Posted by Sabrina B. @gametimegirl – There have been conflicting reports of the below SI.com story whether that offer was ever made, regardless the 12 noon deadline is still in place…

The St. Louis Cardinals have made a spirited last-ditch effort to sign Albert Pujols before his self-imposed noon deadline Wednesday, offering him an eight-year contract believed to be worth in excess of $200 million, people familiar with the talks told SI.com.
However, several people connected to the negotiations believe the sides will not have an agreement in place before the deadline, setting the stage for free agency at year’s end for the three-time NL MVP.

According to sources, the Cardinals’ latest offer is short of $30 million per year. Pujols, 31, has been seeking a deal greater than the record 10-year, $275 million contract that Alex Rodrguez signed with the New York Yankees before the 2008 season.

Both sides have made proposals during talks that have stretched over months, but in recent days no one was expressing great hope for a quick resolution.

While the main goal for Pujols was always to top A-Rod, Pujols’ agent Dan Lozano at one point in the negotiation with the Cardinals proposed that part of a deal include a piece of the storied team for Pujols, which would have made Pujols a player/part owner, in just one of the attempts by either side that still appears to be going nowhere.

Hours before the noon deadline, there is little evidence the sides will bridge the large gap that has separated them for months. While the Cardinals’ exact offer is not known, it presumably has to be higher per year than the $25 million salary the Phillies gave Ryan Howard last season.

Lozano’s apparently unsuccessful attempt to acquire a piece of the team is unconventional and perhaps even unprecedented, but it is not explicitly disallowed by baseball rules, which only prohibit part ownership of a competing team by a player. Had Cardinals owner Bill DeWitt agreed to take Pujols as a limited partner, commissioner Bud Selig would have had to approve the complicated arrangement, which would have had to allow for a provision for transfer of Pujols’ shares in the event he were later traded (although for a practical matter, that may not have mattered since Pujols already has veto rights over trades as a 10-and-5 player). So while Lozano’s request wasn’t technically impossible, it would have complicated things.

WRITTEN BY Jon Heyman/SI.COM & FULL STORY HERE