Spring training has sprung and it is officially the most wonderful time of the year. It’s a fresh new beginning for the 30 Major League Baseball [MLB] teams.

But, as always, some teams face distractions as they head into the new campaign; none greater than the Cardinals and Albert Pujols.

Pujols reportedly was seeking a contract for ten years at $30 million dollars per year. This would be the most lucrative contract in big league history. Pujols set a deadline to reach an extension for Wednesday and the deadline has come and gone: no dice. Albert Pujols is the greatest hitter of this era and with players like Jayson Werth and Carl Crawford getting their overpaid days, how could Pujols not expect a ludicrous deal as well?

Ryan Howard is the richest first baseman in the game and has been Pujols’ “competition” for the past few seasons. Howard makes $25 million a year for the Phillies and the numbers next to Pujols are incomparable.

Batting Average: On base percentage: Slugging Percentage:

Pujols:           .331                                               .426                                                        .624

Howard:       .279                                               .372                                                        .572

I would include stats like RBI and home runs, but Pujols has played three more seasons than Howard. However, those numbers just prove that Pujols plays on another level.

From Pujols’ perspective, it must be understood, that it is not about making as much money as possible, it isn’t about being ridiculously greedy. It is the status. The best player in the game deserves to be paid the best. The CEO is paid more than the secretary. Would it be very fair if the person who has proven that they have the most skills is paid less than the summer intern? That just isn’t logical.

This isn’t to say that it is not ridiculous how much these athletes are paid, but it’s the nature of the beast. The business that makes as much money as Major League Baseball must pay the players who make it so successful proportionately.

The St. Louis Cardinals organization is to blame for Pujols facing free agency come late 2011 into 2012. The front office has had more than one opportunity in the past to lock him up VERY long term. Not only would this have almost ensured that the greatest player of this generation would retire where he started, but it would have saved the Cardinals some big time cash long term. Now that they have avoided it, the excrement has made contact with the rotary oscillator as they say. They get to deal with all of these things at the same time.

The media is never going away, there will be a question about Albert Pujols’ contract at every press conference or interview anyone associated with the Cardinals organization is ever a part of.

The players will be distracted all season long. This could be a tough year for the Cardinals; they need to prove that they are still the team to beat in the NL Central  and this will be a distraction throughout the 162-game season.

They also get to spend $300 million on Pujols and ultimately hand cuffing themselves to making any other improvements to the team. Albert Pujols is a staple of the Cardinals franchise, the city needs him and because the city needs the franchise. However, locking up this much money on one player would make it near impossible to make the team any better for the next ten years. Signing any players that would have any great influence on the team would be undoable.

On the other hand, it is sad to see Pujols turn down such a profitable contract during a time when a player like Stan The Man Musial is given the highest honor a U.S. citizen can receive for all of the things he did on and off the field, including giving back a large portion of his contract because he felt that he underperformed. Today things have changed and things are different, morality has been lost due to fame. What do you think the odds are that Lady GaGa would give some of her money back to her label because she thought her last album was GaGagarbage?

Pujols has said on many different occasions that he wants to be a St. Louis Cardinal until he retires. The Cardinals gave him an opportunity to with that nine year deal. Apparently, Pujols not only wants to retire here, but he wants his kids, grandkids, and great grand kids to be set for retirement in 2022, as well.

Ultimately, the Cardinals organization is to blame for this having to happen by not locking him up earlier. But if Pujols wants to stay in St. Louis and have a winning team year in and year out he is going to have to sign for less than $300 million and for less than 10 years. He deserves to be the highest paid player and deserves to win, but you have wonder if he can have both?

Cardinal fans, ask yourselves, would you rather watch Albert Pujols hit for ten more seasons or make some runs at the World Series? Because at the end of the day, both could be unattainable.