Cardinals’ Albert Pujols draws a line in the sand on his contract, where might he go?

Can I be your agent, please?

Prince Albert of St. Louis is entering the final year of his current eight-year, $111-million contract. Pujols has stated that he wants a new deal done before he reports to spring training; otherwise he will head to free agency when the season ends.

What should the Cardinals do? If I were running that team, I would definitely sign him. But I wouldn’t give him a standard contract similar to Alex Rodriguez’ contract. I would creatively make sure that it made Pujols the highest paid player, annually, in the history of the game, while installing out clauses in case of injury. Most contracts are insured against injury, but only if they end the career. A back injury, for instance, can be a lingering problem that doesn’t end his career, but hinder it.

Here’s how it would be structured:

1. Pujols would be paid $28 million per year for 8 seasons. That works out to $224-million total.
2. The first season would be guaranteed and each subsequent season would be guaranteed if Pujols plays in 140 games each season.
3. If he didn’t play in 140 games, the Cards would have the option to buy out the remaining years on the contract at $5-million per season. For instance, if during the 2013 season (season 2 of the new contract), Pujols had an injury that limited him to less than 140 games, the Cardinals would have the option to buy out the remaining six seasons for $30 million and Pujols would be a free agent.
4. If the Cardinals didn’t exercise this option, they would not be able to exercise it unless Pujols had another season with less than 140 games. Pujols has averaged 156 games per season with a low of 143 in 2006.
5. They could also insert additional vesting options if Pujols continues to exceed 140 games played per season.

This is set up to protect the Cardinals against a drop-off in production due to injuries, which is always the biggest fear when signing a player to an enormous contract. It’s not cheap, as each year is essentially guaranteed for $5 million each.

Why would Pujols agree to this? Well, it would be the most lucrative contract ever for a player not on the Yankees. While the Cards could get out of the contract after an injury riddled season, buying him out early in the contract would almost be cost prohibitive and would give Pujols a big lump sum along with a chance to double-dip with a free agent contract.

If Pujols and the Cardinals don’t agree to a contract and Pujols goes free at the end of the season, where could he land?

1. Yankees: The first team that always comes up with a player of Pujols’ stature, but they already have Mark Texeira at first base committed from 2012-2016 at $22.5 mil annually. Also, A-Rod is still signed on until 2017 and they have $143 mil committed during those seasons to him. While the Yankees could go after him, it’s hard to imagine that they would give Pujols huge money to make either him or Texeira a $20+mil DH.
2. Red Sox: The Sox are similar to the Yankees in that they now have Adrian Gonzalez. While Gonzalez isn’t yet signed to a long-term contract, I can’t imagine that they would let him walk after giving up top prospects to acquire him. In addition, expecting the image-conscious Red Sox to outbid everybody to make Pujols the highest paid player in MLB history is a stretch as well.
3. Cubs: This possibility ranges from very plausible to flat-out laughable. It’s plausible because the Cubs have the money and, presumably, a desire to stick-it to the Cardinals whenever possible. But it’s the Cubs. One can argue that they are the Clippers of baseball. While Pujols would be immortalized should he bring a World Series (appearance would do) to the north side, it’s doubtful that he would take a blowtorch to his soon-to-be 12 –year legacy in St. Louis.
4. Rangers: They broke the bank ten years ago when they shocked the baseball world by signing A-Rod to his first megadeal. But despite their opening at first base and newfound success, the A-Rod deal set them back years as a franchise and I wouldn’t expect their new ownership to repeat the mistakes of the previous owner.
5. Nationals: They might make Albert the first $40 million per season player. Just kidding, I think. They proved with the Jayson Werth signing that they have money and they’re willing to spend it. With Stephen Strasburg out for 2011, but making his return in 2012, the Nationals could make a huge splash by signing Pujols. While not a likely destination, don’t count out the Nats from driving up the already expensive price for Pujols.
6. Angels: This might be the only real landing spot for Pujols if he actually leaves St. Louis. First of all, it’s out of the National League, which would limit his returning games to St. Louis. Second, the Angels have proven that they are willing to spend, but came up short on Carl Crawford this winter. Next winter, with a chance at the greatest hitter of this generation, the Angels might be successful this time. They don’t have an entrenched stud at first and Pujols could DH once a week to keep fresh. Unless Pujols is straight cold-blooded, the Angels would provide the least negative response from Cardinals fans.

In the end, expect Pujols to sign with the Cardinals. It might not happen before spring training, but artificial deadlines are broken frequently and I wouldn’t be surprised to see this get done before Opening Day.