Albert Pujols has started nine out of 17 games at DH this season because of plantar fasciitis in his left foot. (Layne Murdoch/Getty Images)

The plantar fasciitis in Albert Pujols’ left foot has become so painful that he will likely be unable to play first base for an extended period of time, according to the Los Angeles Times‘ Bill Shaikan.

Pujols said of the injury, an inflammation of the tissue that stretches across the bottom of the foot, “I’m dying. It’s hurting real bad.”

The 33-year-old started at designated hitter for the fourth straight game on Sunday and ninth time in 17 games this season, compared to eight games at first base. He entered Sunday’s game with a .322 average and .939 OPS — both slightly below his career numbers.

In 2012, Pujols’ first season in the American League, he played 120 games at first and 34 at DH.

Pujols plans to play for the injury, which can only be treated with rest, so whether he can avoid the disabled list depends on his pain tolerance, as GM Jerry Dipoto said.

From the LA Times report:

The most effective treatment can be to stay off the foot — in the case of a baseball player, a stint on the disabled list to let the inflammation subside. Jerry Dipoto, the Angels’ general manager, said the team hopes to manage the injury through treatment and let Pujols play until he says he cannot tolerate the discomfort.

“We’ve discussed every alternative imaginable,” Dipoto said. “We’ve consulted with specialists.

“He is particularly tough, mentally and physically. He’s handling it as well as you can.”

Albert Pujols reportedly had knee surgery in October. (Jeff Gross/Getty Images)

Los Angeles Angeles first baseman Albert Pujols reportedly underwent arthroscopic surgery in October to “clean up” his knee, according to a report Thursday morning from Joe Strauss of The St. Louis Post Dispatch:

The arthroscopic procedure on the former Cardinals star was described as “a clean-up” that involves minimal rehabilitation and should not impact his participation in spring training.

In fact, the surgery was reportedly so minor that Pujols, 32, has already returned to conditioning and is not expected to miss any time with the team.

A three-time MVP with the St Louis Cardinals, Pujols finished his first season with the Angels batting .285 with 30 homers and 105 RBIs.

Tony La Russa said he wouldn’t give Albert Pujols a 10-year deal if he were the Los Angeles Angels. (Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

The Los Angeles Angels’ signing of Albert Pujols to a 10-year, $254 million contract in 2011 may seem like a good idea right now, but it’s a dangerous investment and one that Tony La Russa, who won a World Series ring last year with Pujols on the St. Louis Cardinals, says he would never do, according to comments he made on Wednesday morning as a guest on ESPN’s First Take:

“I think Albert is perfect — I call him Albert P. Pujols for Albert Perfect Pujols — but I don’t think that I would ever endorse a contract beyond six years, tops.”

La Russa called the contract “scary” and “dangerous” and said it would’ve been too big of a committment for him to make if he was the Angels’ manager:

“It’s one of the dangers in our game when an organization is pushed beyond something — five or six (years) is a big commitment — when you go longer I think it’s scary and dangerous.”

Pujols got off to a curiously slow start at the start of his first season with the Angels, failing to record a home run until the beginning of May. Currently, he is batting .288 with 30 homers and 102 RBIs.

Los Angeles Angels first baseman Albert Pujols left Wednesday’s game against the Boston Red Sox after the top of the fourth inning with soreness in his right calf. He appeared to struggle while running the bases following a leadoff double. (He came around to score on a Mark Trumbo single.)

Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe has details on how the Angels adjusted their lineup.

Pujols, who was limping on the basepaths, is out. Trumbo to 1st and Vernon Wells to left for the #Angels—
Pete Abraham (@PeteAbe) August 23, 2012

More info if it becomes available, but the prevailing sentiment is that Pujols’ removal was a precautionary measure and that he will probably be considered as day-to-day.

After a slow start in his first season in Anaheim, Pujols is up to .283 with 28 home runs and 86 RBIs.

UPDATE: More details from Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times:

https://twitter.com/MikeDiGiovanna/status/238471394223091712

Albert Pujols is going through a hellacious slump in his first couple of months as a Los Angeles Angel, but his peers still have faith in him. Especially Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz, who knows a thing or two about fighting through power outages at the plate.

