Cardinals megastar 1B Albert Pujols is reportedly seeking a 10-year, $300 million contract after his current deal expires after this season. That’s a lot of cash, especially for a small market like St. Louis, but Cubs GM Jim Hendry thinks he can scrounge up the money, even if the decision is based solely out of spite for former Cubs infielder Ryan Theriot.
“Ryan said some unfortunate things about the Cubs when he signed with the Cards earlier this winter so I’d like to do this just to piss him off,” said Hendry. “He might think he’s on the right side of the rivalry now, but let’s see how that changes when I lock his team’s best player ever to a 10-year deal that doesn’t expire until he’s supposedly 41.”
Hendry said he understands a huge long-term deal for Pujols might seem like a bad idea for the Cubs who are dying to get out from under the crushing pressure of its contracts with Alfonso Soriano and Carlos Zambrano, but Hendry doesn’t want observers to take his decision-making for granted.
“Spite might not seem like a good motivation for a major contract,” said Hendry. “But in the past I’ve signed guys to contracts because of alcohol intoxication and temporary insanity, so this would actually be a step in the right direction.”
