Pujols in no hurry

ST. LOUIS – Albert Pujols finished the 2009 season in much the same way as his previous eight seasons: as the major leagues’ most productive, most consistent player.

The Cardinals’ first baseman ended up with 47 home runs, 135 RBIs and a .327 average, extending the conversation regarding a possible Triple Crown run into September. Pujols won the home run title, remarkably only the second time in his career that he has led the National League in a Triple Crown category.

Continuing a sense of sameness, Pujols is expected to earn a second consecutive and third overall Most Valuable Player award when results of balloting by the Baseball Writers Association of America are announced next month.

However, Pujols also enters the offseason after establishing clear differences, one of which has caught the organization and quite possibly an adoring fan base off guard.

General manager John Mozeliak on Thursday admitted “surprise” to Pujols’ comments Wednesday in an interview with a Dominican radio station. Pujols told the station in his native country that he feels no urgency to enter talks regarding a possible contract extension the Cardinals hope would tie him to the franchise for the remainder of his career.

El Hombre’s remarks came several days after he was the first player to leave Busch Stadium following the Los Angeles’ Dodgers Division Series sweep of the favored N.L. Central champions. Pujols again declined to speak to local media last Sunday.

The comments to CDN 92.5-FM especially surprised a club that has made discussion of a deal an offseason priority. Pujols is under contract for next season and the club retains an option for 2011.

Pujols insisted during his radio interview that money won’t be his primary focus when and if talks occur. He also told the station that he had referred Mozeliak to his lead agent, Dan Lozano, when Mozeliak approached him on the matter.

Pujols did not respond Thursday to an interview request made through his representation at Beverly Hills Sports Council.

Whether merely suggesting a respite from a disappointing October or an approaching chill with a franchise that signed him to a seven-year, $100 million deal after the 2003 season, Pujols’ negotiating stance isn’t the team’s only concern.

Pujols, 29, is scheduled to travel next week to Birmingham, Ala., to receive a second opinion concerning his fragile right elbow from noted orthopedic Dr. James Andrews.

“It’s definitely something we’re aware of and are keeping tabs on,” Mozeliak said Thursday. “This isn’t a new condition, but it is something all of us want to monitor.”

Andrews is expected to perform a magnetic resonance imaging on the elbow, which contains a high-degree sprain to the ulnar collateral ligament.

Pujols underwent surgery last October to transpose a nerve around the same elbow. The 30-minute procedure, performed by Cardinals medical supervisor Dr. George Paletta, cost Pujols no time in spring training. However, a ligament replacement, or Tommy John procedure, would sideline Pujols for 6-8 months, meaning he could miss as much as next season’s first 21/2 months.

Paletta and Pujols discussed performing the ligament replacement in tandem with last October’s procedure before Pujols eventually declined.

The Cardinals so far have no reason to believe Pujols is more inclined to undergo surgery this year. A season-ending, career-long home run drought of 89 at-bats was unrelated to the elbow, Pujols repeatedly insisted during the run-up to the Division Series.

Several waits now begin in earnest.

Will Pujols earn the third MVP award? Perhaps better asked, how decisively will he win it? Manager Tony La Russa rightly suggested that El Hombre earned the award during a monstrous first half in which he mashed 32 home runs with 87 RBIs, keeping a sputtering team afloat long enough to justify in-season trades for third baseman Mark DeRosa, left fielder Matt Holliday and infielder Julio Lugo.

Will next week’s examination offer an explanation for why Pujols’ home run frequency fell from one every 9.59 at-bats before the All-Star break to one per 17.40 at-bats afterward? And to what degree will La Russa’s decision to (or not to) return for a 15th season as Cardinals manager color postponed negotiations that rank as the first surprise of an intriguing, fast-approaching winter? For nine seasons the Cardinals have known what Pujols offered. For the first time in his sure-fire Hall of Fame career, that may no longer be the case.