"Memo to Cardinals Chairman Bill DeWitt Jr., GM John Mozeliak and Albert Pujols: Gentlemen, it's time to get it done.

Work out a contract that will keep Albert in St. Louis for the remainder of his brilliant career. DeWitt, Mozeliak and Pujols are all on record, saying they want it to happen, and I don't think they're lying. So if both sides are telling the truth, let's wrap it up by Christmas.

What could possibly get in the way?

One word: ego.

If Pujols and his agent, Dan Lozano, are determined to set an industry record for the largest contract in major league baseball history, the challenge becomes more difficult. The popular Cardinals draw 3 million fans a year and have ample resources, but they aren't the New York Yankees. Pujols doesn't have to be reasonable — he's a free agent and can do what he wants, but if he really wants to stay here, then surely there's a way to carve out a deal.

If the Cardinals are entrenched and resistant to being flexible on a Pujols contract, then they'll increase the risk of losing him. No team is obligated to hand out an irresponsible contract. No team is obligated to crazily overpay a star player simply because another team erred in doing so. The Cardinals shouldn't have to pay for mistakes made by other franchises. But they should be willing to push their limits to make an acceptable arrangement with Pujols.

Pujols has frequently said he wants to be like Stan Musial, an iconic and beloved figure who spent his entire Hall of Fame career with the Cardinals. By staking out that admirable position, Pujols risks being exposed as a fraud if he bolts St. Louis in pursuit of the highest dollar, or the desire for a new lifestyle in a more glamorous environment.

Question for Albert: Do you want to be Stan Musial or LeBron James?

For their part, the Cardinals have said they won't pay Pujols based on what he's done in the past. And that their offer will reflect their internal projections of what he'll do in the future. That seems rigid. Of course, the past is relevant; in his first 11 seasons, Pujols put together a set of numbers that already have him on the short list of the greatest righthanded hitters in MLB history. If the past didn't matter, the Cardinals wouldn't have forwarded their initial offer of nine years, $200 million (roughly) to Pujols.

That said, the Cardinals aren't being cold-hearted and miserly for having real concerns over Pujols' ability to maintain the production over the final years or a long-term contract.

And really, that's what this comes down to.

The length of the contract."