I think you are wrong Coco...the Cards are under strict budget constraints and although Pujols is the face of the franchise, he is only under contract for one more year. The Cardinals need to get some young pitching in their system and I think they would at the very least, consider listening to an offer from the Red Sox. Wellemeyer, Piniero, Walters, Lohse ....Now that Carpenter is gone for a couple of months..they have only Wainwright who is not a #4 or #5 on most teams... Their pen is absolutely abyssmal.
I just talked to a die hard Cardinal fan ..Pujols is his idol.. he thinks that would get it done... He follows them religiously and cites their barren farm and lack of pitching talent(starters and pen)...as well as Albert's upcoming extension alks as his reasoning.
Buchholz and Bard could easily be on their staff next year...if not right now.. Bard could be their closer by years end...Lars could be their 1st baseman by end of year.... This is the type of deal that could get it done IMO.