The deadline for negotiating a contract with the Cardinals was one that Albert Pujols imposed himself. The reason he gave for setting the deadline ranks just below "he's in the best shape of his life" on the list of most common Spring Training cliches: "I don't want my contract to be a distraction during the season."
Albert Pujols Misses Deadline With Cardinals, But Avoids Catastrophic Distraction
Granted, you may not be able to achieve nirvana if you’re unsure of where you will play baseball in a year, but if you’re Pujols, you know you’re playing somewhere, and for a lot of money. More than anything, it’s usually an artificial excuse to throw an extra deadline in front of the actual deadline, and/or to portray yourself as an upstanding teammate (“I don’t want this to be a distraction in the clubhouse”) and the front-office management as a gaggle of waffling pencil-pushers.
In light of Pujols' distractability, the Cardinals have posted the following Albert Pujols Distraction Index next to all exits and fire extinguishers in the stadium:
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