Albert Pujols

Pride is Albert Pujols' chosen currency St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols will almost assuredly become a free agent after this season. Depending on whom you listen to (Tom Verducci or Jon Heyman at SI.com, Ken Rosenthal at Fox Sports, Tim Brown at Yahoo), the Cards offered Pujols a deal for somewhere around $22 million a year for about eight to 10 years. That's $3 million less per season than the Phillies will be paying Ryan Howard to strike out every 31/2 plate appearances from 2012 until 2016.

Albert Pujols isn't sure what the criteria should be for the National League's Most Valuable Player Award. He is not alone. Should the winner be a player whose team wouldn't have made the playoffs without him? Should it be a player whose offensive statistics are without peer? The Baseball Writers' Association of America announced yesterday that Pujols had won the league's MVP honors in 2008. Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard, who edged Pujols for the award in 2006, finished second.

The fans of St. Louis had a couple of local favorites to root for in last night's all-star Home Run Derby, but neither Albert Pujols nor Ryan Howard was able to slug his way into the final round. Prince Fielder of the Milwaukee Brewers won the event by surging past Texas Rangers slugger Nelson Cruz. Fielder out-homered Cruz, 6-5, in the final to win. "This is something you see growing up as a kid," said Fielder, a second-generation big-league slugger. "To be able to win this is a dream come true.

The St. Louis Cardinals come to Veterans Stadium tonight with their usual subplots - Scott Rolen and J.D. Drew, just to name a couple. But with all due respect to the third baseman who soured on the Phillies and the outfielder who never gave them a chance, there are far more prominent story angles in this series. First, both teams are locked in playoff races, making each game crucial. And, second, Albert Pujols is here, carrying baseball's longest hitting streak of the season - 28 games.

The first day of the 102d World Series presented itself early as the kind of drizzly, chilly fall day perfect for many things, if not exactly baseball. It was, however, a perfect time for quiet reflection before the storm for the American League champion Detroit Tigers and National League pennant-winning St. Louis Cardinals, their obligations to explain their feelings and thoughts on hold until after Game 1. Such is the cloistered atmosphere in which Cardinals manager Tony La Russa insists the real Albert Pujols comes to life.

For the record, this counted for nothing. Baseball has said it wants the All-Star Game to be more competitive and TV-friendly. It wants it to mean something. That's cool. It just meant it left last night's Home Run Derby at U.S. Cellular Field as the only "exhibition" of the week. So in the event that shamelessly wanted to do nothing more than entertain the 47,619 fans and those at home watching on TV, Anaheim outfielder Garret Anderson hit nine home runs in the championship round to beat St. Louis outfielder Albert Pujols, who hit eight.

Howard vs. the Best of the National League Here is how Ryan Howard stacked up against the top-hitting regular first basemen in the National League last season:      G   AB   R    H   2B    3B    HR    RBIs    BB    SO    OBP    SLG    AVG.      Joey Votto, Reds    150    547    106    177    36    2    37    113    91    125    .424    .600...

What? Ryan Howard, Mr. Phillies, finished fourth in a year when the Phillies won the World Series? Well, yes. So much is made of what Howard does too much of that sometimes what he does do seems underappreciated. It is appreciated exactly the right amount. In a two-horse race, Howard finished second in NL MVP voting, well behind Albert Pujols, mainly because Howard, the 2006 MVP, struck out 199 times and hit .251, lower than any MVP winner. Howard, in his third full season, led the NL in home runs and RBI, but with all the whiffs and the laughable .215 average through June, finishing second was justice served.

Albert Pujols is the focal point of the Los Angeles Angels' 2012 marketing campaign, which began in late January with 70 billboards throughout Southern California, 20 of which refer to the former St. Louis Cardinals star as "El Hombre. " One little problem: Pujols would prefer not to be called "El Hombre," which is Spanish for "The Man. " He feels that using that nickname is disrespectful to Cardinals Hall of Famer Stan "The Man" Musial. The Angels did not consult with Pujols or his agent before launching the campaign.

DALLAS - The Los Angeles Angels made perhaps the biggest 1-day free-agent splash in baseball history and transformed themselves into legitimate World Series contenders yesterday, spending about $331 million to acquire the game's most feared slugger and one of its top pitchers. Within a span of 2 frenzied early-morning hours at the winter meetings, the Angels reached agreements in principle with first baseman Albert Pujols on a 10-year, $254 million deal and lefthander C.J. Wilson on a 5-year, $77.5 million deal.

ANAHEIM, Calif. - Albert Pujols ripped a long drive down the left-field line, and the Los Angeles Angels rose in the dugout along with the crowd. The ball sliced through the heavy night air, soaring into the stands - and hooking just a few feet foul outside the yellow pole. The collective groan in Angel Stadium was audible from the dugout to the bleachers Monday, and it's getting louder every night. One month into a lavish contract with a new team, baseball's most feared slugger has lost his pop. "I know I can hit home runs," Pujols said.

