Guest Thursday: Albert Pujols – The Man, The Machine… The Legend?

Submitted by guest contributor Patrick Haugen

“I am not a machine, OK. I am just Albert,” deadpans Pujols to ESPN anchors Steve Levy and John Anderson while making copies in the ESPN offices in Bristol, Connecticut. Although this was just another well conceived commercial, seeing Albert’s Terminator-like thought process and his ability to communicate with the copy machine really makes you wonder about the possibility that Albert Pujols really could be a machine.

The most obvious reason the machine hypothesis is plausible is due to his ten year consistent dominance of the game of baseball. He was the rookie of the year and recieved an all-star nod in that same 2001 season, and has been compiling awards and reaching or approaching milestones ever since. He is a three-time National League Most Valuable Player, while finishing in the top four in every year except one. He is a nine-time all-star, and he finished second in the Most Valuable Player voting the year he was not an all-star. While he has only two Gold Glove awards to his name, he is well known as a solid and reliable defensive player.

Most impressively in my opinion, is the fact that in his career he has played in 96 percent of games, which means in ten years he has missed an average of only six games per year. His batting average, if not super human, has certainly been extraordinary. He has batted .331 over the entire span of his career, which is the best career batting average among active players.  This beats out the man whose one name is synonymous with hits, Ichiro, by .004 of a point.

When you look at the St. Louis Cardinals organization, one that has been around since 1882, Pujols is on pace to be the leader in several categories including:  home runs, at bats, plate appearances, runs, hits, total bases, doubles, runs batted in and walks. Most of these categories are led by Hall of Famer Stan “The Man” Musial. I guess it only makes sense that “The Man” will eventually be suprassed by “The Machine.”  In essence, Pujols has an opportunity to become not only the greatest Cardinal ever, but possibly even the greatest player in the history of the game. Of course this is dependent on him staying healthy, and from the Cardinal history side of it, that he stay a Cardinal for the rest of his career.

With only one year left on his contract before he becomes a free-agent, how long Pujols will be a Cardinal is a question undoubtedly on the mind of everyone who follows baseball. The speculation about what Pujols will do in the minds of fans and in the reporting of the media is rampant, especially given the failure of negotiations for a contract extension before this season. It is likely that the speculation will continue throughout the season, although Pujols has stated clearly that he will not discuss the issue at all during spring training as well as during the season itself.  This being said, don’t expect to get any more information out of The Machine.

The media has stated that the reason a contract was not signed was due to a disagreement between team management and representatives of Pujols over the overall value of the player.  Rumor has it that Pujols was asking for a ten year deal worth 300 million dollars. The moment Pujols arrived for spring training, he made it clear that the media was “way off” in their reporting of those supposed numbers. He also stated that it was his goal to be a Cardinal for his entire career, which I think is a big assurance for Cardinals fans.

The calculated planning and answers Pujols has shown and given are another reason for questioning his manhood. His off-field demeanor and reputation have always been equally infallible as his on-field performance. He is a player that it is almost impossible to dislike. His name is not mentioned when steroids or HGH are brought up, and he has never had a Milton Bradley “blow-up” moment. He goes about all aspects of the game in the most pure of ways.  This has earned him the respect of not only the fans in St. Louis, but the media, players and coaches as well.  Pujols already being the all-time Cardinal leader for intentional walks says as much.

Given his undeniable prowess on and off the field, there is no doubt Pujols deserves a lucrative long term deal. It can easily be argued that he should be the highest paid player in baseball. It is my belief that Pujols will in fact finish his career as a Cardinal, and in doing so, I think he will be rewarded with a contract that ranks near or even atop the all-time largest.

However, it is quite interesting that a deal was not done already. If Pujols really wanted to be a Cardinal for the rest of his career, it was entirely in his power to make that happen. It does make a person wonder if he may be using this year as a classic “free-agent year” in an attempt to try to get the most money from a large market team next season. A large part of my belief that Pujols will stay in St. Louis is simply the sports fan in me that believes he is a little more selfless than the average superstar. It’s the sports fan in me that wants to see an athlete take less money and not go to the Yankees just because of financial reasons.  It’s the sports fan in me that wants to see a franchise player stay loyal to a franchise, and more importantly, to a city of loyal fans. It is this opportunity for loyalty that I think can catapult Pujols to the top of all-time athletes, not only in the record books, but in the hearts and minds of sports fans.

I do not base my belief solely on my hope that Pujols is a good person and will stay loyal. There are a few other reasons that also have a seat at the table.

I already mentioned the numerous records he can attain with the organization.  The idea that he could end up being the greatest Cardinal of all time would be a great honor and accomplishment. Some might argue that this would be a selfish reason, but I argue that he is not actively trying to attain these records, but rather they come naturally as part of his constant production.

The Cardinals have been a perennial playoff team, and although they missed out in 2010, they are poised for a swift return in 2011. Strangely, a lot of players end up not re-signing with them because they claim they “want to win,” when the fact is the Cardinals have consistently won, reaching the playoffs in six of Pujols’ ten years, as well as winning the 2006 World Series. There are not very many teams that he could end up going to that would be improving his odds of winning a championship, with the exception of maybe the Philadelphia Phillies.  The Phillies however would most likely have a hard time providing the kind of financial terms Pujols would require, due to the stack of huge contracts they will have to honor over the next five years.

While Pujols will be a big reason for the Cardinals’ return to the top of the NL in 2011, their success will largely depend on their “1-A” ace Chris Carpenter and their “1-B” ace Adam Wainwright. It can be argued that these two are the best 1-2 punch in baseball from the mound in back to back games. In recent years it has shown that two dominant pitchers of this caliber almost alone can lead a team through a playoff series. The Cardinals also have second year southpaw Jaime Garcia, who is coming off a great year where he finished third in the rookie of the year voting. He posted a respectable 13-8 record, but his record did not reflect his impressive 2.70 ERA, which was sixth in the Majors. Even though reports are coming out that Wainwright could be out for this entire upcoming season with a significant elbow injury, the starting pitching of the Cardinals is another reason Pujols should consider staying around.

What it truely all boils down to is that the “A-ROD-esque” contracts may not be an option for teams in today’s economic climate. It is a mystery what kind of figure Pujols will demand within a new contract, but 30 million dollars a year seems a bit “asinine,” as White Sox General Manager Ken Williams so eliquently put it. The real world unemployment issue does have an effect on the revenue teams bring in. During this recession, fewer families are going to be able to come to games, and they will spend less on concessions or merchandise at the few they do attend. Going to a ballgame is a great experience, but people are going to have to choose whether to spend that fifty dollars to bring their family of four to a game or to feed that family of four for the week.

Like Albert, this is the last I will think of his contract situation until the year is over. Until then I will enjoy watching The Machine work. It will be interesting to see what happens in the end. Will he still be The Machine, or will the allure of the almighty dollar prove that he is just a man at his core after all?

If I am in fact right, and he does stay in St. Louis for the remainder of his career, I am confident that even after retiring Albert Pujols won’t ever die.  Not because he is a machine, but because he will be a legend.