Yahoo’s Tim Brown suggested and now FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal is confirming that the Florida Miami Marlins have offered a nine year deal to Albert Pujols. Nine. Years. Say it in the Ed Rooney voice: NINE. YEARS. While contracts that length aren’t unheard of, they’re usually seen with young franchise players having their primes bought out. Pujols will be 32 on Opening Day 2012, meaning a nine-year deal would take him through age 40, not exactly prime playing time.

While we know (apparently) the deal was for nine years, we don’t have the dollar amount to go with it. Some have said $225 million, while others have the deal at under $200 million. One would think that Pujols would want an annual salary higher than any other first baseman, and Ryan Howard is going to make an average of $25 million the next five years in Philly, so you’d think that the Marlins would have to come closer to the $225 million range than the $200 million. That said, even $200 million makes it the third-highest guaranteed contract in baseball history, and those final guaranteed years actually count for something. Let’s assume Pujols signs a seven year deal worth $26.5 million per season, for a total of $185.5 million. He goes into free agency when he’s 39 – is he going to get a two year, $14.5 million deal when he’s 39? He might, sure – but he also might get hurt or see his production drop over the course of those previous seven years. He could still be valuable at that age, or he could be Jason Giambi or Vlad Guerrero, looking to sign one-year deals and still hang on.

The Marlins are trying to send a message to their fanbase, whether legit or not, that they want to pack their new stadium next season.