This was my thought. Maybe Albert told him he's not coming back no matter what. Lots of signs pointing to him leaving, he asked Tony to sign a photo from his rookie year before game 6. That doesn't sound like someone who was planning on being together much longer. Maybe I was the one who heard the story wrong, but the way I heard the story, Pujols asked him to sign that picture after his rookie year. Tony asked if he could have a couple of days to think about what to write, and he wrote, "To the best player I've ever managed," or something along those lines. The story, as I understood it, was that he wrote that right after Albert's rookie year. Not before game 6. Buck said that Pujols came to him before game 6 and that Tony didn't want to sign the photo.