There was major news over the weekend in St. Louis when it was reported that center fielder Colby Rasmus had requested a trade earlier in the year. Rasmus has been unhappy with his role in the organization for a few years now and wants to go somewhere he can play consistently.
When he was told about the trade request, Albert Pujols did not respond politely. In fact, the St. Louis first baseman and eventual Hall of Famer spoke sternly and more passionately about his team than almost any player I’ve ever heard. Even though it’s old news, you have to see Albert’s quotes in case you missed it. Here’s what he said:
“If he doesn’t want to be here next year, we need to figure out a way to get him out of here and find somebody that wants to be here and play … That’s a reality.
“That’ll show you right there a young player that doesn’t respect what he’s got,” he added. “He needs to find out the talent and ability that he has and pretty much keep his mouth shut and play the game. Let the organization make those decisions, not himself.”
“To play in this organization, just behind the Yankees in World Series [titles], to play in the postseason almost every year – it’s pretty special,” Pujols said. “I have nothing negative to say about this organization. And for a young kid to come up and say that he wants to be somewhere else, I don’t know why. I guess he said it two months ago. Two months ago we were in first place. If he doesn’t want to be on a team that’s in first place battling for a spot in the playoffs … he was young, but you need to approach that in a different way.”
Honestly, I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a player speak so passionately about his organization than Pujols did. How can you not love that? That’s exactly what you want your team leader to say. And after reading that, can you possibly imagine him ever leaving St. Louis? Me neither. As for Rasmus, he better turn around his attitude otherwise he’ll be gone.
Sources:
If Rasmus wants off Cards, Pujols says leave [Jeff Passan/Yahoo! Sports]
