Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardianls is not “desperate” to sign a contract extension yet, according to ESPN.com.  Pujols is currently in a seven-year, $100 million contract up to 2010 with a club option for 2011.  The team option is worth $11 million.  Pujols is arguably the best player in baseball based on his ability to send each ball he hits out of the stadium.  Let’s take a look at the value of some of the cost per home run over the last few years.

Cost per home run (MLB HR leader in BOLD)

	2007	2008	2009
A. Pujols	$404,307	$374,891	$303,951
P. Fielder	$8,300	$19,706	$195,652
R. Howard	$19,149	$208,333	$400,000
M. Teixeira	$300,000	$378,788	$576,923
A. Rodriguez	$420,528	$800,000	$916,667

The St. Louis Cardinals were able to get a great deal by locking in Pujols to a long term contract in 2003.  His cost per home run is well below that of similar power hitters.  However, a long term deal back in 2003 gave him the security that in the event that he failed (like Andruw Jones), he would still have food on his plate.  Barring any career-ending injuries, the options for Pujols will be:

• Let the contract and team option play out until the end of 2011 (he’ll probably get traded if it goes down this path).  He’ll be worth $25-28+ million and a 7-10 year deal in free agency since he’ll only be 32 on Opening Day 2012.
• Go to the table before the 2010 season, leverage a 8-10 year contract extension through 2020 worth $240+ million.  This will put him in the upper pay bracket and give him the security of a long term deal.

St. Louis would be foolish to let their franchise go.  I anticipate a contract extension by Spring Training 2010.