers are still trending down but his production is in line with the rest of the league at his position. He basically isn’t living up to Pujols standards these days. His 26 home runs and 92 RBI are helping the Angels ride high with the best record. He is hitting .278 but he has 161 hits, 85 runs scored, and 35 doubles. He is slugging a cool .477 and his strikeouts(60) are still low. He has played in 141 games. The only real drop from his dominant days are the walks(45), which have been decreasing for years now as Pujols has become a bit more of a swinger.
His WAR is only 3.9 but that’s a respectable stat in 2014. His plate discipline isn’t diminished. His body slowly is coming undone but he is heating up again August. He is still a gold glove caliber first baseman with a .998 fielding percentage and 105 games played there this season. In his last 7 games(all Angels wins), Pujols has 13 hits, 2 home runs and 9 RBI and 11 runs scored. 13 years into his career at the age of 34, Pujols is still a difference maker. It is true that he isn’t the best player on the Angels, but that mantle was bound to change. That may tell you more about his decline or broaden the fact that nobody could hold a candle to his production in St. Louis during his dominance.
The past two years, my wife repeatedly asked me to take down a Pujols picture in our house, saying that since he is gone that it should come down. I had to insist in telling her that people must not forget what he did here. In sports, it’s so important to not allow feelings to get in the way of history. Yes, the manner in which Pujols left wasn’t pretty. He let his wife go on the radio and speak out against the Cardinals. He had some ugly words to say after the Angels deal was announced. That happens in a big breakup. The Cards never got involved and that is why they are one of the classiest franchises in the world of sports. The Pujols Family let feelings get involved in business and made things seem ugly on the outside.
That is the part that people don’t like. The words that came out after the deal and not the decision. Fans like to think these players are taking part in a feel good story instead of a business. Everybody learned something that December. What I haven’t forgotten since is how special it was to have Albert Pujols be a Cardinal for 11 seasons.
Pujols didn’t reach 500 home runs in St. Louis and he won’t be around here to reach 600. Pujols won’t reach 3,000 hits here. Pujols won’t retire a Cardinal or be able to sign a phony 1 day contract to come here. After his 10 years of baseball duty is finished, he has a 10 year service contract with the Angels. He will be with the team until 2031 when he reaches the age of 51.
Three years later, I am okay with all of that. I look back at the Pujols era in St. Louis as a special time and the years since he left as a team that proved to be more than just one player. Each side got something out of this deal. The Cardinals got the freedom to move on and Pujols got his contract and his peace of mind. In the process, Albert has remained committed to his charities in the community and keeps a residence here in the offseason. St. Louis didn’t lose Pujols. The Cardinals did.
No man is an island. Not even Albert Pujols. That doesn’t mean forget about what he did here for 11 amazing seasons. Wear your Pujols jerseys proud and keep those pictures hanging in the office. The epic saga ended but watching Pujols rekindle that flame in LA and have a chance to participate in October baseball again and possibly a World Series matchup with the Cards(they are two hottest teams right now in baseball) is exciting for any real baseball addict.
Albert Pujols has still got it and that’s good for baseball, no matter which jersey he wears to the field.
Long may you run, Jose Alberto Pujols.