“Albert Pujols? Let me tell you something about Albert Pujols,” Ortiz told ESPN Boston. “Albert Pujols is a bad mother f—er. The baseball world needs Albert Pujols.”

Pujols went over a month without a single home run in an Angels uniform, with his first finally coming on May 6. Ortiz has similarly had terrible starts in recent years, especially 2009. He was without a home run until May 20 that year, with a .218 batting average through 106 games.

“I spent two months with one home run, and I got exhausted mentally and physically,” he says. “But it was more mental because it was too much of me trying different things and trying to figure out why I wasn’t hitting homers.”

Ortiz eventually snapped out of it, and he expressed faith in Pujols that he could do the same. It looks like he might be right — the Angels’ $240 million homered once yesterday and then again today, tripling his season total to 3.

Los Angeles Angels first baseman Albert Pujols has ended the longest stretch without a homerun of his career, hitting a 2-run blast in the fifth inning of Sunday’s game.

Pujols had gone 110 at bats without homering.

In 28 games, Pujols is now hitting .198 with a homerun and seven RBIs.

Los Angeles Angels first baseman Albert Pujols is not in the lineup for Saturday’s game against the Minnesota Twins. Mark Trumbo replaced Pujols at first base.

Albert Pujols is not in today's #Angels lineup.

—
Los Angeles Angels (@Angels) May 05, 2012

Pujols is hitting just .194 with no home runs and five RBIs in the first year of his 10-year, $240 million contract with the Angels. Former manager Tony La Russa weighed in on Pujols’ struggles, saying that the contract is a “distraction” for the slugger.

“He’s not accepting this or tolerating this any more than at any other time when he’s not himself,” La Russa said. “But [the contract] is a distraction. If you care at all — and he cares — it’s a distraction.”

Albert Pujols is not happy with the Los Angeles Angels batting coach, according to CBS Sports.

The Angels, who made a huge splash in free-agency this offseason, are off to an 8-15 start this season. Pujols, who signed one of the largest contracts in history to join the team this winter, is also having the worst start of his career. The team held a meeting to discuss their early woes on Monday, and Mickey Hatcher, the Angels hitting coach, told the local media about some of the things Pujols had shared with his teammates during the closed door meeting.

“Mickey should have never told you guys that,” Pujols said. “That stuff needs to be private. He should have never told the media.

“What we talked about at the meeting, not disrespecting Mickey, but that stuff should stay behind closed doors.”

Pujols had reportedly told his teammates that he had been with teams who had overcome larger losing streaks in the past, and promised his teammates that he would improve his own performance.

The 32-year-old is hitting .217/.323/.397 with four RBI and no home runs.

Albert Pujols is spending his next 10 years with the Los Angeles Angels, and he’s eager to get started. Mark Saxon of ESPN L.A. reports that Pujols plans to show up early for spring training.

Pujols, who signed a 10-year, $240 million contract with the Angels in December, said he plans to show up to the team’s training complex in Tempe, Ariz., a week before the reporting date for position players.

“I believe it’s important not just because I’m on a new team, but because for the last 12 years I’ve lived in St. Louis, where it’s cold,” Pujols said. “I’m going to try to show up a week early to get used to the weather, to get to know my teammates and to avoid getting there a day early and having a lot of problems.”

The Angels’ pitchers, catchers and injured players are scheduled to report to Tempe on Feb. 19; the rest of the team gets in on Feb. 26.

The Angels open their Cactus League schedule on March 5 against the Oakland A’s.

Albert Pujols has officially finalized his deal with the Los Angeles Angels, according to the Associated Press. The deal, which was originally struck during baseball’s Winter Meetings, will be worth $240 million over the course of 10 years.

The deal will also include a 10-year personal-services agreement which will award Pujols $1 million annually, according to the AP.

Pujols, 31, was considered by many to be the top free-agent on the market this winter. The slugging first baseman hit .299/.366/.541 with 37 home runs and 99 RBI for the Cardinals last season. The three-time Most Valuable Player has a career 162 game average of .328/.420/.617 with 42 home runs and 126 RBI.

The signing means the end of an era in St. Louis where Pujols played for the Cardinals for 11 seasons. During that span he helped the Cardinals win two World Series, led the league in runs five times, home runs twice, and hits, RBIs, batting average, and on base percentage once.

