Albert Pujols: Must Be The Money, or Not

By now, you’ve heard the big news… Albert Pujols is leaving the St. Louis Cardinals.

As a life-long, card carrying Cardinal Nation fan, I have some skin in the game.  After all, I pay big bucks every year to go see Albert.  Not only that, I have to shell out for the Pujols merchandise so my kids will be happy and show their support for one of their all-time baseball heroes.

There will be many St. Louisans and others who will weigh in on why he’s leaving and whether or not it’s good, bad or if we should even care.  The talk radio shows last night on my drive home were all a-twitter with callers who are far more passionate about this “disastrous turn of events”.  But is it really all that bad?  And, maybe more importantly, did our baseball God and hero to numerous St. Louis charities really do it for the money?

No one really knows except the big man himself, but as a HR pro I tend to think he did not do it just for the money.  We all know people rarely leave a job just because of the cold, hard cash.  That may be a big draw, but there has to be more.  Let’s look at the facts:

• Worked for the same organization for 11 years
• Had the same boss for those years and that boss just retired
• Played on a team that won multiple World Series while he was on the team
• Three-time National League MVP
• Ten-time All Star
• Won two Gold Glove Awards
• Won six Silver Sluggers
• Won the Roberto Clemente Award
• His kids are still young

If I were to fill in any other type of job into those facts, I can easily see why someone would be ready to move on.  Maybe he’s ready for a new challenge.  After all, what in the world could he do in St. Louis that he hasn’t already accomplished?  And, he’ll have a new boss either way, so there is no loyalty to stay here.  Kids sometimes get in the way of a big move, especially if they are teens, but Albert’s kiddos are still little and in elementary school.

If I were in his shoes, there is no BETTER time than now to make a move.  And, throw in the dough to sweeten the deal and I’m all yours.

So, in the end, baseball players really aren’t that different than all of us.  Many factors lead to reasons people leave an organization.  We’ll miss you Albert, but we all know everyone is replaceable.  Let’s just hope you don’t mind having crazy Rally Monkeys…oh wait, this coming from a city with Rally Squirrels….move along my friend…