Cards don't retain Pujols; Regional Combines
December 9, 2011
The exclusive window - Cardinals failed to take advantage of it
The exclusive window - Cardinals failed to take advantage of it
By now you should be aware of Albert Pujols move from St.Louis to Anaheim-Los Angeles. But what might not be mentioned in many of the stories you encounter is what happened back in January and February of this year. As you may recall Pujols gave the St.Louis Cardinals a deadline of reaching an agreement by the beginning of spring training, and if there was no agreement reached, all contract talks would be off until the end of the season. How much did Pujols ending contract talks by the beginning of spring training hurt the Cardinals chances of resigning Pujols? Should the Cardinals have made a better effort to reach a deal back in January? Joe Mauer of the Minnesota Twins employed a similar strategy with the Twins in 2010 and somehow the Twins were able to reach an agreement with Mauer before the Mauer imposed deadline.
St. Louis general manager John Mozeliak claims the team did everything it could to retain Pujols. However, once the Cardinals lost the exclusive window the team had to negotiate with Pujols, the chances of getting Pujols back decreased significantly. If there is anything to take from this, it is to make the best possible use you can if you have any type of exclusive window. Once that window is gone, any negotiation is going to become that much more difficult.
NFL Regional Combines
St. Louis general manager John Mozeliak claims the team did everything it could to retain Pujols. However, once the Cardinals lost the exclusive window the team had to negotiate with Pujols, the chances of getting Pujols back decreased significantly. If there is anything to take from this, it is to make the best possible use you can if you have any type of exclusive window. Once that window is gone, any negotiation is going to become that much more difficult.
NFL Regional Combines
The NFL announced yesterday its plans for eight regional combines for players not invited to the real NFL combine that takes place every year in Indianapolis. More than 25 years ago Stephen Austin founded what was then called Scout Camp. At that time players paid money for the chance to workout for mostly CFL and Arena Football League scouts, every so often a scout from an NFL team would show up. The purpose of the camp was for the player to get an understanding of where he stood with respect to his chances of playing pro football. In most case it was a wake-up call for a player who did not have a realistic chance of making the NFL. Every so often a player would have the measurables and intangibles to open up the eyes of the scouts and get a chance to sign an NFL contract.
Stephen Austin stuck with this concept through thick and thin and within the last few years the NFL bought out Austin's business. What was once viewed by NFLPA agents as more of after thought in getting his players to pro football, has become a legitimate tool for an agent to use for a draft eligible or street free agent client.
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