"Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. insisted Sunday that his inability to retain free agent first baseman Albert Pujols had nothing to do with a lack of organizational commitment but much to do with recognizing fiscal limitations.

A day after a downtown Hyatt ballroom crowd applauded general manager John Mozeliak for suggesting the process worked to the benefit of both sides, DeWitt underscored his desire to bring back Pujols, who last month agreed to a 10-year, $240 million deal with the Los Angeles Angels.

"This is a very knowledgeable baseball market. I think they realize you can only do so much for a given player and compete year in and year out," DeWitt said during an afternoon appearance at the Cardinals Care Winter Warm-Up. "It's not, 'Is he worth 'x' or 'x' times two?' It's how much can I afford to pay one player and put together a team that's going to be competitive? That's the whole jigsaw puzzle that all teams have. Some have more capacity.""