Matt Holliday Would Defer Money to Keep Albert Pujols in St. Louis

With Albert Pujols' deadline to complete a contract extension with the Cardinals coming in less than a week, things are getting tense in St. Louis. The two sides don't seem to be particularly close to working out a deal and that means that unless Pujols changes his mind about negotiating during spring training or the season, the best hitter of the last 10 years could hit the free agent market when the 2011 season ends.

For his part, Matt Holliday, the Cardinals' other highly paid slugger, said during a radio interview Friday morning that he'd be happy to defer some money should the club need it to keep Pujols in town. The club hasn't approached him about it and it might not make a huge difference, but he's still willing to do so if it's necessary.

Of course, keeping Pujols in town is exactly why signing Holliday to a seven-year, $120 million contract last offseason seemed like a potentially shaky idea. Holliday is already deferring some of that money ($2 million per year to be paid out from 2020 to 2029) and I suppose it's worth pointing out that it's possible Pujols may still be under contract for a year or two of that timespan. But even if you consider Holliday's $15 million base salary and project Pujols to make $25 or $30 million a season, that puts somewhere in the ballpark of $40 million being paid out to two players. Toss in an Adam Wainwright extension in a few years and ... yeah.

The Cardinals have never topped $100 million in payroll in any season, but that will obviously have to change in the coming years if they get this Pujols extension finished.