Recently, something happened that kind of surprised the baseball world: The New York Yankees offered ace pitcher Cliff Lee $150 million to join the team with far and away the most World Series wins in the MLB. And he didn’t take it. Instead, he chose to go back to the Philadelphia Phillies for $30 million less.
Why did he choose to forgo such a big chunk of cash to go back to a team that traded him not long ago? The reason was pretty simple: He and his family liked the team and the city of Philadelphia more than they wanted the money.
St. Louis Cardinals fans can only hope Albert Pujols is of the same mindset whenever he decides where he’s going to play in 2012.
The negotiations between the Cardinals and Pujols are sure to be a delicate dance, and it’s hard to say what the right answer or the right deal is.
But what it comes down to is this: The Cards likely can’t afford to pay Pujols what he’s worth without sacrificing on other parts of the roster. Pujols says he wants to play on a team that can win, and that he hopes to spend his career in St. Louis. He realistically can’t have both without taking a pay cut.
The Cards do have to respect Pujols’ talent and what he’s done for their ball club. They should pay him everything that is within their power.
But if Pujols wants what’s good for this team that has given him so much, he should also be willing to give them a so-called hometown discount.
In the world of sports and of baseball, where with every contract, players’ salaries just seem to just get bigger and bigger and bigger, when is it enough?
Stepping outside of sports for a moment, if Pujols is the devoutly Christian man that he appears to be -- a man who spends his off-season teaching baseball clinics and carrying mattresses to poor people in the Dominican Republic -- shouldn’t it no longer be about the money? What’s the difference between $25 million and $30 million a year, to a man like him. To any man?
St. Louis fans can only hope that Pujols and the Cardinals will show enough regard for one another to come to a contract agreement that will work for all involved. And that Pujols can follow the example of Cliff Lee and put his love of a city -- and its team and its fans -- above a few million more dollars.
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