The question of if St.Louis can afford Matt Holliday is a good question but it is not the most important question to be asking this off-season. Albert Pujols has two years remaining on his current contract and has already come out and said that he wants to end his career as a Cardinal. The front office should have blown up his phone the second they heard that comment with a contract to follow in the next week. This contract situation is the most important question of the off-season and the future of the organization for that matter.

It is safe to say that the Cardinals will empty out the company bank volt to keep Albert in St.Louis for the next 8 to 10 years. He is set to make a killing on his next contract most likely earning in the $20 million a season range or even more. Since we all know that the team wants him back, the fans want him back and that he wants to be back so why is there all of this feet dragging.

Why hasn’t the team offered a ten year $200 million to $250 million deal so that every free agent knows that Albert will be here for the long haul. It  just seems to make more sense to get his deal done so that the front office knows what it has left to spend on players like Holliday or Bay this season.

There is no upside to not getting Albert signed long term other than the hypothetical what if he gets hurt. Other than a fluke injury there are only bad things that could happen by letting him ride out this contract. If the teams fails to sign Holliday or any other top of the market free agent and then has a bad season followed by another bad year is it too far fetched to say that Albert won’t feel like the team is not trying to win thus pushing him to test free agency. The other scenario is La Russa calls it a career after this season and the new manager and Albert don’t get along also making him want to see what is out on the open market.

The end story is that Albert needs to be taken care of before anyone else.

The question of if St.Louis can afford Matt Holliday is a good question but it is not the most important question to be asking this off-season. Albert Pujols has two years remaining on his current contract and has already come out and said that he wants to end his career as a Cardinal. The front office should have blown up his phone the second they heard that comment with a contract to follow in the next week. This contract situation is the most important question of the off-season and the future of the organization for that matter.

It is safe to say that the Cardinals will empty out the company bank volt to keep Albert in St.Louis for the next 8 to 10 years. He is set to make a killing on his next contract most likely earning in the $20 million a season range or even more. Since we all know that the team wants him back, the fans want him back and that he wants to be back. So why is there all of this feet dragging.

Why hasn’t the team offered a ten year $200 million to $250 million deal so that every free agent knows that Albert will be here for the long haul. It  just seems to make more sense to get his deal done so that the front office knows what it has left to spend on players like Holliday or Bay this season.

There is no upside to not getting Albert signed long term other than the hypothetical what if he gets hurt. Other than a fluke injury there are only bad things that could happen by letting him ride out this contract. If the teams fails to sign Holliday or any other top of the market free agent and then has a bad season followed by another bad year is it too far fetched to say that Albert will feel like the team is not trying to win thus pushing him to test free agency. The other scenario is La Russa calls it a career after this season and the new manager and Albert don’t get along also making him want to see what is out on the open market.

The end story is that Albert needs to be taken care of before anyone else.