Former St. Louis Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols signed a ten-year deal with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim earlier this year, and details of the contract have been released by a source to the Los Angeles Times.

Pujols, 31, will be guaranteed $240 million over 10 years, but several bonuses in his contract could push the total to over $260 million.

A career Cardinal until recently, Pujols has 445 home runs and 1329 RBI in his ten-year career.

Albert Pujols had a huge payday for himself earlier this month when he agreed to a 10-year contract with the L.A. Angels worth around $250 million. But he also took steps toward helping his new team build toward a championship.

ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick reports that Pujols agreed to a backloaded contract, one that will pay him a mere $12 million next season, in order to help the Angels afford a five-year, $77.5 million deal for prized starting pitcher C.J. Wilson. Pujols will then make $16 million in 2013 and his salary will gradually increase over the next decade, surpassing $30 million a year toward the end.

With Wilson now in the fray, the Angels boast a deadly top four that also includes ace-caliber starters Jered Weaver, Dan Haren and Ervin Santana. Wilson went 16-7 last year with a 2.94 ERA and finished sixth in the AL Cy Young voting, leading the Rangers to their second straight pennant in the process.

Pujols’ deal may ultimately be worth upwards of $265 million. Yahoo! Sports’ Tim Brown uncovered two weeks ago that his deal included a handful of juicy incentives, including $3 million for his 3,000th hit and $7 million for breaking Barry Bonds’ record of 762 career home runs.

Speaking to a St. Louis-area radio station, Albert Pujols’ wife, Diedre, was candid in her explanation as to why her husband made the decision to sign with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim last week.

She explained that he would have stayed in St. Louis, had they offered him a contract similar to what the Angels did. He felt slighted, she said, when the team offered him only a five-year deal.

“The offer that people have seen on television I want to tell you what, listeners especially, had that offer been given to us with a guarantee, we would have the (Cardinals) bird on our back,” Diedre Pujols said, according to ESPN.com.

She went on to discuss their sadness in leaving the place her husband had spent his entire career.

“When it all came down, I was mad. I was mad at God because I felt like all the signs that had been being played out through the baseball field, our foundation, our restaurant, the Down Syndrome Center, my relationships, my home, my family close,” Diedre Pujols told the station. “I mean, we had no reason, not one reason, to want to leave. People were deceived by the numbers.”

When former St. Louis slugger Albert Pujols elected to sign with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, disgruntled Cardinals fans began burning their PUJOLS jerseys.  According to a story on StLToday.com, those burning jerseys seemed wasteful to a pastor at The Gathering, a Methodist Church in St. Louis, so he elected to take action to redirect the Pujols gear to where it could be most useful: with needy people in Pujols’ new baseball city.

“We heard people were burning their Pujols jerseys, and someone said, ‘Why don’t we ask them to donate the jerseys, and we’ll give them away?’” said the pastor, Rev. Matt Miofsky, according to StLToday.

A member of  The Gathering is working with a friend in the Angels organization to select an appropriate L.A.-based charity for the gear.

According to Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports, Albert Pujols will sign a deal with the Los Angeles Angels for 10-years at a value between $250-260 million.

Pujols, 31, was considered by many to be the top free-agent on the market this winter. The slugging first baseman hit .299/.366/.541 with 37 home runs and 99 RBI for the Cardinals last season. The three-time Most Valuable Player has a career 162 game average of .328/.420/.617 with 42 home runs and 126 RBI.

The signing means the end of an era in St. Louis where Pujols played for the Cardinals for 11 seasons. During that span he helped the Cardinals win two World Series, led the league in runs five times, home runs twice, and hits, RBIs, batting average, and on base percentage once.

The “mystery team” who has offered a deal to coveted free-agent Albert Pujols is not the New York Yankees, according to a tweet from Buster Olney of ESPN.com.

Yesterday it was reported by Jayson Stark of ESPN that a “mystery team” was still in the running for Pujols amid the two other teams known to have provided him a substantial offer. According to Stark, the reason that team is attempting to keep its identity a mystery is that they are still attempting to trade their established first baseman in order to make room for the three-time Most Valuable Player. As a result, some had speculated that the New York Yankees, who have been quiet this winter, may have been looking to move first baseman Mark Teixeira to make a run at Pujols.

