One is a Dominican-born slugger with three Most Valuable Player Awards still in his prime playing years while the other is a US-raised owner of five World Series rings who is approaching the conclusion of a storied career.

There are several common threads, however. They are the acknowledged current on-field leaders of the two most storied franchises in the history of major league baseball as measured by World Series championships, 27 for New York and 10 for St. Louis.

Each is among the most admired men in the game off the field as well. For example, both are past winners of MLB’s Roberto Clemente Award, recognized for commitment to community and helping others.

Another similarity is that each has recently experienced difficulty getting a new contract in place with his only home as a major leaguer.

Heading into the final year of his previous deal in 2010, Jeter announced upon reporting to camp last February that he would not discuss his contract situation until after the season. He also made it clear he had no intention of wearing any uniform other than Yankee pinstripes. The club confirmed their standing policy of no in-season negotiations, as well.

After the season, the 36-year-old Jeter and the Yankees began a negotiation process that each said they wanted to keep private. Instead, it soon spilled into the papers and turned ugly. At one point, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman publicly encouraged his shortstop to search for a better deal elsewhere.

As expected, when all was said and done, there was not a higher offer. Jeter ultimately settled on a three-year, $51 million deal to remain with New York, but the Yankees took a lot of heat for the approach taken with their long-time team captain and feelings were hurt.

“I’d be lying to you if I said I wasn’t angry about how some of this went,” Jeter said at a December press conference to announce his new contract.

Pujols’ current situation as of February 2011 looks much like Jeter’s did one year prior. Player and club are saying the right things about wanting to remain together until death do they part, but are deferring talks until the fall. That enables everyone to focus on the season at hand.

In hindsight, that approach didn’t work out as well as expected for the 2010 Yankees. While they made the playoffs, it was as a Wild Card. Some observers felt the club was unable to kick it into high gear when the post-season began. The defending World Champions lost to Texas in six games in the American League Championship Series.

Among those dissatisfied is Yankees co-chairman Hank Steinbrenner, son of the late “Boss” George Steinbrenner. On Monday, Hank said the following, as reported by ESPN.

“I think, maybe, they celebrated too much last year,” Steinbrenner said. “Some of the players, too busy building mansions and doing other things and not concentrating on winning. I have no problem saying that.”

The remark was a direct shot a Jeter, who was building a large multimillion-dollar home last year. Said to be almost 31,000 square feet, it is the largest residence in Tampa.

While the Yankees may have won the contract battle with Jeter, at what cost was it secured? Their cold war clearly continues on, long after the ink on the new contract has dried.

The Cardinals aren’t yet saying it the same way as the Yankees did with Jeter, but the one key outcome will be the same – Pujols testing his value via free agency.

No one knows exactly where the negotiations will head this fall. Unlike Jeter, Pujols is in the prime of his career and may be looking for a record haul. As such, there should be greater market interest, though the price may scare off some potential bidders.

This fall, St. Louis will likely be faced with a different problem than New York, having to decide whether or not to match a higher offer from another club. The Cardinals could force Pujols to choose between team loyalty and more cash elsewhere. That is the time when the words may start flying, even if a messy Pujols-Cardinals divorce is eventually averted.

Both sides should remain very careful. As the continuing Yankees-Jeter discord indicates, bad feelings can remain even after what appears to be a good outcome has been achieved.

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Catching up on my Sunday reading, I came across an interesting item concerning the future of Albert Pujols. Rather than being from an anonymous blog somewhere, it was posted on the NESN website.

It is significant to note that the New England Sports Network is primarily owned by the Boston Red Sox and naturally holds their television rights. Their Red Sox reporter, Tony Lee, penned a piece entitled “Red Sox Could be Contenders in Albert Pujols 2011 Free Agency Race.”

Though I follow baseball closely, I didn’t know the specifics of the Red Sox’ minor league pipeline, but I was aware of the long-time interest the club has allegedly held in San Diego Padres’ first sacker Adrian Gonzalez.

Lee puts forth an interesting take as to why and how the Red Sox might make a run at Pujols instead if he reaches free agency in 12 months. He also notes why the Yankees may not compete.

As one might expect, Red Sox fans are especially unsettled after missing the playoffs for just the second time in the last eight years and finishing in third place behind Tampa Bay and New York. Still, the Sox won 89 games, three more than the Cardinals.

Of course, at this juncture at least, most everyone expects Pujols to remain a Cardinal for the foreseeable future, but until it is done, it isn’t done.

In the meantime, I expect we will start seeing more Lee-like pieces popping up all over the baseball landscape. What makes this one a bit more notable is its source. Of all the 29 remaining clubs, the Red Sox are among the relative handful with the money, market and prestige to land a big fish like Pujols.

