St. Louis Cardinals = St. Louis Zoo

The countdown to Albertageddon has reached its final hours. The build-up yielded some excitement Tuesday night, when SI.com reported that Cardinals management had upped its contract offer to Albert Pujols – to eight years and more than $200 million.

Other reporters, including Joe Strauss of the Post-Dispatch, reported that the Cards had extended no such offer – yet.

I hate trying to read tea leaves, but that is all the fan has with the negotiations having been placed into super secret agent mode. Not hearing any real news makes it easy for the excitable fan (like me) to fear the worst:

Jeff Passan, Yahoo! Sports: “Baseball is about to get its version of The Decision. Barring a dramatic change, Albert Pujols’ noon deadline Wednesday to work out a contract extension with the St. Louis Cardinals will pass without an agreement. Which turns the next nine months into a frenzy without the histrionics of LeBron James’ free agency but with every bit the far-reaching implications: the sport’s best player choosing his next destination and perhaps crushing the city that so loves him. Pujols won’t let the process turn into the charade in which James indulged, of course. He’s not that myopic. What happens around him, however, is not under his control...

Great. That is all we need, for this to drag on and loom over the entire season being a non-stop distraction. I know plenty of players play out the last year of their contract no problem. Does anyone really believe Albert Pujols could do so without it descending into a chaotic mess?

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