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How Much Is Albert Pujols Worth To The Cardinals? The Media Get Out Their Calculators

Albert Pujols’ self-imposed deadline to strike a deal with the Cardinals is quickly approaching, and everyone is crunching the numbers. How much is the star worth? Rumors have it in the $300 million range, which would give Pujols approximately $185,000 per game next year. Will we see history get made tomorrow? Let’s see what the media says about Pujols and his worth to the Cardinals.

The Cards can’t afford him: “It’s easy to say he projects to $300 million, but sometimes going with the odds isn’t the smart move,” says Rob Neyer at SB Nation. If this proposed 10-year contract goes awry for whatever reason – Pujols is 31 already, after all – it would set St. Louis back for many, many years. “Ultimately, I think the Cardinals simply aren’t well-positioned to make a $300 million commitment.” It would just “cripple the Cardinals” for so long that the gamble simply isn’t worth it.

Pujols should stay, even for less: This may not be “Armageddon,” says Bob Smizik in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but we’ve never seen a negotiation that “means so much to the game.” Pujols has been a “role model” in St. Louis and should consider his fans there. “There’s no better place to play than St. Louis, where the fans sell out Busch Stadium often, fill it to near-capacity most of the time, behave like fans are supposed to behave and are intensely loyal.” If he does decide to stay, “he become a larger hero.”

His market value is just too high: The “acrimonious renegotiations” between Pujols and the Cards “deserve to be challenged for the inanities they are,” says Mark Kriegel at Fox Sports. Even if his value is measured there, “the idea that he somehow deserves $30 million a year is preposterous.” If you are measuring it against A-Rod’s current contract, those “rates for superstar first basemen don’t figure to be what they were” when A-Rod sealed his deal. “So what will the market bear for the best hitter in baseball?” Either someone overspending, or a drop back down to reality.

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