Pujols Agrees to 7-Year Contract

Slugger Albert Pujols and the St. Louis Cardinals avoided arbitration in a big way, agreeing on a $100-million, seven-year contract Wednesday, a source told Associated Press.

Pujols was scheduled for a hearing Friday -- he was asking for a $10.5-million salary, and the team offered $7 million. Instead, the sides settled, according to the source, who was familiar with the negotiations and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

An option for an eighth year could make the contract worth $111 million. The deal was contingent on Pujols taking a physical.

At 24, Pujols led the major leagues in hitting at .359 last year. He hit 43 home runs with 124 RBIs and topped the majors with 51 doubles.

Pujols finished second behind Barry Bonds in voting for the National League most-valuable-player award. He made $950,000 last year.

Pujols has played only three full seasons, making him the fastest player to receive a $100-million contract.

“He called me to give me the good news early in the morning,” his aunt, Miriam Pujols, said in the Dominican Republic.

After three seasons, Pujols is hitting .334 with 114 homers and 381 RBIs.

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George Steinbrenner wasn’t about to keep quiet when the Red Sox took a shot at his team.

So a few hours after Boston owner John Henry criticized the New York Yankees over their acquisition of Alex Rodriguez and called for a salary cap, Steinbrenner struck back.

“We understand that John Henry must be embarrassed, frustrated and disappointed by his failure in this transaction,” Steinbrenner said in a statement. “It is time to get on with life and forget the sour grapes.”

Spring training is just getting under way, and New York and Boston already are at each other’s throats.

Both teams spent the off-season adding stars. The Red Sox nearly got Rodriguez too but couldn’t work out the financial aspects -- the Yankees had no such money problems.

“There is really no other fair way to deal with a team that has gone so insanely far beyond the resources of all the other teams,” Henry said in an e-mail to reporters.

Responded Steinbrenner: “Unlike the Yankees, he chose not to go the extra distance for his fans in Boston.”

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Alfonso Soriano is 28 years old, not 26, and that didn’t come as a surprise to the Texas Rangers.

The Rangers knew Soriano was older than had been reported in the past when they acquired the two-time All-Star second baseman from the Yankees in the trade for Rodriguez this week.

“The Yankees were up front. Our people were fully aware of how old he was,” Ranger spokesman Gregg Elkin said. “Without a question, that was the information we had.”

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Greg Maddux didn’t want to leave the Chicago Cubs in the first place.

“I’m just glad this day has come again where I have a chance to come back and finish where I started,” Maddux said after signing a $24-million, three-year deal with the Cubs, the team that gave him his start in baseball.

“I wasn’t ready to leave the first time,” he added. “It’s nice to have an opportunity to come back. Hopefully I’ll only have to wear two hats in my career. That would be something special.”

Maddux will have the chance to earn his 300th win while wearing a Cub uniform, needing 11 more victories to reach the historic mark.

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Catcher A.J. Pierzynski beat the San Francisco Giants in salary arbitration and will get $3.5 million this season instead of the team’s offer of $2.25 million.

The decision came one day after the case was heard in Phoenix. Players and owners have split the six cases decided this year.

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Center fielder Marlon Byrd signed a one-year, $355,000 contract with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Byrd, who emerged as the team’s leadoff hitter in his rookie season last year, hit .303 with seven homers and 45 RBIs in 135 games.