The Albert Pujols Clock Is Now Ticking

Looks like Albert Pujols has gone all LeBron James on us. No, he hasn't preliminarily agreed to join the dunk contest or signed with the Cleveland Browns. No, Pujols has just started speculation on his free agency status, which is two years away.

"It's not about the money all the time," the first baseman said Sunday in Jupiter, Fla. "It's about being in a place to win and being in a position to win.

"If the Cardinals are willing to do that and put a team [on the field] every year like they have, I'm going to try to work everything out to stay in this town. But if they're not bringing championship-caliber play every year, then it's time for me to go somewhere else that I can win."

I wonder what Manny Ramirez has to do with this.

No, seriously. remember when Pujols said he wanted Manny Ramirez to come to St. Louis not that long ago? Could that have been the more subtle hint he tried to throw toward the Cardinals front office to say "Hey, I wanna win"? Obviously the more subtle hint didn't work, as the Cardinals never signed Manny. So now Pujols has to spell it out for them.

That said, I can't imagine that Pujols leaving St. Louis seems far-fetched. The Cardinals don't make a big splash every offseason, but what they do seems to work for them (see: Kyle Lohse), and they're in the thick of things every season. It's not like Pujols is on the Royals or Pirates and he's asking them to do what it takes to win. He's on one of the better run franchises in the majors in a division that's pretty much for the taking every season. So I can't imagine that the Cardinals will do anything that will portray to Pujols that they don't want to win.

But regardless, the cat is out of the bag. Pujols should be ready to field questions in every city regarding whether it would be a nice place to play in 2011. And he'd be wise to come up with at least five nice things to say about every city in the NL (and some in the AL), and memorize them on the team flights during the next two seasons. And as long as the irresponsible speculation has begun, I'll fire the first flare: Imagine Albert Pujols playing 81 home games in a stadium that has, oh I don't know ... a Green Monster.