The Los Angeles Angels and the St. Louis Cardinals are the two known teams who have offered the three time MVP slugger a deal a major. The Miami Marlins were in the market for Pujols until his agent Dan Lozano informed the club that the Marlins are out of the running.

The Cardinals are looking to retain Pujols who hit .299/.366/.541 with 37 home runs and 99 RBIs last season in which St. Louis won the World Series. His longtime team is believed to have offered Pujols a 10-year, $220 million contract.

The Miami Marlins have already made the biggest splashes in baseball free agency, and word from baseball’s Winter Meetings is that the Marlins hope to continue to make an impact as they revamp their roster.  But slugger Albert Pujols won’t be a part of the Miami overhaul, according to a series of tweets from ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick.

Crasnick reports that he has been told by a source that Dan Lozano, the agent for Pujols, has “called the Marlins and told them they are out on Pujols.”  The report from Crasnick appears to corroborate an earlier rumor that Pujols and the Marlins were “a few million dollars apart.”

There were multiple reports out of of the Winter Meetings that the Marlins had offered Pujols a 10-year deal; the amount of that deal was never disclosed, although it was believed to be in the vicinity of $220 million.  However much the offer was for, it apparently wasn’t enough to entice the first baseman to join Jose Reyes and Mark Buehrle with the new-look Marlins.

Crasnick’s report comes from Pujols’ side of the story; a follow-up tweet from ESPN’s Jayson Stark seems to make it clear that the Marlins agree.  ”Sources say Marlins have officially withdrawn offer to Pujols,” Stark writes, adding, “Still in on CJ Wilson even after deal w Buehrle.”

With the Marlins out of the running, a return to the St. Louis Cardinals would seem to be the likeliest outcome for Pujols.

The Miami Marlins are out of the running for free-agent superstar Albert Pujols, according to the New York Daily News.

The Marlins believe that Pujols and the St. Cardinals are “a few million dollars apart” and are likely to re-sign their All-Star first baseman, a source has told the Daily News. The club, who have been among the most aggressive teams at the Winter Meetings this week, will likely turn their focus to free-agent first baseman Prince Fielder.

Miami broke negotiations for the three-time Most Valuable Player, Pujols, wide open yesterday afternoon when news broke that they had become the first to offer the slugger a contract with a duration of 10 years at a price of over $200 million. By late last night, it was reported that not only had the Cardinals at least matched the Marlins offer, another “mystery team” had entered the mix with their own $200 million deal.

Pujols, 31, is considered by many to be the top free-agent on the market this winter. The slugging first baseman hit .299/.366/.541 with 37 home runs and 99 RBI for the Cardinals last season.

The St. Louis Cardinals are believed to have upped their offer to free-agent first baseman Albert Pujols to 10-years, $220 million, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The Cardinals previous offer to Pujols was given in February, just before the slugger broke off talks with the club about a potential extension in order to focus on training for the 2011 season. That deal was believed to be worth $198 million over nine years. The club was forced to adjust their offer to stay in the running for Pujols yesterday, however, after the Miami Marlins made a strong push for the three-time Most Valuable Player. It is believed the Marlins offered him a 10-year deal that had a value of over $200 million.

It was reported that as of last night Pujols had received offers from three teams with a value of $200 million or greater; the Marlins, Cardinals and one “mystery team.” According to the Post-Dispatch, the Chicago Cubs, who were once believed to be one of the top bidders for Pujols, are not believed to currently be the third highest bidder for his services.

Pujols, 31, is considered by many to be the top free-agent on the market this winter. The slugging first baseman hit .299/.366/.541 with 37 home runs and 99 RBI for the Cardinals last season.

The St. Louis Cardinals made an offer to first baseman and free agent Albert Pujols Tuesday night, according to MLB.com. General manager John Mozeliak confirmed the report, but he did not discuss any terms of the deal.

Mozeliak went on the say that the onus is now on Pujols and his camp to make the decision. He also expects Pujols to make a decision sooner rather than later.

The Miami Marlins have reportedly made a 10-year offer to Pujols worth more than $200 million.

