Albert Pujols hit Cardinals training camp today and met the press. By all reports he was calm, cool and collected. He said that he’s not just about the money and that he wants to be a Cardinal for life. He said that he has no ill will with the Cardinals over negotiations and that it will be business as usual this season. He also commented on that report that was floating around yesterday that the Cardinals lowballed him:
Emphasis added.
If it was just he and his agent laughing I suppose there could be some ambiguity there regarding whether it was laughable because it was a bad report or that the reported low offer was itself laughable. But if the Cardinals were laughing too, it suggests that the notion that they truly tried to offer Pujols a relative pittance compared to his value is a false one and that the report was off the mark. It may have been low -- and there are multiple reports saying that it was below Alex Rodriguez-money -- but that “not even in the top ten stuff” that was being discussed yesterday is looking less plausible.
And really: if he was really saying that the Cardinals’ offer was laughable, it would have flown in the face of all the good vibes Pujols tried to send out this morning.