Pujols Has Flown the Coop

Albert Pujols will be in the Hall of Fame some day. When that day comes, the St. Louis Cardinals will retire his number and so will the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (formerly known as the Anaheim Angels, formerly known as the California Angels, and formerly known as the Los Angeles Angels).

The Angels signed Pujols to a $254 million contract over 10 years and includes a full no-trade clause. I honestly did not expect it after Albert repeatedly stated in the past his desire to be a Cardinal for life like Stan Musial. The Miami Marlins created some pressure, which made me quite nervous. The Marlins backed down from their previous offers on Wednesday, which relieved my tension and I eventually fell soundly asleep.

Allow me to provide foreshadow by tweaking a memorable quote from Futurama:

"Ooh, the jedis Cardinals fans are going to feel this one."

Albert Pujols at the 2008 All Star Game, via Facebook

I was a little restless in bed Thursday morning and decided to check Twitter only to find the news. I first saw it mentioned by ESPN and SportsCenter, then Twitter exploded with further depressing news.

Bob Nightengale: The #STLCards actually had only the fourth-largest offer to Albert Pujols, behind the #Marlins, #Angels and the mystery team.

Buster Olney: Agent competition always fascinating. Pujols gets $254 million... Just a little over A-rod's $252m. Never a coincidence.

Jenifer Langosch: Albert Pujols is going to miss those guaranteed yearly visits to PNC Park. He has a .376 average, 29 HRs and 85 RBIs in 89 games there.

Of course, unless you were hiding under a rock and only read my blog for some reason, then you know the Angels did not stop there. They also signed former Texas Rangers starting pitcher, C.J. Wilson, to a $77.5 million contract over 5 years, which includes a full no-trade clause over the first two years and partial in the last three. If you were shocked by the Marlins giving $191MM to three players, then the Angels paying two guys $327.5M would have given you a heart attack. It was slightly humorous when I read the Marlins actually had the high offer submitted for both players, yet they decided against them.

ESPN Stats: Angels signed Wilson & Pujols for $327.5M. KC, TB, PIT, SD, CLE, ARI and FLA owed a combined $327.8M to their opening day rosters for 2011.

MLBTR: Albert Pujols Signing Reactions

STL: Fear The Red: The Five Stages of Pujols Leaving

The Cardinal Nation blog: It’s ok. Just don’t insult us, Albert. It was about the money.

Viva El Birdos: The End of an Era: Pujols to Sign with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

Pitchers Hit Eighth: Pujols Signs With Angels, Gets Free Disney Passes!

C70: Devastation

I-70 Baseball: Farewell

stltoday.com: A message for Albert the Machine from Stan the Man

stltoday.com: Bob Gibson on Pujols: 'He should have been a Cardinal for life'

I am not bitter or upset, though I am a little depressed with a now dated Pujols jersey. You would expect I would be desensitized from this behavior as a Pirates fan, but alas, I am not. I actually never owned a baseball jersey until I moved to St. Louis because I did not want to pay for a custom jersey, then have that chosen player leave. So much for that.

I trust this was the best decision for Albert and only wish it would have kept him in a Cardinals uniform. Cardinal nation may be frustrated, sad, angry, or some mixture of the three, but this blogger hopes he does not forget his 11 years in St. Louis because we will not forget him. I will continue dining out at Pujols 5 as long as it remains open and would gladly welcome him back to St. Louis, whether or not he wears Cardinals red.

Further analysis and speculation will come over the next few days.