It was reported earlier that Albert Pujols had received a 10-year offer from the Miami Marlins. Jon Morosi of Fox Sports has now confirmed that the value of that deal is worth over $200 million.

It is believed that Pujols and the Marlins are currently working on a disagreement in the contract over a no-trade clause, which could represent the final hurdle before the two sides agree to terms. It is believed that the Marlins current offer for first baseman is greater than the one offered by the St. Louis Cardinals last offseason. The Chicago Cubs are also believed to have given Pujols a contract offer.

The Marlins have already made a big splash in free-agency this winter, having signed Jose Reyes to a six-year $106 million deal, and Heath Bell to a  three-year $27 million deal. If Pujols were to sign with the Marlins, he would become just the second player in baseball history to sign a deal worth more than $200 million.

Pujols, 31, is considered by many to be the top free-agent on the market this winter. The slugging first baseman hit .299/.366/.541 with 37 home runs and 99 RBI for the Cardinals last season.

Updated – 11:51 AM: Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports has confirmed the 10-year offer to Albert Pujols and says that the team is currently working through issues on a no-trade clause.

Originally Posted – 11:45 AM: The Miami Marlins have reportedly made free-agent Albert Pujols a 10-year offer, according to ESPN.com’s Buster Olney. It is unclear the monetary value of the proposed contract.

Pujols, 31, is considered by many to be the top free-agent on the market this Winter. The slugging first baseman hit .299/.366/.541 with 37 home runs and 99 RBI for the St. Louis Cardinals last season. The Marlins are believed to be in a three-horse race for Pujols’ services with the Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs.

It has been reported that the Cubs gave Pujols an offer yesterday, however it is believed that president of baseball operations Theo Epstein is not willing to give a 10-year-deal to the slugger due to his age. The Cardinals offered Pujols an extension prior to the 2011 season that was believed to be worth upwards of $200 million, it is unknown if they have increased their offer to the first-baseman since February, however.

The Marlins have made a big splash in free-agency so far this winter, having already signed National League batting champion Jose Reyes to a six-year $106 million deal and close Heath Bell to a three-year, $27 million contract.

The Chicago Cubs have reportedly submitted a bid for free-agent first baseman Albert Pujols, according to St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

While the Cubs had previously been rumored to be interested in Pujols, along with fellow slugging free-agent first baseman Prince Fielder, until now it had only been reported that the St. Louis Cardinals and the Miami Marlins had made offers to the 31-year-old. According to the Post-Dispatch, Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein met with Pujols’ agent, Dan Lozano, on Monday, and the paper was able to confirm that the team made a “qualifying bid,” for the longtime St. Louis Cardinals first baseman.

Since Epstein took over baseball operations for the Cubs this fall, the team has made their intentions clear that they wish to rebuild the Cubs in the hopes of bringing an elusive World Series title to Wrigley Field. Last season Carlos Pena served as the club’s first baseman and hit .225/.357/.462 for Chicago with 28 home runs and 80 RBIs. Pena is now himself a free agent, however Pujols and Fielder are viewed as potentially significant upgrades.

Pujols hit .299/.366/.541 with 37 home runs and 99 RBI for the Cardinals last season. The three-time Most Valuable Player has a career 162 game average of .328/.420/.617 with 42 home runs and 126 RBI.

The Miami Marlins are set to meet with Albert Pujols’ agent Dan Lozano Monday afternoon, according to SunSentinel.com.

The Marlins are reportedly “aggressively pursuing” Pujols, even after the team’s recent blockbuster six-year, $106 million deal with former Mets shortstop Jose Reyes.  Lozano has also reportedly met with the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals today regarding Pujols, baseball sources told the paper.

In his eleven seasons in with the Cardinals, Pujols has a career 162 game average of .328/.420/.617 with 42 home runs and 126 RBI.

The Miami Marlins reportedly agreed to terms on a 6-year, $106 million deal with shortstop Jose Reyes on Sunday, but their free agent spending spree is far from over, according to Jayson Stark of ESPN.com.

“Even after signing Reyes,” Stark tweeted, “Marlins now plan to make aggressive push to sign Pujols, sources say.”

