Albert Pujols and the St. Louis Cardinals have failed to negotiate a contract before the mutually-imposed 11:00 Central deadline, says ESPN’s Buster Olney. While there is still an hour and change remaining until the deadline, those involved have apparently accepted that a deal will not be reached. Olney tweets:
Albert Pujols Contract Talks With Cardinals Are Dead, According To Report
Sources: Pujols contract talks are over. Deadline will pass without a deal. Have not been proposals swapped in last 100 hours or so
So, despite reports that Pujols’ camp and the Cardinals front office had been talking throughout the morning, it seems that talks were stalled to the extent that proposals weren’t even being drawn up toward the end. This, of course, does not necessarily mean that this is the superstar’s last year in St. Louis, but this was the Cardinals’ last chance to lock him down before other teams get a crack at him in the Fall.
UPDATE: SI’s Jon Heyman reports that Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak plans to address the media at about 1 p.m. Eastern (noon Central).
For more on Pujols and the Cardinals, check out SB Nation’s Cardinals blog, Viva El Birdos.
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