"Cardinals' first baseman Albert Pujols went public Thursday with his desire that the Cardinals make a push for friend, countryman and free-agent slugger Manny Ramirez.." So writes Joe Strauss in the St. Louis Dispatch.
My first thought was, "Wow! That would be Manny Ramirez/David Ortiz on steroids!" Then I thought, "Why would Albert Pujols make such a public statement?"
The answer doesn't go much further than the 1st page of a Google search "who is Albert Pujols agent". Turns out Pujols is a client of Scott Boras.
That makes this quote from the best hitter in baseball appear to be disingenous:
"I'm not an agent or general manager, but I can't understand how Manny has not signed."
Really? FWIW, I can see Manny signing a three-year deal that expires the same time Pujols' contract does (2011) and then Scott Boras using the combined salary of Pujols and Manny as the asking AAV of Pujols' next deal.