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Pujols Payday Avoids a Messy Arbitration: A follow up.By Jeff ReppertMarch 7, 2004 Albert Pujols called his family on a Wednesday in the Dominican Republic first to let them know that the deal was going through. On Thursday evening, ESPN was reporting that the two sides had agreed on a deal worth $100 million over 7 years. Friday afternoon, at the press conference officially announcing the signing, Pujols quipped that the money “is not my money – it is money that I borrowed from God.” Well, perhaps it was a case of divine intervention, but maybe it was simply the payday that the game’s most exciting budding superstar had deserved all along. Pujols added that he and his family loved St. Louis and had wanted to stay with the Cardinals all along because “the fans are great”, however this would never have happened without the Cardinals going to great lengths to officially lock up the superstar on the very day of his arbitration hearing. Team officials received a heads-up on Thursday, and local reporters in Jupiter, FL had taken note that a Friday morning team flight to Phoenix had been canceled. The reported deal had been trimmed from an 8-year, $100 million offer to a 7-year $100 million dollar contract signed, sealed and delivered to Cardinal Nation on Friday, February 20. The signing of Pujols quelled the controversy surrounding the negotiations involving fan uproar upon hearing that Pujols declared there would be “no hometown discount.” Fans in St. Louis had enjoyed a recent tradition of players such as Mark McGwire, Jim Edmonds, Jason Isringhausen and Scott Rolen, who all signed deals believed to be underneath their market values. However, now that the signing is in the books, Cardinal fans must ask themselves this question: Where was this signing in relation to Pujols’ market value? Well, that is an extremely difficult question to answer considering that a deal of this nature is unprecedented for a player that is merely 24 years old. No player has ever started a career with a consistent 3-year standard of excellence (.300+, 30+ HR, 100+ RBI, 100+ Runs) like Albert Pujols, and no player has hit more homers in their first three seasons (114). If you favor the rhetoric that players this young “are only going to improve,” you may find that this signing was excellent for the Cardinals, because another year like Pujols’ 2003 line (MLB-best .359 avg., 43 HR, 127 RBI, 137 R) could have priced Pujols out of St. Louis entirely. Whether you consider St. Louis a small market or not (the payroll is expected to exceed $80 mil), it’s quite rare that smaller cities are able to retain their budding superstars. The agreement with Pujols was, arguably, under market value if you consider that a Hall-of-Fame career could be in the making. At his press conference, Pujols deflected comments about his contract shyly, emphasizing the team concept and his commitment to winning. Assessing the current club, Pujols declared that “We can compete with anybody” – and that the Cardinals are “going to be great.” Unless Pujols plans to take up a pitching career, nobody can really tell if that’s the case. However, surrounded by All-Stars Edgar Renteria, Jim Edmonds and Scott Rolen, his lineup should be among the best in baseball. His move to first base should make for an interesting and talented group of NL first baseman including Jim Thome, Todd Helton, Jeff Bagwell, Derrek Lee, Phil Nevin, Richie Sexson and Albert Pujols. “100 million dollars is a lot of money.” Yes, Albert, it is quite a chunk of loot. However, looking back on a short career that has produced mind-boggling numbers to date, the value of the contract did not leave many scratching their heads. Roughly a $14 million annual salary, Pujols’ contract is one of the highest yearly rates in the business, and Pujols has become the ninth player in baseball history to sign a contract for $100 million. With his $14 million annual salary, and given his unbelievable improvements each year, we can take a look around the league at the highest-paid players (in terms of annual average) and see where Pujols stands among the elite class of position players, using 2003 statistics: $15-25 Million Dollar Club: Player Avg. Salary Avg. HR RBI Runs Alex Rodriguez $25 mil .298 47 118 124 Manny Ramirez $20 mil .325 37 104 117 Derek Jeter $19 mil .324 10 52 87 Barry Bonds $18 mil .341 45 90 111 Sammy Sosa $18 mil .279 40 103 99 Jason Giambi $17 mil .250 41 107 97 Carlos Delgado $17 mil .302 42 145 117 Jeff Bagwell $17 mil .278 39 100 109 Todd Helton $15.5 mil .358 33 117 135 Chipper Jones $15 mil .305 27 106 103 $10-15 Million Dollar Club: Player Avg. Salary Avg. HR RBI Runs Jim Thome $14 mil .266 47 131 111 Albert Pujols $14 mil .359 43 127 137 Shawn Green $14 mil .280 19 85 84 Vladimir Guerrero $14 mil .330 25 79 71 Mo Vaughn $13.3 mil .190 3 15 10 Gary Sheffield $13 mil .330 39 132 126 Bobby Abreu $13 mil .300 20 101 99 Ken Griffey, Jr $13 mil .247 13 26 34 Andruw Jones $12.5 mil .277 36 116 101 Larry Walker $12.5 mil .284 16 79 86 Bernie Williams $12.5 mil .263 16 54 77 Miguel Tejada $12 mil .278 27 106 98 Mike Piazza $11.5 mil .286 11 34 37 Scott Rolen $11.25 mil .286 28 104 98 Mike Sweeney $11 mil .293 16 83 62 Luis Gonzalez $10 mil .304 26 104 92 Jorge Posada $10 mil .281 30 101 83 Jason Kendall $10 mil .325 6 58 84 Pujols and the Future in St. Louis The future for Pujols and his family is especially bright given the amount of dollars coming in and security in knowing he’ll be a Cardinal until at least 2010. With a new ballpark opening in 2006, Pujols’ talent and marketability are what the Cardinals are banking on. They plan to have Pujols fill the seats and win games. The upside to a signing of this nature is simple: the Cards got a deal. Looking at some of the production on the salary list, it is relatively easy to pick Pujols among the top 5 hitters in the game today. Likewise, the Cardinals will be afforded some payroll flexibility by signing Pujols during this off-season, as opposed to losing an arbitration hearing and embittering Pujols by their arguments and seeing Pujols rally off another MVP-type season that warrants Bonds/Sosa dollars. This would have been absolute disaster for St. Louis, because if they had become priced out by Pujols’ production, they would have been forced to explore moving Pujols over the coming seasons. It would have highlighted everything that is wrong with the game – because when great players leave teams stationed in smaller markets, the game loses out. Unless you have Billy Beane and can still produce a winner after losing Johnny Damon, Jason Isringhausen, Jason Giambi, Miguel Tejada and possibly Eric Chavez after the 2004 season, baseball will suffer because of the disparity between the haves and the have-nots. The New Market Maybe Pujols’ annual $14 million salary is a good thing for baseball. At 24 years old and with tremendous upside, it is unlikely that players in the near future will even approach contracts the likes of those that have gone by the wayside (Manny Ramirez, Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez, to name a few). Teams are guaranteeing fewer years and lower annual salaries in contract offers because, seemingly, the market was uncontrollably skewed towards the players. Players looking for long-term deals that surpass a $14 mil annual salary will probably be refuted in reference to the Pujols deal. One can bet that Gene Orza and Donald Fehr (of the MLB Players Association) were hoping that Pujols would hit arbitration for three years and sign with the highest bidder. However, the course of action on the part of the Cardinals was probably the best for St. Louis and the best move for baseball’s best interests. This is a follow up to Jeff's article on Pujols and arbitration. The first piece can be found in our archives. {lease share you thoughts and comments about the articles and the topic here. |
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