St. Louis Cardinals Matt Holliday, left, and Albert Pujuls. (File photos/P-D)BY JOE STRAUSS
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
12/04/2009

The Cardinals’ Plan B for this winter is increasingly starting to sound like Plan A.

Concerned about the long-term impact of retaining free agent left fielder Matt Holliday while also signing first baseman and three-time NL Most Valuable Player Albert Pujols to an extension, the NL Central champions are increasingly weighing spreading what it would cost to retain Holliday over several players.

“To me, it’s about putting together the most competitive club,” general manager John Mozeliak said Thursday, three days before he leads an entourage to the winter meetings in Indianapolis. “You can’t just look at it in the vacuum of 2010. It has to be in a broad sense. Whatever contract Matt ends up signing, it’s going to be a long-term deal. From where we sit, we have to understand with Albert coming up, such a deal’s ramifications for long-term planning.”
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Mozeliak reiterated the club has yet to tender “a formal proposal” to Holliday’s agent, Scott Boras, and added that a plan of attack remains under discussion with chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. and president Bill DeWitt III.

Dewitt III acknowledged following a Thursday morning presentation at Webster University that payroll remains fixed near $100 million for at least the next several years. With Holliday expected to command at least $17 million per season in his upcoming deal and Pujols potentially becoming the game’s highest-paid player, the Cardinals could eventually commit as much as 45 percent of payroll to two players to retain both.

DeWitt cited the fact that only one team — the 2007 Colorado Rockies — has reached the World Series while committing 20 percent of its payroll to one player.

Speaking to a group of Webster administrators, faculty and business students, DeWitt allowed that “there’s a question about what percentage of your payroll you can give one guy. That’s the fundamental question with (Pujols).”

Said Mozeliak regarding projected payroll: “It’s not just that it’s static. Historically, that’s not proven to be a successful model. That doesn’t mean there can’t be an anomaly or an outlier about how this looks. There is a way to make it work where you may not be that far above 40 percent (of payroll). But keeping it below that would be impossible.”

The Cardinals must plan under the assumption that they can sign Pujols to an extension before his current deal expires after the 2011 season. However, Pujols has so far rejected the club’s overtures to open talks on what Bill DeWitt Jr. has described as a contract to keep Pujols “a Cardinal for life.”

“We’ll definitely push, scratch and probably get beyond our comfort level and try to make something work with him,” DeWitt III said. “I’m hoping that’s good enough. He knows the iconic players of any generation typically stay with one team if you look at the history of baseball.”

The club believes the window before next season would be the optimum time to negotiate an extension. Pujols, who currently has a partial no-trade provision in his contract, achieves full no-trade protection when he reaches 10 years’ major league service time after the 2010 season. The Cardinals also would hope to backload any extension, allowing themselves some salary relief in the deal’s early years.

“He’s done his part,” DeWitt said of Pujols’ prolific consistency through his nine-year career. “We just need to sit down with him. I think a key part of it is the trust factor. I don’t think you can underestimate that.”

Pujols has repeatedly noted this year a need for assurance that the club will remain competitive. However, DeWitt noted the club’s commitment to Pujols will directly impact its ability to surround him with top talent.

“We can pay Albert $95 million per year and give $5 million to the rest of the guys, but how good would we be? We’d have minor leaguers out there and Albert,” DeWitt III told the audience. “We can make it work. It’s just at what point does it become counterproductive at a competitive standpoint in terms of one player. That’s the balancing act. That’s not a set number. But we do know at a certain kind of range on an annual basis it gets beyond a rational decision. I’m hopeful. I think he understands.”

The Cardinals president acknowledged ongoing talks about “a different way” to commit resources, saying it may become more prudent this winter to spread money it would otherwise commit for Holliday to several players in shorter-term deals.

Some advocate earmarking what it would take to sign Holliday to acquire an impact starting pitcher and a veteran third baseman in addition to creating a more robust bench and finding a proven set-up man to front closer Ryan Franklin.

Ambivalence toward keeping Holliday would represent a shift from the stance taken after his July acquisition from the Oakland A’s in a trade that cost the Cardinals several top prospects, including prized third baseman Brett Wallace. The trade’s cost and the Cardinals’ subsequent sweep from the NL Division Series created the scenario of an “all-in” bet gone sour. An earlier deal that sent young relievers Chris Perez and Jess Todd to the Cleveland Indians for utility starter Mark DeRosa furthered the perception.

“We put a lot of eggs in the basket and it didn’t work out,” Mozeliak said. “A lot of people applauded those deals during the time they took place. Now it seems like so much second-guessing. We understood the risk at the time.”

Mozeliak noted the approach on Holliday is “not a black-and- white call … it’s a tough business decision.”

The Cardinals owe Chris Carpenter $44.5 million through 2012 and Adam Wainwright potentially $32.15 million through 2013. Signing Holliday and Pujols could eventually commit 60 percent of the team’s payroll to three players, including Carpenter, and as much as 70 percent to four players should the club assume Wainwright’s option for 2012-13.

“Those are very real concerns,” Mozeliak said.

Gee Joe, thanks for reminding us.