The bridge to my next item is the DOVE ad campaign entitled “Journeys to Comfort.” Along with Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte, the other two headliners are Pujols and Pettitte’s manager Joe Girardi.

La Russa 2.0

I couldn’t help but chuckle over a Sunday piece from the New York Post that describes in a begrudging manner why Girardi will likely be back to manage the Yankees. The deal may be three years, $9 million, says a later report from Jon Heyman of SI.com.

Back when there was some uncertainty about Tony La Russa’s return, the former Cardinals catcher (2003), FOX Sports broadcaster and Florida Marlins manager was mentioned by some as a possible replacement candidate in St. Louis.

Among the comments about Girardi from writer Joel Sherman:

“…a very good manager. Prepared. Smart. A student of the game.”

Then Sherman proceeded to march and burn his way through the manager’s office, inflicting some collateral damage as well…

“…you have to wonder if the Cardinals would have wanted the 2.0 version of La Russa — tense and paranoid — to succeed him.”

“…clenched teeth, edgy pacing and obsession with his black binder.”

“Thus players end up, at best, respecting him rather than having a human connection that would foster something greater.”

“…a personality that too often strays to the robotic or — worse — dishonest.”

“So if he is deceitful or anxiety-laced, that becomes the face and the pulse of the team.”

“When you treat every bit of information about your team — including the innocuous — as if it should be CIA classified, then your joyless persona begins to corrupt clubhouse atmosphere, as well.”

Has anyone around here ever heard anything like that before? Apparently Joe learned well.

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It was a much different time for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1995. The club was in the midst of its eighth consecutive year of missing the playoffs, comparable to the current futility string held by the Seattle Mariners.

Beloved leader Whitey Herzog was long gone, owner Gussie Busch had died in 1989 and disinterested Anheuser-Busch executives were not providing necessary leadership or financial support. Their field manager since 1990, Joe Torre, was a link back to better times in the early 1970’s. Unfortunately, the former Most Valuable Player had retired from active duty 15 years before and the team on the field wasn’t good enough to contend.

47 games into the 1995 campaign, new general manager Walt Jocketty sacked Torre after Joe had posted a 351-354 record at the helm of St. Louis. At that point, having been fired from his third major league managerial job (New York Mets and Atlanta Braves), Torre had never led a team into the World Series nor did he appear in one during his 18 years as a player.

Just a week after Anheuser-Busch made their surprise announcement of their intention to sell the Cardinals on October 25, 1995, Torre was named the manager of the New York Yankees.

Ten days prior, then 51-year-old Tony La Russa had been introduced by Jocketty as the new skipper of the Cardinals.

In a charity appearance in Los Angeles this past weekend, Torre provided insight into the interlocking wheels that were spinning at the time. He was he was the Yankees’ choice as general manager, a job he turned down, but was the fourth priority on the candidate list to become the team’s manager, after La Russa, Davey Johnson and Sparky Anderson.

“Davey Johnson had already committed to Baltimore,” Torre told MLB.com. “Tony La Russa took over for me in St. Louis, where I was fired, and Sparky didn’t want to come east. And there I was, the great choice.”

Despite the roads taken having been excellent for both men, I can’t help but wonder what might have been with Torre as the GM and La Russa the field manager of the Bronx Bombers – not to mention how the fate of the St. Louis Cardinals would have been altered.

Of course, Torre did pretty well on his own, having one of the most successful managerial runs in MLB history while with New York. He led the Yankees to World Championships in 1998, 1999 and 2000 and to American League pennants in 2001 and 2003. Despite three first-place finishes, four consecutive non-title seasons followed, which led to Torre’s departure for Los Angeles. As Cardinals fans are painfully aware, Torre’s Dodgers dispatched the Cardinals in three straight in the 2009 National League Division Series.

La Russa didn’t fare too shabbily either. His 14-plus years of continuous managerial service with St. Louis is a club record, as is his 1,232 wins in the uniform. La Russa’s Cardinals teams have posted winning records in 11 of those 14 seasons, won eight division titles, two National League Pennants and the organization’s tenth World Championship in 2006.

While we will see both men inducted into Baseball’s Hall of Fame one day, it is still natural to wonder, “What if?”

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Tuesday: The New York Post’s George King reports free-agent outfielder Damon is ready to look elsewhere than the Yankees for work. “I am going to start looking around. Teams are getting better and there are teams interested,” Damon said. “I can’t wait forever and I am sure [the Yankees] are trying to figure things out. I have to be ready.” It is believed the Yankees aren’t interested in giving Damon more than two years for about $20 million.

