Veteran catcher Willson Contreras signed a five-year, $87.5 million contract with the St. Louis Cardinals earlier this week. It was a deal he began dreaming of long before it was even a realistic possibility.
On Friday afternoon, the Cardinals officially introduced Contreras, and he had an interesting revelation for everyone in attendance.
Albert Pujols hit his 695th home run on Sept. 4 against the Chicago Cubs. At the time, Contreras was still a member of the Cubs, where he had spent the first seven years of his career. He was on the IL nursing an ankle injury at the time but witnessed the homer from the visiting dugout.
The Pujols homer was of obvious consequence. It was a dramatic pinch-hit blast in the bottom of the eighth inning of a scoreless game. It helped propel the Cardinals to victory over their longtime rivals and, eventually, helped seal the NL Central.
It seems odd that Contreras would begin dreaming about playing for a rival while still in a Cubs uniform. And although the Cardinals are rich in tradition, it’s not as if the Cubs are a shallow pool in that area. They’ve existed since 1903 and Contreras was on their 2016 roster when they won the World Series for the first time since 1908. That win sent the entire baseball world into a frenzy, and Chicago celebrated in spectacular fashion.
You had better believe the Cubs and Contreras’ former teammates will remember these comments when the two teams meet in 2023.
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