First, a moment of silence.
The deed is done. Albert Pujols, our "El Hombre", is leaving for the west coast. I don't necessarily want to discuss the specifics of the transaction just yet. I believe the Cardinals will move on for the better, given the magnitude of Albert's price tag and the flexibility his departure gives us now. However, I do have a few thoughts on the departure in general.
A lot has been made that this was a "business" decision, a choice Albert made that netted him an extra $40 or so million over 10 years. I don't deny that he took the better monetary deal. I've heard, however, that Cardinals fans are being "irrational" by being upset over Albert's decision to leave. The apologists argue that when given a potential 25% pay increase over the next best option, anyone would leave their current situation, whether it's for thousands or millions. The problem is that sports athletes like Albert are operating under a different reality. What applies to us doesn't apply to them. We have a right to be upset. Let me explain.
Many of us have normal jobs. We go to work everyday and have modest incomes. There is a certain cost of living that we all must support: the ability to pay for food, our home, our car, health insurance, water and electric, etc. For us, the value of a dollar, especially in this economy, is high. It brings a certain utility to us with each incremental gain, utility that we need to support the basic necessities of life. There's a concept in economics called the law of diminishing marginal utility, which basically means that your first dollar provides more utility than the second, third, and so on. Paying for a modest cost of living represents a pretty high utility for our income. Essentially, we need the money.
At a certain point, however, you reach a threshold that divides those that have a high utility for money in a normal cost of living and those that don't. Albert, like most other baseball players, falls into that second category. The marginal utility of the money he makes - and will make under his new deal - is incredibly low in relation to what one needs to cover the basic necessities of life. That's what makes him different than us. A 25% pay increase over the next biggest offer when you're making hundreds of millions is nowhere near the same amount of utility as moving from $40,000 to $50,000 or even $100,000 to $125,000. Albert doesn't need the money as much because no one needs the money when you're talking in that high of figures.
Therefore, I think people do have a right to be mad in some aspects. His business decision, no matter how you color it, was how he could make the most money. Money at that level, though, is nowhere near as important as it looks on paper. When factoring in the comments Albert made about wanting to be a lifelong Cardinal, about loving the city and wanting to end his career here, a case could be made that St. Louis still represented the best opportunity for El Hombre, all things considered. Given the low difference in actual utility between the two offers, it makes the comments seem like a sham. I suspect he was speaking from the heart at the time, but they were, regrettably, a sham.
So, Albert, I have a few words. Thank you for all that you gave to St. Louis. Thank you for the World Series rings, the three-home run masterpieces, the versatility to be an All-Star at three different positions, the miraculous recoveries from injury, the charity given back to the community, and the insatiable desire to be a winner every season. I have a jersey with your name on it in my closet. We owe you for the memories, big time. You, after all these years, owe us very little. You were our future Hall of Famer, the crowning jewel of an incredible era of winning in franchise history. We would have loved to watch you fade into the sunset as you entered the twilight of your career, even if it meant a decline in production.
The people of Greater Los Angeles, however, owe you absolutely nothing. You, on the other hand, owe them a quarter of a billion dollars and a whole bunch of presently unrealized expectations. Better make it worth the money.
El Hombre has lots of compelling reasons for hitting SoCal. A few - weather, a team and a region with a distinctively latin flavor, ownership that will embrace him, and a huge market with media more friendly than certain other regions. Othet advantages are DHing and not competing regularly against the Cards. The money grab describes the modern athlete, even the great Pujols.
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