All offseason, the word was that the Marlins would spend lavishly, attempting to implement a new attitude and approach to go with the new uniforms and new name, and — most importantly — to help fill the new stadium.  Spending for Pujols after investing that much in Reyes would go a long way in completely changing the culture of the team.

A tweet from Yahoo! Sports’ Jeff Passan puts in perspective just how different this offseason has already been for the Marlins:

Between 2006 and 2009 — that’s four seasons — the Marlins’ combined opening day payrolls were $104.2M. Tonight they gave Jose Reyes $106M.

ESPN’s Stark retweeted a reader named Katie Sharp, who makes a similar observation  from a slightly different financial perspective:

$133M spent by the Marlins already is as much as they spent in previous 9 offseasons COMBINED (’02-10, approx.)

Even experienced baseball observers don’t know what to make of the new-attitude Marlins. SI.com’s Jon Heyman tweets that a Marlins official at the Winter Meetings said the team plans to sign four or five players, to which Heyman adds, “he was kidding, I think.”

The Chicago Cubs are currently in pursuit of both Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder, according to a report from Fox Sports, as the new front office leadership in Chicago looks to make a big splash in their first winter with the club.

Pujols and Fielder, both free-agent first basemen, are considered to be the top two sluggers on the market. According to Fox Sports, Cubs president Theo Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer are particularly interested in landing one of these two free-agents because they believe that with the contract extensions given to several of the game’s best hitters in recent months, the market for sluggers will be weak in the coming years. Pujols and Fielder both have led the league in home runs and RBIs at some point in the past five seasons.

Epstein and Hoyer have made their intentions clear that they wish to rebuild the Cubs from the ground up, and reports have said that any player on the Cubs roster is available for trade. Last season Carlos Pena served as the club’s first baseman and hit .225/.357/.462 for Chicago with 28 home runs and 80 RBIs. Pena is now himself a free agent, however Pujols and Fielder are viewed as potentially significant upgrades.

In 2011 Fielder hit .299/.415/.566 with 38 home runs and 120 RBI in 162 games for the Milwaukee Brewers. It is not believed that he will re-sign with Milwaukee.

Pujols hit .299/.366/.541 with 37 home runs and 99 RBI. The 31-year-old has won three Most Valuable Player awards and has a career 162 game average of .328/.420/.617 with 42 home runs and 126 RBI. Yesterday it was reported that league executives believed the Cardinals were heavy favorites to re-sign Pujols, however some expressed that was because it seemed there were no other serious offers for the slugger at the time.

While Albert Pujols was expected to be the hottest free agent on the market this winter, an MLB executive has told Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports that the three-time Most Valuable Player will almost certainly return to St. Louis due to a general lack of interest for his services around the league

“I’m 100 percent certain he’s going back there,” the source told Passan, with the caveat that a large reason for his certainty stems from a lack of serious offers to Pujols. According to Passan, a majority of the executives he spoke to over the weekend view the Cardinals as “heavy, heavy favorites.”

Outside of the St. Louis Cardinals, who are believed to have offered the slugger a nine-year $200 million deal prior to the 2011 season, the only other team who is known to have sent an offer to Pujols are the Miami Marlins. Some speculate, however, that the Marlins’ offer fell short of the one the Cardinals gave the slugger in February. Other teams such as the Washington Nationals, Chicago Cubs, Texas Rangers, and Los Angeles Angels were also thought to have interest, however none have reportedly sent offers his way.

In 2011 the first baseman hit .299/.366/.541 with 37 home runs and 99 RBI. It marked the first time in his 11-year career that the former MVP had failed to hit at least .300 and at least 100 RBI. It was also the first time since 2002 that he posted an on-base percentage below .400. The nine-time All-Star however is still considered to be one of the best hitters in the game by many.

The St. Louis Cardinals formally offered first baseman Albert Pujols arbitration on Wednesday, ensuring that the team will receive draft pick compensation should he sign with another team. He is likely to decline arbitration and seek a long-term deal in free agency, according to MLB.com.

Should Pujols leave St. Louis, the Cardinals will receive the signing team’s first- or second- round pick as well as a compensatory “sandwich” pick in between the first two rounds. On Tuesday night, Cardinals president Bill DeWitt III said the team would still like to sign Pujols.

