Cubs in no position to sign Pujols

A song lyric comes to mind every time Albert Pujols’ name is mentioned in the same sentence as the Cubs.

“God is great, beer is good, and people are crazy.”

Atheists would dispute Part 1. Alcoholics Anonymous counselors would dispute Part 2. But sports fans couldn’t possibly dispute Part 3.

Like, at age 31 Pujols is a crazy person seeking a 10-year, $300 million contract from the Cardinals, who face Wednesday’s noon deadline to pay the ransom or let him go to free agency in November.

Meanwhile, the Cardinals would be crazy if they don’t ante up that absurd sum, or something close to it.

If that sounds like an insane contradiction you’re forgetting that “God is great, beer is good, and people are crazy.”

Pujols is the greatest slugger of his time and one of the greatest of all time. Presumably the Cardinals can’t afford to lose their luxury model to anyone, much less the Cubs.

It would be like GM losing Cadillac to Ford.

Yet if Pujols ever were available to the Cubs they should walk out of the showroom and head down the street toward a more affordable dealership.

Some Cubs fans seem to believe that the Ricketts ownership needs to make a splash, and acquiring Pujols would be a big enough one to empty the pool.

But this isn’t 1981, when new White Sox owners Jerry Reinsdorf and Eddie Einhorn said, “Hey, everybody, look at us, we’re signing Carlton Fisk and Greg Luzinski.”

Baseball splashes are more expensive now, so the Ricketts have to be smarter than to devote all that money to one player and one bold move.

(By the way, if the price comes down, the Cards will pay it for sure, so the Cubs’ involvement would be moot.)

Surely the Cubs learned a lesson after going wacky by giving a mere $136 million over eight years to Alfonso Soriano, in a way the equivalent in funny money to $300 million over 10 years to even the great Albert Pujols.

The Cardinals would lose credibility in St. Louis if they don’t re-sign Pujols. The Cubs wouldn’t lose anything by sitting this one out and might win something by investing elsewhere.

As awesome as it would be to pencil Pujols into the middle of any batting order, his price tag makes sense only for the Cards and a select few others like, say, the Yankees with their $200 million payroll.

The Red Sox probably could absorb Pujols’ salary. The Mets and Dodgers could if they straighten out their ownership problems. The Angels probably could, too, but that’s about it.

The Cubs’ payroll was strained at around $145 million the past couple of years and isn’t likely to go nearly that high until the Ricketts family gets the franchise’s financial house in order over, oh, maybe the next decade.

Any club like the Cubs without crazy cash to spend is better off investing $300 million in premium pitching, scouting, more pitching, player development and more pitching.

My goodness, so much can be accomplished by resisting the urge to go nuts and spend $300 million on Pujols beyond his 41st birthday.

Look, unless the Ricketts discover oil under Wrigley Field or plan to raise ticket prices to where only oil barons can afford them, Cubs fans might as well stop playing fantasy baseball.

Not even this big-market team should pay Albert Pujols’ asking price.

God is great, beer is good, but it’s hard to believe the Ricketts family is that crazy.

mimrem@dailyherald.com