As the Albert Pujols contract negotiations continue privately between Albert's agent and the Cardinals brass, the ultimatum set forward by Pujols during the St. Louis Cardinals Winter Warm-up draws closer and closer.
While fans continue to squabble about how much is enough money and how many years to give Albert, they always look and point to the stats.
Sure, the stats are great. 10 consecutive seasons of 30 home runs, 100 RBI's, and at least a .300 average are numbers that speak for themselves.
But its the fact that Pujols has provided all of this production in one uniform that is so remarkable, especially if you compare it to other active players tenured with the same team and even in Cardinals franchise history.
According to http://www.fungoes.net/, only 5 active players in baseball have spent more time and played in more games with their current team than Albert has spent with the Cardinals.
Those players are Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees, Chipper Jones of the Atlanta Braves, Todd Helton of the Colorado Rockies, Jorge Posada of the New York Yankees, and Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners.
Additionally, when you look at St. Louis Cardinals history according to http://www.baseball-reference.com/, Albert already is ranked 13th in the storied Cardinals franchise history in games played with the Birds on the Bat.
Extending a contract to Albert makes sense and would say so much about the values of this organization.
It would make Albert stand-out as a player that bucked the trend during times of high dollars and free agency.
It would also cement Albert in second place in games played in a Cardinal uniform with only one player in front of him.
That player, of course, is Stan "The Man" Musial.
While fans continue to squabble about how much is enough money and how many years to give Albert, they always look and point to the stats.
Sure, the stats are great. 10 consecutive seasons of 30 home runs, 100 RBI's, and at least a .300 average are numbers that speak for themselves.
But its the fact that Pujols has provided all of this production in one uniform that is so remarkable, especially if you compare it to other active players tenured with the same team and even in Cardinals franchise history.
According to http://www.fungoes.net/, only 5 active players in baseball have spent more time and played in more games with their current team than Albert has spent with the Cardinals.
Those players are Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees, Chipper Jones of the Atlanta Braves, Todd Helton of the Colorado Rockies, Jorge Posada of the New York Yankees, and Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners.
Additionally, when you look at St. Louis Cardinals history according to http://www.baseball-reference.com/, Albert already is ranked 13th in the storied Cardinals franchise history in games played with the Birds on the Bat.
Extending a contract to Albert makes sense and would say so much about the values of this organization.
It would make Albert stand-out as a player that bucked the trend during times of high dollars and free agency.
It would also cement Albert in second place in games played in a Cardinal uniform with only one player in front of him.
That player, of course, is Stan "The Man" Musial.
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