Dear Mr. Pujols,
As you may remember from my last letter to you on this site, I have been engaged in learning the process of negotiation at my law school. And this made me appreciate the situation you're in now as you negotiate with the Cardinals.
Well let me tell you a tale, Mr. Pujols, and you can decide how, or if, this applies to your situation.
This past Tuesday, I was assigned to negotiate a fictional situation involving the price of Christmas trees in Michigan. I was "representing" a group of sellers who were looking to continue their relationship with a charitble group, my opponent. Because it was a charity I was negotiating against, my "client" was not concerned about making money, but they were farmers and couldn't afford to take a huge loss. I would be negotiating against another student and we were given parameters in which our "clients" would feel comfortable allowing us to make a deal on their behalf. I was supposed to get a number of terms, but three of the most important were that the contract would be for 10,000 trees, at $33 to $35 a tree, and contain a clause that protected my client in case storms, flooding, or drought caused the crop to fail. Pretty basic, really.
So, I prepared for this assignment, by doing the assigned reading, all of which stressed the importance of finding common ground and being able to compromise. I took this to heart and drafted some options that would allow my "client" to be protected and still be of interest to the other side. I felt good. I thought the other student and I would be able to negotiate a deal that would make both our "clients" happy.
And then I walked into the negotiation. Long story short, my opponent decided to lowball me.* Like hardcore. We did agree on 10,000 trees, but my opponent offered $12 a tree, or a $250,000 loss for my client. I balked. I balked, but I was was thrown off. It was insulting and I think people in the real world equivalent of my situation would have walked out there. But I was being graded, so I had to stay and continue negotiating. After 5 minutes of fighting, in which he refused to come up at all, we decided we wouldn't come to an agreement on the price, so we moved on. He agreed to allow the weather-protection clause, but only if we agreed to allocate all possible inventory to him. Which means that if there were a horrendous event that would cause my "client" to lose inventory, we would have to sell all we could to them--garaunteeing a loss and most likely bankrupting my "client". I balked. And I became very frustrated. I mean, here we are, two law students play-acting a situation where we've been told our goals are to be reasonable and to negotiate what our "clients" would want. And he was gunning me. I was so upset. I felt this guy was trying to take advantage of me. And I took it personally. And all I had at stake was 14 points.
The reason I bring this up is because there are stories floating around the internet saying how things are going the wrong way in your negotiation.** And I'm saying, in a small way, I can relate. It's easy to know you're being reasonable and to know that the other side is being ridiculous. And you obviously have a lot more on the line than I did with my stupid 14 points. I just hope the Cardinals are looking at things more rationally than the person I was negotiating against me. I hope you guys can find common ground.
Mr. Pujols, I really would like to see you sign with the Cardinals. I'd love to see you end your career with them. But, I know things don't always work out that way. And if they're not giving you the value you think you should get, I hope you walk away. It'll suck not to see you at first base, if that happens. It would be weird not to look forward to your every at bat. But honestly, the Cardinals are a huge organization, and they likely can afford to pay you a huge contract. And you deserve it. You honestly do, sir.
But, I hope you don't take it personally. I'm sure they don't mean to make you feel devalued or disrespected. They aren't gunning you. They know how much you mean to the fans and to the club--they'd have to be insane not to know how much you mean. They may just be putting a different number on the value.
Anyway, good luck to you in your negotiations.
joe
PS. Please don't sign with the Cubs. I can handle you in pretty much any uniform, but not that one.
*Note 1. In law school, when another student tries to show you up or stick it to you, that student is called a gunner. And this was a total gunner move.
**Note 2. And I have no idea whether these guys know what they're talking about or not. I'm inclined to hope not and cite the agreement both sides have to not leak anything.
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