When it all came down, I was mad,” Deidre Pujols told a Christian radio station KLJY in St. Louis. “I was mad at God because I felt like all the signs that had been played out through the baseball field, our foundation, our restaurant, the Down Syndrome Center, my relationships, my home, my family close. I mean, we had no reason, not one reason, to want to leave. People were deceived by the numbers.

(…)

It’s just like God to put us on a team called the Angels.

To watch Pujols interact with the St. Louis diehards is to watch a prototypical spoiled, arrogant 21st century sports star at his absolute worst. During spring training, it is common for players to wave or smile or nod or (gasp!) talk to fans as they trot from one field to the next during otherwise monotonous drill sessions. Lance Berkman is the king of this practice. Gerald Laird isn’t far behind. Pujols, on the other hand, does nothing. When people call his name, he almost never gazes up. When people ask for an autograph, he doesn’t even bother with a “Not now” or “Try me later.” Instead, he resorts to tactics men like Barry Bonds and Albert Belle perfected in the recent decades—the steel-faced, Why-are-you-even-talking-to-me? ignore-the-world two-step.

It’s not that Pujols doesn’t say much—neither does Derek Jeter. It’s not that Pujols is intense—Josh Hamilton is certainly right there with him. No, what rubs an increasing number of people wrongly is his galling frostiness. Or, as one longtime Cardinals usher said to me the other day, “How about looking up at people when they talk to you? How about acknowledging that they exist?

I’m not going anywhere. I got that no-trade for a reason. I’m going to be buried in these pinstripes.

New York Yankees: The Yankees, a team that typically gets involved whether they want to or not, have Mark Teixeira signed at first base through 2016. In theory, Pujols or Teixeira could move to DH, but the Yankees have several other aging veterans that need time at that spot. (Plus, even they wouldn’t give A-Rod, “A-Rod money” again.) So the one team that Pujols’ agents need in the bidding, won’t be there…ZERO INTEREST

New York Mets: The Mets could see a $50 million drop in payroll next season. But with Ike Davis at first base, the Madoff Mess still hovering and lawsuits now trickling in, one has to wonder if the Mets will have any money to invest in players next season…HIGHLY UNLIKELY