“We’re very hopeful, and we’re going to do everything we can to see that we can keep Albert a Cardinal for life,” he said, according to MLB.com.

Pujols, 31, met with the Miami Marlins earlier this month and received a nine-year offer, according to MLB.com.

This past season, Pujols hit .299 with 37 home runs and 99 RBIs.

New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman reportedly met with the agents of Albert Pujols and Yoennis Cespedes yesterday afternoon, according ESPN New York.

Cashman did not disclose which players were discussed in the meetings, however it is a possibility Bartolo Colon and Carlos Beltran were a part of the conversation, as were Pujols and Cespedes.

Earlier this offseason, Cashman said that targeting Pujols was “not an efficient way to allocate our resources,” and that the team’s main priority is pitching. The Yankees, however, have been known to often target the best player on the market regardless of needs.

Cashman described his meetings with agents as “more everybody feeling out everybody else.” “I’ve had a hard time getting dollar figures from agents, to be honest,” Cashman added.

The lucrative offer that was reportedly proposed to Albert Pujols by the Miami Marlins was worth less than $200 million, according to Joe Capozzi of The Palm Beach Post. Earlier rumors that the club had offered the three-time Most Valuable Player a $225 million deal now appear to be untrue.

The Marlins have been active so far in the offseason as part of their re-branding effort. The team, who moves into a new stadium next season, has reportedly also made lucrative offers to free-agents Jose Reyes, Mark Burhle, and Ryan Madson, and have met with the agents of C.J. Wilson and Roy Oswalt.

Pujols has re-engaged with the St. Louis Cardinals, according to reports, after having previously broken off negotiation talks at a self-imposed Feb. 16 deadline. The Los Angeles Angels, Chicago Cubs, and Washington Nationals are also believed to be in the market for Pujols.

In 2011 the first baseman hit .299/.366/.541 with 37 home runs and 99 RBI. It marked the first time in his 11-year career that the former MVP had failed to hit at least .300 and at least 100 RBI. It was also the first time since 2002 that he posted an on-base percentage below .400. The nine-time All-Star however is still considered to be one of the best hitters in the game by many.

The St. Louis Cardinals have re-opened contract negotiations with now free-agent Albert Pujols for the first time since February, according to a tweet from Bob Nightengale of USA Today.

Prior to spring training, Pujols set a Feb. 16 deadline for the Cardinals to work out a deal to sign him to an extension before the season began. The 31-year-old did so in order to avoid negotiations during both training camp and the regular season. The two sides were not able to work out a deal, and while Pujols had arguably his worst season as a professional in 2011, he helped lead St. Louis to a World Series title.

It has been rumored that the Cardinals offered Pujols a deal worth upwards of $200 million prior to Feb. 2011 deadline.

Pujols has already reportedly received a substantial offer from the Miami Marlins this winter. While no specific details have been released about the offer, some have reported that the total package presented by the Marlins is larger than the one offered by the Cardinals prior to the beginning of the season. The Los Angeles Angels, Chicago Cubs, and Washington Nationals are also believed to be in the market for Pujols.

In 2011 the first baseman hit .299/.366/.541 with 37 home runs and 99 RBI. It marked the first time in his 11-year career that the former MVP had failed to hit at least .300 and at least 100 RBI. It was also the first time since 2002 that he posted an on-base percentage below .400. The nine-time All-Star however is still considered to be one of the best hitters in the game by many.

In total, Pujols has collected three MVP awards while hitting .328/.520/.617 with 445 home runs and 2073 hits throughout his career.

In not-entirely-unexpected news, according to a tweet from Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports, sources are saying that the Florida (soon to be Miami) Marlins “have made substantial offers to” big-ticket free agents Albert Pujols and Jose Reyes.

The Marlins are expected by many to be big spenders this offseason, as part of a makeover that includes the new name, new logo, and — not incidentally — a new stadium that they would like to fill.

Albert Pujols is the biggest prize in baseball’s offseason free agent derby this year, and it’s just about time for him to start actively shopping his services around.

According to a report on the MLB.com Hot Stove blog, that process will start soon — maybe Saturday — when Pujols meets with the Florida Marlins.

Pujols hit .299 with 37 home runs in 2011, and his 3 World Series homers helped lead the Cardinals to the championship.