Wednesday: ESPN.com reports Damon wants $13 million a season from the Yankees. There has been no movement in talks between both parties. Damon has indicated that he does not want the Yankees to make an offer if they are going to propose less.

Friday: Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com, reports Damon lowered his price for the Yankees earlier this week, first to two years, $26 million, and then to two years, $20 million. However, by the time Damon dropped his price the second time, the team had already agreed to terms with designated hitter Nick Johnson. The Yankees offered two years and $14 million somewhere in the process, but the two sides failed two reach an agreement.

Friday: The New York Post caught up with Damon for his reaction upon the Yankees signing Johnson instead of him. Damon had been looking for a three-year deal in the $39 million range, and even though sources say that agent Scott Boras caved on the third year, the Yankees weren’t willing to give Damon the same $13 million salary he earned in each of the last four years.

Damon did not hide his disappointment that the Yankees decided to move on without him, though he did not mention his agent.

“I wanted it to happen. I have nothing but great things to say about the Yankees,” Damon said. “If the Nick Johnson thing works out, it will be good for them. It’s part of baseball.

“I’m not quite sure what I’m going to do. I know there are some teams interested, but the Yankees are the best organization I’ve been a part of so far in my career. I wish them all the best.”

It reminded me of another Yankees-related situation from past years, with a player heading in instead of out, but otherwise similar feelings.

In the 2005 Rob Rains book “Cardinals: Where Have You Gone?”, former St. Louis first baseman Jack Clark looked back at his departure from St. Louis. It was a time, 1987, when the owners were guilty of collusion. In fact, as 1987 became 1988, Clark had not received a single offer other than a cut from St. Louis despite coming off a very strong season.

“There were a lot of things that were said to me, and the way they were said, that bothered me,” Clark said. “I was getting a lot of pressure from the (players) union. (Agent) Tom (Reich) came to me and said, ‘What about the Yankees?’…”

He agreed to terms with the Bombers on January 6, 1988. The Ripper is still ripped today about how the events played out.

“Looking back on it, I should have stayed a Cardinal,” Clark said. “I was very happy here. I had my best years in baseball here. We went to the World Series twice in three years. It was fun to go to the ballpark every day. I was playing for the best manager in the game. My family liked it here. My kids were in school. I considered this my home.”

Here is hoping another Boras client, Matt Holliday is aware of the details of the Damon situation and that while a Cardinal, he had the chance to meet Clark, now a broadcaster with FOX Sports Midwest, and hear his story about leaving St. Louis first-hand.

Otherwise, perhaps Holliday will be featured in the 2029 version of “Cardinals: Where Have You Gone?”

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One of this week’s prevailing storylines regarding free agent Matt Holliday is the supposed “mystery bidder” who will swoop in and whisk the outfielder away from the patiently-waiting St. Louis Cardinals to his new home for the next five to eight years.

While teams like the Mets and Orioles have been linked to the 29-year-old, neither of their offers, if even made, seem to be in the range of the Cardinals’ bid to retain him.

The fear is that the mystery team is none other than the club with the deepest pockets of all – New York Yankees. This is the feeling despite the fact that not only have the Bombers expressed a lack of interest in Holliday, word from their camp is that they will not be engaging. As recently as two days ago, ESPN reported the Yankees “cannot see a situation in which they will become involved” with Holliday.

Few in the Cardinal Nation apparently believe the reports, their fear fueled by general, but deep-seated distrust of the Yankees and a revisionist view of the events of one year ago. At that time, first baseman Mark Teixeira, late of the Angels, was being hotly pursued by his old club as well as the Red Sox, Nationals and Orioles.

As the yarn goes, the Yankees feigned disinterest virtually until the day Teixeira’s signing with New York was announced… and so it will occur again with Holliday.

I didn’t remember the chain of events occurring in that manner, so went back to news reports from last winter. While it is true that at least one point, it seemed Teixiera was very close to joining the Red Sox, and there were zigs, zags and apparently incorrect rumors along the way, the basic fact is that the Yankees’ interest in the first baseman had been long-reported.

Here is a partial timeline summarizing press accounts of the Yankees’ courting of Tex. Again, it is far from the full set of rumors regarding the player. It is the only the subset I could locate that mentions New York specifically.

Note how the level of activity and the timeline differ from 2009.

• December 7, 2008: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports Yankees general manager Brian Cashman met with Teixeira and his agent Scott Boras at Baseball’s Winter Meetings on December 5.

• December 10: Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports the Yankees’ interest in Teixeira has waned after their signing of C.C. Sabathia.

• December 11: SI.com’s Jon Heyman reports the Yankees have entered the sweepstakes for Teixeira.

• December 15: The New York Post reports that Manny Ramirez would be a fallback option for the Yankees if they do not sign Teixeira.

