No matter how you look at it……..BD got the fastball…….and drove it. He is standing on second now with a big smile on his face. Its up to the big men to bring him in. Its time to reach for the pine tar, not your bank statements. Lets pray the pitching holds!

Lets hope Colby starts spraying the ball and negotiates his lifestyle fantasies form 320, instead of 260. Lets hope Freese or Craig push Ludwick to 7th and start writing their own success stories. Lets hope our young lefty wins 14 games.

Albert has his challenges, but he has a warriors heart. The dry powder has been tamped and he is still the cannon ball being loaded. Lets hope that Carpenter can still light matches all year long.

I welcome the disappearance of the primadona (as probably does Ryan). But for all we know Albert might as well. The weight of feeling he has to be the leader (whether he wants to or not and whether he really knows how to do that well or not) may be lifted and this may or may not be a positive.

Hopefully there is not a power struggle or the building of a faction struggle that could effect players far beyond Matt and Albert.

Albert can solve the money issue tomorrow if he wants with a simple call to BD saying he wants to negotiate an extension that includes tearing up the last 2 years of the current deal.

Brian, It would depend on the relative values. You are right there is a cost in letting your position erode. There is also a value in seeing more of the future before making a long term committment. One might believe that the cost of giving up the trade goods altogether would be well worth it to see two more years of that future before deciding to spend $200M.

RC, also good points. I have a view of clubhouse dynamics, but it is not from being there every day. McGwire seems the real new dimension, which could be substantial depending on how he attacks the job. An influence angle not yet discussed is TLR. Pujols has years of a head start over the new guy Holliday.

Bling, A friend of mine said last week, when he found out via a real estate agent that Holliday was coming back to St. Louis(you see this friend of mine is in the process of purchasing a home as was Holliday in the St. Louis area and have the same guy looking for homes), This friend stated, “Albert is gonna be pissed about Holliday”.

In other words, Albert will not be the Superpower he was last year from now on. Albert won’t be able to bark out commands to Matt and subsequently Albert will not be able to do that to the other players. I’m just curious how Albert will respond to not having the ultimate say in everything that is the St. Louis Cardinals from here on out. Matt will bring a balance that has been missing since Jim and Scott have moved on. Score one for the mainlanders

As for Big Mac being around, this can not be a bad thing for the mainlanders either. He will be able to put those kids under his wing like Albert does with the dominican players. Having Big Mac and MH(now around for the long haul) around is nothing but a positive for the TEAM.

My curiosity is in regards to how Albert will respond to not being the only Great player on the team, which is a role I believe he relishes. Now he is also second in the pecking order as far as money goes. I’m not sure his EGO will be able to cope with the change in the landscape.

I like the idea of putting the immediate push on to sign Albert now. If successful, it takes a lot of the drama and distraction away from this year (and next). If not, it allows the Cards to consider trade options before Albert’s no trade protection kicks in.

If Pujols isn’t re-signed this off season it seems that his value may very well depend more on Matt than on Pujols himself. If Holliday performs at or near Pujols level (let’s say 7-8 WAR, 150 OPS+ territory) then it seems logical that the Pujols can only demand 20%-30% more. If Matt is a 4.0 WAR player then Pujols gets 60%-80% more. A high performing Holliday also lessens the idea of the franchise will go totally down hill if Pujols isnt re-signed giving the team a subtle bit of leverage.

Brian, how does Pujols performing at a Ruthian level reduce his trade value?

Edit: According to sportsbook.com, here are the 2010 NL pennant betting odds:

Phils +200
StL +450
LAD +700
Mets +800
Cubs +800
Braves +1000…

You seem willing to risk having to pay more for an extension or receive less in trade after Albert puts up “a Ruthian season”. That is also viable, but why let your position erode?

1) The Cards could have proposed the Holliday deal with backloaded money to keep Albert on top for the next two years, but couldn’t get Boras to agree.

2) The Cards will now approach Albert about an extension that would include a re-negotiation of the next two years. Even if he turns it down, respect will be shown.

I personally really like the idea of striking again while the iron is hot. Barring a catastrophe, Pujols’ extension price will not go down over the next two years. If for some very unlikely reason, he signals he doesn’t want to return, the Cards can start thinking about the unthinkable – a trade. I doubt it will get there, but I am working on another post to explore this.

Yes, Mortensen was #36 but he is now a sure thing (only question is upside) and major league ready – knowing what teams know now about him I think he goes at least #25 most years. Wallace probably goes slightly higher than #13 and Peterson probably moves up a few spots as well. Add in lost development time as well (I think you brought this up somewhere else recently).

Wallace was 13th and Mortensen 36th, so they are almost equidistant from this year’s 25th pick. Neither one is an ideal comp, but having to choose one, I would break the tie with Wallace, since Mortensen was a second pick, a comp rounder.

For my personal view, I am preparing a blog post now….

Man, I wish I had such a vivid imagination!

Subconsciously, many of Jeshua’s followers were fascinated at the chance to witness the hoped for miracle of (Jesus) flying of the cross in the face of his Rome tormentors. The rest hit the road at his arrest.

Translation; there will be a massive ticket surge to watch this show within the show. Albert can’t act the role he has become accustom to. His role will now be defined in a very different manner…… If the team dominates, and Albert preforms admirably as does Holiday, Albert has to take less to keep the team together. 25 tops……….. If he struggles, his price goes down anyway. If he continues his spiritual grind…………… that most likely creates injuries. BD just bought a get out of jail card, and he will still stay under 100 mill………pretty smart move again.

The good news is, this challenge for Albert isn’t as difficult as the one the beat him up last fall. He will look damn silly pouting at this point about folks pitching around him.. He now has to out perform a 17 million dollar player to justify more. That’s why you are looking at 120. DeWitt drove this deal, not Mo. He is smart.

I’ll be honest………… Albert should bat 4th…….lets run up front with Holiday hitting 3rd. Albert can get 200 rbi’s from there.

Yeah, no more platooning in the outfield……………..

Albert: Repetir después de mí, Albert es el más hermoso.