Update: HOLLIDAY A CARD 7yr/120 million, p178

[InvincibleCakeEater]

Talks heating up. Offer now worth 16 mil per year per Droopy.

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports ... enDocument

[Eephus Speed]

Trade protection *and* an opt-out clause? Talk about having it both ways. You can't trade me, but I can leave if I want.

Oh well, probably not a big deal.

[haltz]

Boras may be increasingly open to an opt-out within the contract.

This is like saying they may be increasingly open to adding more money to the contract.

I'm happy with the Cardinals making a take it or leave it offer sometime soon.

[EastonBlues22]

It sounds like we're essentially bidding against ourselves at this point. I don't see any real reason to include both clauses unless another serious bidder jumps into the fray.

[epinephrine]

Boras is good at getting that to happen, but I just can't see how the Cardinals can afford to go much higher. Pujols needs to be re-signed in 2 years, and anybody who thinks he's going to sign for any less than 25 million per year is probably dreaming.

[EastonBlues22]

Boras is good at getting that to happen, but I just can't see how the Cardinals can afford to go much higher. Pujols needs to be re-signed in 2 years, and anybody who thinks he's going to sign for any less than 25 million per year is probably dreaming.

I wouldn't be surprised at all to see him go for a discount in the 17-19 million range.

[TGantz]

Boras is good at getting that to happen, but I just can't see how the Cardinals can afford to go much higher. Pujols needs to be re-signed in 2 years, and anybody who thinks he's going to sign for any less than 25 million per year is probably dreaming.

I wouldn't be surprised at all to see him go for a discount in the 17-19 million range.

I'm thinking more like a tiny bit above the Texiera deal.

[EastonBlues22]

Boras is good at getting that to happen, but I just can't see how the Cardinals can afford to go much higher. Pujols needs to be re-signed in 2 years, and anybody who thinks he's going to sign for any less than 25 million per year is probably dreaming.

I wouldn't be surprised at all to see him go for a discount in the 17-19 million range.

I'm thinking more like a tiny bit above the Texiera deal.

Call it a hunch, but I don't think Pujols will ever be one of the top three highest paid players in baseball.

[TheoSqua]

Boras is good at getting that to happen, but I just can't see how the Cardinals can afford to go much higher. Pujols needs to be re-signed in 2 years, and anybody who thinks he's going to sign for any less than 25 million per year is probably dreaming.

I wouldn't be surprised at all to see him go for a discount in the 17-19 million range.

I'm thinking more like a tiny bit above the Texiera deal.

Call it a hunch, but I don't think Pujols will ever be one of the top three highest paid players in baseball.

I agree. The things that seem to be important to Pujols: winning, family, consistancy, were not the priorities of A-Rod. Obviously Pujols can make 30m if he wants it and may very well expect 25+ from the Cardinals, but I think that the combination of keeping what he has and winning will cause him to go for a lower-value contract than anticipated.

[TGantz]

Playing devil's advocate here...

What does playing for the Cardinals have to do with winning, family, consistency? You can win with the Yankees, probably more often. By making more money, you are helping your family by giving them the best home and lifestyle possible. The Yankees are consistently in the playoffs, and are consistently on ESPN. Playing for the Yankees would make his reputation skyrocket.

My gamertag on Xbox live is II Pujols. Every single room I go into on Call of Duty I get five people calling me Poo Joles not knowing how to pronounce his name. They've never even heard of him.

Do you think they've heard of Jeter before? My grandma knows who Derek Jeter is and she can't even remember some of her grandchildren.

Again, playing devil's advocate.

My heart tells me that Pujols is above the rest of the players and he'll take a discount to stay here.