Part of it is due to the Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez contracts completely destroying the bar for player values and re-setting at an utterly ludicrous level (and God knows what's going to happen when Prince Fielder goes on the market). Another part of it is that the Cardinals have been really spinning their wheels this offseason, and it's honestly a toss-up between them and the Royals as to who's had a worse winter. Plugging Punto and Theriot in the infield is just a hilariously terrible move, and Pujols isn't happy about it.
In any event, Pujols' camp has been targeting something north of Alex Rodriguez's megadeal -- 10 years, $300 million has been tossed around. Earlier this week, the Cardinals turned around and offered 7/196, and that counter-offer was not well-received by Pujols.
The problem is that giving Pujols seven years or more is incredibly risky. Granted, he's a once-in-a-generation talent and all that, but any such contract contract has a huge potential to be an Alfonso Soriano-esque albatross by the fourth year. If you need an example, just think of what the A-Rod contract is going to look like by this time next year if his regression continues. Now, you can say that part of Rodriguez's rapid decline is because his hip is shot, and that sped up the regression, and that's probably true. But in addition to his lingering elbow issues, Pujols has a history of plantar fasciitis, which is degenerative. That's a huge red flag on signing a 32-year-old Pujols into his early 40s (but Hal Steinbrenner would probably do it).
A.A. fleeced 'em good.
