Albert Pujols has signed with the highest bidder. Given what we know about today’s day and age, that should come as a shock to absolutely no one who pays even a little bit of attention to professional sports. As Yahoo! Sports’ Tim Brown reported Thursday morning, the Los Angeles Angels swept in out of nowhere and offered Pujols a monstrous 10-year contract that is believed to be worth between $250-$260 million. The last reported offer from St. Louis was in the range of $210-$220 million, so as you can see Pujols decided to take the extra $30-$40 million and run.
Most fans would probably take it too, but good luck getting them to admit that. You certainly won’t hear anyone in St. Louis admitting it, as evidenced by the LeBron James treatment the St. Louis Post-Dispatch gave Pujols on the front page of their website after the deal was announced.
Before we send out the lynching mob, it is important to remember that Pujols is not LeBron. King James promised he would bring a championship to Cleveland and he skipped town without fulfilling that promise. He took less money to play with the Heat and have an opportunity to play alongside Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. LeBron took what he believes will be the easier road toward winning a ring, and the fact that he gets to enjoy the rockstar lifestyle in South Beach likely didn’t hurt.
Pujols, on the other hand, promised the people of St. Louis nothing but helped bring them two World Series trophies anyway. Instead of accepting an offer from the Marlins that would have reportedly been worth the same as the L.A. deal given tax ramifications, Pujols said “no thanks” to Miami. Instead, he accepted a deal with the Angels that includes a no-trade clause, which will help him secure a stable future for his family.
I can fully understand and appreciate Cardinals fans feeling betrayed by Pujols, but the two championships they got to enjoy are a lot more than the people of Cleveland can say they received from LeBron. Keep that in mind as the overreactions continue to come pouring in.
H/T to Hardball Talk for pointing out the screen shot.