THIS EDITION of High and Inside is all about money. Not so much who needs it, but who has it and who likes dishing it out. Let's begin with the Phillies, who moved up four spots from No. 13 to the No. 9 sports franchise with the highest-paid athletes, according to ESPN the Magazine's annual "money issue," which hits newsstands Friday. In a survey that encompassed 14 major professional sports leagues, the Phillies' average salary is $5.8 million. In all, 10 international soccer teams, six NBA teams and four MLB teams compose the top 20 spots.

Albert Pujols' first week as the Los Angeles Angels' cleanup hitter did not go as well as expected for a slugger with a $240 million contract. At the end of Friday's game against the New York Yankees in their home opener, Pujols was hitting .222 with 2 RBIs and 2 runs scored in 27 at-bats. But he's not worried. "I'm a human," he told the Associated Press. "Sometimes you want to press a little bit and try to do too much. " Fans in Anaheim, Calif., may be the ones who are worried as they've seen their team - which is expected to compete with the Texas Rangers for the AL West - get off to a 2-5 start.

Albert Pujols is the focal point of the Los Angeles Angels' 2012 marketing campaign, which began in late January with 70 billboards throughout Southern California, 20 of which refer to the former St. Louis Cardinals star as "El Hombre. " One little problem: Pujols would prefer not to be called "El Hombre," which is Spanish for "The Man. " He feels that using that nickname is disrespectful to Cardinals Hall of Famer Stan "The Man" Musial. The Angels did not consult with Pujols or his agent before launching the campaign.

ALBERT PUJOLS is the man for realizing he's not The Man. According to Pujols, that designation is reserved for Stan "The Man" Musial, who crafted a Hall of Fame career in 22 years with the St. Louis Cardinals. Which is why Pujols wants his current team, the Angels, to take down billboards in and around the Los Angeles area that refer to him as "El Hombre," Spanish for "The Man. " Pujols, who signed a 10-year, $250 million deal with the Angels in December, played 11 seasons in St. Louis so he's well aware of Musial's legacy.

DECKED OUT in Angels gear from head to toe, Albert Pujols looked like the same slugger whose swing in St. Louis became as symbolic as the Gateway Arch. With a halo-topped "A" logo on his cap, Pujols, his massive chest and arms filling out every corner of his red shirt, sat behind a microphone in Tempe, Ariz., and excitedly announced the start of a new stage of his career. "Here I am," he said. Arriving just as the morning sun crept above the horizon, and more than a week earlier than required, Pujols reported to training camp yesterday with the Los Angeles Angels, who will pay the three-time NL MVP $240 million over the next 10 years to be the face of their franchise - and to hopefully bring them several World Series titles.

So long, Albert Pujols. Happy trails, Tony La Russa. Timeout, Dave Duncan. The World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals, who eliminated the Phillies from the postseason by winning Game 5 of the National League division series at Citizens Bank Park, have had plenty of upheaval. Now they enter spring training in Jupiter, Fla., looking for a new No. 3 hitter and breaking in a rookie manager and pitching coach. Time for the newcomers to step forward. Before meeting with reporters, just steps from the closest of six practice fields at Roger Dean Stadium, Mike Matheny jokingly checked to make sure this was where La Russa usually held court for 16 springs.

In addition to his salary, the Los Angeles Angels are giving Albert Pujols four season tickets to home games over the next decade, which are his to enjoy for the duration of his contract. After that, if he still wants them, he has to pay. Those details were contained in the terms of his deal that was filed Thursday with Major League Baseball and the players' association. The deal was so complicated it includes three separate agreements: a playing contract, a marketing deal, and an agreement to enter a $10 million, 10-year, personal-services agreement after the playing contract's expiration or Pujols' retirement, whichever is later.

CARLOS BELTRAN and the World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals have agreed to a 2-year contract pending results of a physical, fortifying the team's lineup following the departure of Albert Pujols. The team disclosed the move last night and said it expects to make a formal announcement shortly after the holidays. KMOX, the Cardinals' flagship radio station, reported the deal is for $26 million over 2 years - the same figure cited by a person familiar with the negotiations who spoke to the Associated Press.

THEY SAY money talks. It appears so for Albert Pujols, gifted with a 10-year, $254 million contract from the Los Angeles Angels. But according to his wife, Deidre, it wasn't originally all about the Benjamins. Mrs. Pujols' told Joy 99.1-FM, a St. Louis-area Christian radio station that her family was prepared to take less money to stay in The Lou, but was disappointed the Cardinals were initially only ready to give her hubby $130 million at an additional five years. "When it all came down, I was mad. I was mad at God because I felt like all the signs that had been played out through the baseball field, our foundation, our restaurant, the Down Syndrome Center, my relationships, my home, my family close," Deidre told the station.