Albert Pujols, the face of the Cardinals franchise, has not reached a deal with the Cardinals for next season. Pujols, whose contract is up at the end of this season, wanted to have an extension or new deal done for next season by last Wednesday so that there would not be any distraction for the ball club during this season. He was quoted as saying "You have to put a deadline because you don't want to bring distractions to the ball club."
(http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/spring2011/news/story?id=6131069). Pujols is absolutely right. He did the right thing by setting this deadline so that the team could focus on the season and not have to deal with questions about his status for next year. I believe it is the little distractions that take away from a team's chances of winning.
With that said, I do not know what the Cardinals are thinking here. Pujols is their number one player and quite possibly one of the best players to ever play the game. You have to sign your franchise player in this situation. You do whatever it takes to bring back the player that the fans come to see play who is keeping you in the playoff hunt year in and year out. I understand that you need money left to pay the rest of your players, but signing Pujols for what he wants is a deal that the Cardinals absolutely need to get done at the end of the season.
Pujols has not said that there is no chance that the talks will reignite between ownership and himself, but for now, he is focusing on the season and will deal with his contract later.
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