Economist: Pujols' Contract May Not Be All That Lucrative After All

9-Dec-11
Published in: CBS News
Author: Patrick Rishe
Description: Did Albert Pujols pull the trigger too soon on a decision to pack up and move out west?

Did Albert Pujols pull the trigger too soon on a decision to pack up and move out west to play baseball for the Los Angeles Angels, without factoring in all financial considerations?

Only time and the former Cardinals slugger can answer that question, but a local economist says from a purely economic standpoint, Pujols may have struck out.

"From a purchasing power perspective he's not as well off," suggests Webster University economics professor Patrick Rishe. "He was going average $22 million a year here (in St. Louis). To live in Los Angeles, to equal $22 million you need $33.1 million, I did the calculation. So actually his purchasing power is less."

Pujols' deal in L.A. will pay him $254 million over 10 years, an average of $25.4 million a year.

And another thing, Rishe says is that Albert Pujols becomes a smaller fish in a much bigger pond, lowering his profile.

"Baseball is not THE top attraction out there in terms of sports," Rishe points out. "The Lakers dominate the landscape."

And when it comes to baseball, he adds, "It's more of a Dodgers town than an Angels town."

"Because if this had gone down prior to the recession, right after Alex Rodriguez signed his historic contract," Rishe maintains, "Albert probably would have received an average annual salary closer to $30 million a year because that's in the ballpark that Rodriguez receives."

He suggests that by staying loyal to the Cardinals after 11 seasons and keeping his roots planted in St. Louis, Albert Pujols may have actually received a bigger bang for his big, big bucks.

Patrick Rishe made his comments Friday morning as a guest on KMOX's Total Information AM.