The day many Cardinals fans have feared over the past few years has finally come to pass. Their star of the past 11 years, Albert Pujols, has left for the greener pastures of Hollywood, and a contract north of $250 million dollars. It was hard to be on social networks like Twitter and Facebook yesterday because the majority of the feed was filled with items about Pujols. The reactions were strong (at times too strong), and the emotions transitioned throughout the day from shock to anger, and eventually to grief.
There are many markets in the US that don’t understand why a ball player is so important to a city like St. Louis. Being a major hockey (and Blues) fan, the fervor which St. Louis residents talk about baseball can be annoying when they tend to largely ignore my favorite sport. However, as an American it is hard to not romanticize baseball to a degree. Baseball is as American as apple pies, and St. Louis is steeped in so much baseball history it almost manifests itself as a thing of pride within residents of St. Louis. This is a town that has had a world class baseball team for over 100 years, and lays claim to greats like Stan Musial, Bob Gibson, Ozzie Smith, and until yesterday Albert Pujols.
Many here saw Albert as the new age incarnation of Stan the Man, a player pivotal to the game, who not only put up impressive numbers, but did it all while wearing one team name on his jersey. Albert himself assured fans he wanted to assume this role, and that there was more to the game than money. However, these notions came to a screeching halt yesterday as Albert left St. Louis for a bigger contract. There aren’t a lot of people who thought it would come to this. Despite having very high attendance, and one of the broader fan bases in baseball, St. Louis is still very much a smaller to mid market team, and isn’t able to put up the kind of cash teams on the highly populated coasts can. The Cardinal’s offer of $210 million+ (or rumored top offer of $220 million) was said to be an over-extension of the Cardinal’s finances.
We can say at the minimum Pujols will be collecting an extra $30 million over the next ten years. However, when you factor in cost of living and taxes in California vs. Missouri, the two numbers are much closer than anticipated. However, many people forget that Albert will most likely have many more endorsement opportunities in Los Angeles than he ever had in St. Louis. In the long run Albert might actually make much more money than people are anticipating. However, that doesn’t mean this move wasn’t without risk.
Potential failures of moving:
- Legacy – Had Albert stayed with the Cardinals and finished out his career in St. Louis he could’ve been mentioned alongside of greats like Cal Ripken Jr., George Brett, and Stan Musial. While there isn’t necessarily a monetary gain to a legacy like this, there is a unique marketing aspect to it. These players are regarded as loyal and trustworthy players who will be remembered for their love of the game, rather than a love for the money.
- High Expectations – Albert has always been expected to perform, and has pretty much always answered the call. Even last year when he had a slow start, he still finished with a respectable .299 batting average (the first time in his career he batted under .300). As Albert grows older, and most likely continues to have elbow problems, his production will slip. $25 million a year seems great if he can reproduce what he has done over the past 10 years. However, entering the season at age 32 will probably see Albert continue to have more offensive struggles. Alex Rodriguez who is one of the few people paid higher than Albert within the league, can probably attest that with big money comes big pressure. Rodriguez has been a whipping boy for many years before the Yankees finally finished out 2009 with a World Series championship.
- Declining Public Image – For years many people have been espousing the greatness of Albert Pujols, and the charitable work he does. However, this article at CNN will not be the last article with less than nice things to say about Pujols. Many fans of not only the Cardinals, but all across baseball believe that Pujols has now outed himself as a liar. This article by Kevin Wheeler of KMOX highlights what many fans feel about Pujols. He may have won many a fan in LA just by signing, but he lost more by not being honest about his intentions.
