Late Sunday night, Albert Pujols and the St. Louis Cardinals agreed to a deal that will bring the future Hall of Famer back to St. Louis after 10 seasons soaking up the sun in Los Angeles.
The Cardinals are certainly an organization known for its loyalty, especially to those players whom Cardinals fans love. Yadier Molina is back for his 19th and final major league season with the team. Adam Wainwright is back for his 17th season. Now comes the reunion with Pujols, the future Hall of Famer who led the Cardinals to a World Series title in his last season with the club in 2011.
In a time when front offices are often cold and calculating in their evaluation of players, this move has a distinctly emotional component to it. It feels like it's for the fans as much as the organization. The direct analogy would be when the Mariners brought a 39-year-old Ken Griffey Jr. back in 2009, when he was a shell of the superstar player he was during his younger days in Seattle.