We're Just Mad About Albert

The media frenzy surrounding LeBron James' decision to leave Cleveland for Miami has prompted an interesting reaction in St. Louis: fear.

You see, Albert Pujols is on track to become a free agent. After the 2011 baseball season ends. And there is much hand-wringing.

St. Louis loves Albert Pujols. His recent appearance on Letterman was covered in a breathless multiple-photo spread (including one on the front page) in the Post-Disptach.The excitement surrounding his Letterman debut stems at least in part from one of the knocks of playing baseball in St. Louis: It's not New York. Or Boston. Or L.A. Or even Chicago. The market here is smaller, the players get less attention farther afield and thus fewer endorsement opportunities.

Pujols on Letterman - St. Louis Post-Dispatch

There's no question he's a great player. At age 30, his stats compare favorably with those of Hall-of-Famers Jimmie Fox, Hank Aaron, Lou Gehrig, and Mickey Mantle, among others. Earlier this season he became the first player in Major League Baseball history to hit at least 30 home runs in each of his first ten seasons. (This despite assertions that he's not a home run hitter. He hits line drives, and it just happens that at least 30 of them have gone over the fence every year.) Only five players in history have hit more home runs by end of the season following their 30th birthday and Pujols has done so in far fewer plate appearances. He has also hit at least .300 and driven in at least 100 runs in each of his first ten seasons. A truly remarkable - and unprecedented - stretch. He hit his 400th home run yesterday - Ken Griffey, Jr. and Alex Rodriguez are the only two players ever to reach that plateau at a younger age.

Pujols's 400th - St. Louis Post-Dispatch

The big question here is whether St. Louis will try to sign Pujols to a contract extension this off season, preventing him from becoming a free agent. What will it take for him to stay? What motivates Pujols? Money? Championships? Fame? Playing his entire career for one franchise? If he had produced these kinds of numbers as a Yankee, his Q rating would be through the roof. Most think he deserves to at least be the highest paid player on his own team (surprisingly, two of his teammates make more than he does this season). Does he deserve more money than the 5 year, $125 million that Ryan Howard just signed for in April? Howard is the same age as Pujols, a fact which Albert's agent will surely bring up at the bargaining table. But Philadelphia has a much bigger payroll than St. Louis. Will GM John Mozeliak, just finishing his third season on the job, want to be known as The One Who Let Albert Get Away? How deep is chairman Bill DeWitt, Jr. willing to dig - both to sign Pujols and to field a team around him? The Twins ponied up for Joe Mauer, but they're opening a new ballpark. Does Albert even want to stay in St. Louis?

There's a website trying to get 1,000 fans to sign a petition begging the team to do whatever it takes to keep Pujols in St. Louis. They have a ways to go to get to 1,000. But there's no doubt people around here care. You can cut the tension with a knife.