I think this is the first real salvo in the Albert Pujols contract situation we've seen fired, this Hot Stove season—
"I hope that before the season begins I get an extension," the 30-year-old Pujols said during a news conference Thursday.
The team has said there's no specific timetable for beginning negotiations [...]
Pujols said he wants to spend the rest of his career with the Cardinals, "but that is something that I cannot control."
This might just be wishful thinking on my part, but I think if the Cardinals do resign Pujols, they'll make their big run before the beginning of this season; I can't imagine them intentionally playing through the 2011 season with that question over their heads. Think about how easily the perceived fallout from the Colby Rasmus tiff settled over the second half of the 2010 season, or the questions about Tony La Russa's future in the dugout. Now think about watching six months of baseball where everything the Cardinals do is tied back to Albert Pujols's impending free agency...
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 30 2011: "Setting records for RBI in a month, Holliday still unsure about Pujols situation."
... it's a remarkable showing for Holliday, who has emerged as the clutchiest, grittiest baseball player on a Cardinals team filled with short white guys who can't hit. "I just chalk [the average with RISP] up to being ready to do the little things, and always trying to hit the line drive or the ground ball instead of the home run, and offering to donate the entirety of my salary to that farm out in the country where old sports columnists go when they retire, and they can just run all day there, and they never have to stay inside."
But Holliday is still unsure of where Albert Pujols will be in 2012. "I'm not [not] entirely sure how that's relevant," Holliday said. "But I hope they resign him. I mean, I haven't heard anything."
Viva El Birdos, June 1, 2011: "Lohse Learns Life-Lessons: A Play In One Act"
[...]
LOHSE [twirling the straw in his Orange Slice]: No, this Super Nintendo game has taught me something—I really am acting like a child.
PUJOLS: Id's true, mang. Jus' lige Terra mus' learn to agknowledge her esper side ang 'e human side, you godda understan' you're a mang who loves kiddie cogtails ang also a starding pitcher in Major League Beisbol.
DANUP: Look, I'm sorry to do it like this, but are you signing an extension, or what? I can bring your agents in, we can hash this whole thing out, maybe the front office will stop blocking my calls long enough for me to pass your figures along.
PUJOLS: Mang, we're jus' tring to learn aboud ourselves ang have fun, 'e no need for this.
LOHSE: I'm confused about metafiction. [...]
Deadspin, August 1, 2011: On Brett Favre's Cell Phone: No Word Of Albert Pujols's Next Contract
NSFW after the jump—new Omaha Nighthawks quarterback Brett Favre may like to send photos of himself to hot babes, but sources tell Deadspin his new 12.1 megapixel LED Flash camera phone has no knowledge of Albert Pujols's plans after he reaches free agency following the 2011 season.
UPDATE: It still doesn't.
READ MORE:
* Front Row Lap Dance At The Cowboys Game Gives No Indication Of Pujols's Future
* LEITCH: I Would Trade My Rick Ankiel 66 Jersey For Just A Little Closure About This Pujols Thing
New York Post, October 23, 2011: FOUR HOME RUNS IN, PUJOLS STILL NOT YANKEE RIPPER!!!!!!!
FOUR HOME RUNS INTO A HISTORIC PERFORMANCE IN THE WORLD SERIES NON-RED-SOX NON-YANKEES-STAR ALBERT PUJOLS HAS NOT SIGNED A MULTI-YEAR DEAL WITH THE NEW YORK YANKEES STOP
DESPITE BEING THE BEST PLAYER IN BASEBALL PUJOLS HAS REMAINED WITH HIS TEAM WHO REACHED THE WORLD SERIES AS CHAMPIONS OF THE NEW YORK METS LEAGUE STOP
A FREE AGENT AFTER THE SEASON PUJOLS WILL TAKE HIS CHAMPIONSHIP RING TO THE BRONX WHERE HE WILL OFFER IT TO Derek Jeter AS A SHOW OF GOOD FAITH STOP
GAME FOUR OF THE WORLD SERIES WILL RETURN TO KANSAS CITY, WHERE FUTURE YANKEE NUMBER-THREE ZACK GREINKE WILL TAKE THE MOUND STOP