In St. Louis, Joe Strauss reports Cardinals manager Tony La Russa yesterday "noted potential involvement" by the MLBPA in urging Cardinals 1B Albert Pujols to "push for top dollar" in negotiations for an extension. But La Russa "spoke confidently that Pujols would resist any such pressure." La Russa: "He's not going to listen to the union or his representatives more than he listens to the man upstairs and his family. That can be unfair, putting a player in that position. It happens on every team, every year and I have never appreciated that. There should be an acknowledgement about the best situation, and it's not always dollars." La Russa added, "The pressure that a high-profile player receives from the union and his representatives to push for the last dollar (is) neglecting anything else about that decision -- type of organization, loyalty, all that stuff. I don't think that's a real healthy part of our game. The union is out there for their players to keep setting the bar higher and higher" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 2/14).
FREE TO GO? ESPN.com's Marc Stein cites sources as saying that the NBPA is "quietly convinced that ... its players actually can't be blocked from playing overseas during a lockout." A source said that the union "believes that NBA teams ultimately will not be able to legally enforce contracts during an NBA shutdown, whether it's short or long." Stein writes he also has been "strongly advised that the union anticipates having to caution its constituents with two very strong warnings about playing elsewhere during a lockout in the event that labor negotiations drag into the fall and the NBA finds itself unexpectedly powerless to prevent vets from moonlighting abroad" (ESPN.com, 2/14).
FREEZE TAG: In Boston, Greg Bedard noted no NFL teams have used the franchise tag yet this offseason. A league source said that it "may have something to do with the fact that ... the NFL Management Council has yet to determine the tender amount for the franchise and tender tags." There is "no certain date for when those numbers will be available," yet there is "nothing preventing teams from tagging players, in the league's view" (BOSTON GLOBE, 2/13).
