The deadline to extend Albert Pujols‘ contract has been set for February 16.  A source, close to ESPN.com says that the first baseman will report to Spring Training on that date – making it the deadline to negotiate his contract extension.  So the baseball world will know within eight days if Pujols will be baseball’s richest player.

It was originally expected that the deadline was February 19.

Pujols does not want negotiations to go into Spring Training, so once he reports he will be playing under the conditions of his current contract that expires after the season.

Keep in mind that Pujols has 10-and-5 rights (10 years of Major League service and 5 years on the same team), so he cannot be traded without his consent.  Teams usually trade players away if they know they cannot negotiate a new contract. If Pujols leaves St. Louis after the 2011 season, the Cardinals will likely receive two compensatory draft picks since he’ll likely be classified as a Type-A free agent.