Is Albert Pujols Worth $300 Million? Plus: SI Swimsuit Models, Jadeveon Clowney, And Polish Movies

I’m not a baseball expert, but I’m fluent enough to know that Albert Pujols is some combination of LeBron James and Barry Sanders. A total freak of nature AND a constant home-run threat.

All of which is to say, it’s a big deal that he could leave St. Louis. I dated a Cardinals fan once, and as it turns out, Will Leitch isn’t the only one who’s batshit crazy about the Cards. THEY’RE ALL LIKE THAT. Over baseball. It’s like a religion out there. So, with that in mind, because it’s sad enough that those fans dedicate so much time to baseball, I hope he doesn’t leave.

For more substantive takes on Pujols, there’s Bernie Mikalsz in St. Louis this weekend:

Deadline or no deadline, if the Cardinals come up with a great offer during the middle of the 2011 season, how could Pujols decline it with a clear conscience? Even if he enters free agency, how could Pujols be so cold-hearted to the loyal fans of this town by refusing to give the Cardinals the final shot at signing him? Unless the Cardinals announce that they’re done negotiating with Pujols, I don’t see why anyone from the Pujols camp would have the gall or the absence of intelligence to eliminate the Cardinals as a candidate.

After all of the seemingly genuine Musial tributes and passionate Cardinal-for-life declarations, Pujols would go down as one of the biggest phonies in sports history if he slaps away a worthy Cardinals offer -- no matter when it is presented.

And then there’s Joe Posnanski at Sports Illustrated, who says he’s worth the money...

So you cannot blame Pujols for believing that the Cardinals have gotten one heck of a deal for 11 years. Maybe you don’t buy Fangraphs $200 million difference in value, but certainly the difference is $100 million. And you cannot blame Pujols and his agents for thinking that to come back to the Cardinals they ought to give him market value PLUS pay the minimum $100 million for services rendered. When you look at it that way, a 10-year, $300 million deal doesn’t sound quite as crazy.

...But if he leaves, he’ll be losing something you can’t put a price on:

There have been many famous people to come from St. Louis, from all walks of life, but there is something about sports that captures our imagination, and so for a half century when people thought of St. Louis, they thought of the Arch, and they thought of Stan the Man Musial.

Albert Pujols can be that man for the next half century. Again, I don’t know his mind, but I do think he would like that, I do think he would like to represent something larger than baseball, would like to represent community and connection and stability and faith and all those things. I do think, all things being even close to equal, he would like to play his whole career for the St. Louis Cardinals. I hope he does. I think a lot of us hope he does.

But the ending isn’t written yet. Pujols has options. There are a lot of rich owners out there.

And of course, there’s our own expert, Rob Neyer, who breaks down Pujols’ $300 million contract demand, and argues that yes, over the lifetime of the deal, Albert will probably be worth it. But if he’s not, it’s a move that could cripple the Cardinals. Therein lies the conundrum...

On the other hand, the city of St. Louis could just liquidate the St. Louis Rams to pay for it:

Yeah, try taking Sam Bradford seriously after that photo.

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And of course, the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Cover:

That would be Irina Shayk, who Spencer Hall interviewed here. My favorite part:

SBN: You worked on Kanye West’s video for Power, right?
IS: Yes, but it was not a video.

SBN: No?

IS: It was moving art.

Wow, right? Gotta admire how Kanye keeps his people on message. No one man should hav...