This has become the problem with sports today and baseball in general. Team loyalty means nothing to today’s star athletes, only dollar signs and publicity matter. Do you think LeBron James would have left Miami to go to Cleveland if the tables had been turned? No, because LeBron wanted to be in the hot spot where all the action is going down so he could spend his millions of dollars where everyone could see him. To make things even worse, he left his hometown for stardome and for that he will forever be classified as the biggest sellout of all time.
Pujols is a different kind of story. While St. Louis is in the middle of the map and not exactly a big market compared to New York, Boston or Los Angeles, although their baseball team is one of the most storied teams in history, he meant everything to that city. He had his family in that city, charity programs and anything a person can ask for. He was loved by everyone in that city like he was their best friend. He was labeled as this nice charitable guy who would never do such a thing as turn down $200 million to leave them for an extra $50 million.
As a normal working person who will never make 1/300 of that in his lifetime it’s hard to understand how an athlete can fret so much over millions of dollars. Maybe it would be different if I were in their shoes, but honestly, what can one person do with $250 million. On top of the $100 million or so he’s already made. I understand it’s a business thing and the Angels are just trying to get the greatest player of our generation, but why would Pujols not give the city/team he grew up with a discount?
It’s because loyalty means nothing to athletes today. Even Derek Jeter, who is one of the most respected baseball players of all time, threatened to leave the Yankees if they didn’t pay him what he thinks he “deserves.” The same could be said with Mariano Rivera of the Yankees. Both players got overpaid because of what they meant to their franchise. But do you think that if Boston would have stepped in and offered say $10 million more that they would have jumped ship? I believe they would have in a heartbeat.
The problem with this, and in baseball in particular, is that fans aren’t able to get attached to a team because the identity of the team changes from year-to-year so much these days. I’ve always been afraid to go out and buy a jersey because I don’t know if the name on the back of that jersey will match the team name on the front of it the next year. Major League Baseball is beginning to be no different than minor league baseball where teams look different each year and you don’t know who your starting nine are going to be.
Being a Braves fan I’ve had the luxury to have a lot of loyal players on my team, which is one reason I love them and I think a lot of fans love to cheer for them because they know Chipper Jones is going to be at third base every year. For years you knew Glavine, Smoltz and Maddux were going to be at the front of the rotation. When players signed with a team back in the day (I’m 23 and am going based on what I hear and read) they signed with a team because it meant something to them. They had pride in that team that invested so much money in them, they played for and wanted to play even harder to make that city proud and to win for their fans.
Now instead of paying homage to the people who pay these ridiculous salaries, players are leaving whenever they can to go out and get a couple extra million, or in Pujols’ case an extra $50 million. There is no sense of pride or loyalty to a team. Athletes don’t care what the fans think or how a decision is going to affect their image. MOST, not all, have become shellfish and arrogant. They forget what makes sports so awesome and enjoyable. And it’s having pride for the name/city on the front of the jersey.
How difficult would it have been for Pujols to take a 10 year deal, which is ridiculous in the first place, for $200 million, which is ridiculous in the second place, to play for a team and city that needs him, where he’s already won two championships and for a city that would resurrect a statue next to Stan the Man for him? From someone who used to love Pujols and watched him play to see his greatness, it’s sickening to think that he won’t be in a Cardinal uniform anymore because he needed an extra $50 million to pay the bills.
Not every player is Albert Pujols or LeBron James, and there are many cases where players take discounts to stay at home or go home (C.J. Wilson), but this scenario has come up in sports a lot the past few years and it’s just painful to watch these already highly paid athletes fight for a couple more million dollars to play a sport. Where is the loyalty and the pride that once made baseball America’s sport? I guess it was left behind when the true, and now only, iconic figure in St. Louis retired (Stan Musial).
Here is a good article by St. Louis Post-Dispatch Cardinals’ beat writer Derrick Goold on free agency in baseball and how kids view iconic figures.
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/baseball/professional/article_d0f7a264-7cae-11e0-a03d-001a4bcf6878.html 
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