• December 15: Lyle Spencer of MLB.com reports the Yankees have turned their attention to Teixeira and are interested in signing him.

• December 17: Spencer reports the Yankees have not made an offer or a proposal to Teixeira.

• December 18: George King III of the Post reports that the Yankees were not the team to outbid the Red Sox for Teixeira. “Not us,” was the response from Cashman when contacted by the paper.

• December 22: Kevin Kernan of the Post reports the Yankees have had serious discussions with Boras but have yet to make a contract offer.

• December 22: Buster Olney and Peter Gammons of ESPN.com report the Yankees made an initial offer to Teixeira but then withdrew their bid because it was not close to other teams’ offers.

• December 23: Teixeira’s agreement in principle with the Yankees is announced.

Does the above timeline preclude New York from going after Holliday? Of course not, but it does illustrate that they are being far more stealthy in 2009 if they want Holliday than they were in 2008 with Teixeira.

With Tex, Cashman met with both the player and agent at the Winter Meetings and while the club focused on signing Sabathia first, their interest was reported regularly during the 18 days between the face-to-face meeting and the announcement.

Bottom line, while it was a surprise when the Yankees wrested Teixeira away from the Red Sox, their genuine interest in the player should not have been news to anyone who was paying attention. At least as of yet, the reports about the Yankees and Holliday in 2009 have been just the opposite.

Footnote: Boras may have a very good reason to step lightly with New York regarding Holliday. Incumbent left fielder Johnny Damon, also a Boras client, is reportedly demanding $13 million per season to return to the Yankees while the club is unwilling to go above $10 million. Number of years may also be an issue.

Like Holliday with the Cardinals, at this point, Damon seems to have only one team openly interested in his services. So even if Boras can somehow manage to hook the Yankees with Holliday, he creates another problem in the process, having to start over finding a new home for Damon. It may not be an easy task to interest another taker in the past-his-prime 36-year-old at a price anywhere near the amounts being discussed.

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Earlier in the off-season, the Houston native turned down a $10 million guaranteed deal from the Yanks, his feelings hurt over being asked to take a cut from his 2008 salary of $16 million.

Since that time however, the Yankees went on a spending spree, landing free agents C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Mark Teixeira, and withdrawing their original offer to Andy in the process. Pettitte, 36, still made it clear he was interested only in returning to the Yankees, eliminating much of his leverage.

Why am I bringing this up on a St. Louis Cardinals-focused site?

I couldn’t help but notice a few parallels with the often-forgotten, yet biggest move by far of the 2008-2009 Cardinals’ off-season, the signing of Kyle Lohse to a four-year, $41 million contract at the end of September.

• Like Pettitte, Lohse told his agent that he wanted to remain with his current club and to get a deal done.

• Like Pettitte, Lohse settled for a deal that could deliver between $10 million and $12 million per year (on the average).

• Like Pettitte, Lohse turned down a bigger deal early. It was last off-season, a three-year offer to remain with Philadelphia. He later had to settle for a much-reduced one-year, $4.75 million deal with St. Louis for 2008.

• But unlike Pettitte, Lohse moved quickly this time, before the economy went into its deepest slide. September was a time when $41 million sounded like a decent deal. Now, it doesn’t feel quite as good from the club’s perspective.

I understand the two are totally different situations, but for just a moment, consider if Lohse had turned down a deal worth $10 million or more per year last fall like Pettitte, gambling the market would improve, as agent Scott Boras advised.

Modeling Lohse’s hypothetical deal after Pettitte’s, a four-year deal with an average base of $5.5 million would have guaranteed Lohse just $22 million instead of $41 million. On the positive side, if all incentives were hit, he could actually bring home more, $48 million.

Though not entirely realistic, if nothing else, this offers a view of how the market has shifted since last fall. If Pettitte’s deal is any indication, free agent pitchers, at least those in the second tier, seem to be getting less and/or are having taking on more risk.

This time, Lohse played it right. Likely tired of hassles after two consecutive years of arbitration hearings, then being traded at two consecutive deadlines, followed by a 2007-2008 off-season in which he received no offers between November and March, Lohse found a home in St. Louis and made his big deal to remain.

Yet is there any doubt that the Cardinals wouldn’t do such a contract today? Timing is everything.

(Footnote: Those hoping for improved odds of a Rick Ankiel trade to the Yankees for a young starting pitcher due to the Pettitte signing should note Yankees GM Brian Cashman’s comment in the AP article. He doesn’t expect to be making any more significant moves for the remainder of the off-season. Boras, who also represents Ankiel, is probably more disappointed about that in the context of still-homeless superstar Manny Ramirez than for the Cardinals outfielder.)