Usually I ignore ESPN, but I found this question kind of intriguing. Thoughts?

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/28107465/the-mlb-genie-one-wish-fans-all-30-teams-catch

The Cardinals fan's dilemma: An all-time great manager but being stuck with Albert Pujols

After considerable review of the past 20 years, the Cardinals fan said, "You know, actually, I think I'm good with it all."

But the genie persisted, and rather than hurt the genie's feelings the Cardinals fan allowed that she wishes, back in 2012, when the Cardinals were interviewing Terry Francona and Mike Matheny for the open managing job, they had just picked Francona. Matheny's seven-year run wasn't disastrous, but by Cardinals standards it wasn't successful -- no titles, concluding with the Cards missing three consecutive postseasons for the only time this century -- and the whole time his managing felt heavy, inert.

The genie said fine, but in exchange Albert Pujols would accept the Cardinals' contract offer back in the winter of 2011. This seems like way too much for a simple managerial shift -- Pujols' eight years as an Angel have been below average, and costly in multiple ways, and in Cardinals-land his departure has always seemed like a huge bullet dodged. But (A) the deal would have been for less than the Angels are paying him, (B) Pujols might have aged a little better with continuity, (C) Cardinals fans would have felt none of the bad feelings they felt toward a franchise icon that year and in the years to come, and (D) Pujols would retire a Cardinal, a truly historic franchise icon nearly on a level with Stan Musial, with the whole body of his work doing most of the legacy-lifting. Old Al Pujols would still be hanging around the Cardinals, today and for two more years, but maybe that'd be OK, right?

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