Oh Where, Oh Where, Will Pujols Go?

There are good baseball players, and then there are great baseball players and when you say the name Albert Pujols you put him in the same category as Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, and Willie Mays and so on. Albert Pujols is hands down one of the greatest first baseman this game has ever seen, this guy can do it all and has done it all. He has won 6 NL Sliver Slugger Awards, 3 NL MVP Awards, 2 NL Gold Glove Awards, 2 NL Hank Aaron Awards, 1 Robert Clemente Award, 1 NLCS MVP Award, 1 World Series Title, and won the 2001 NL Rookie of the Year Award, like I said he has won it all! Only award he has never won is a CY Young award if he was a pitcher. Pujols has played with the St. Louis Cardinals his whole career and every year he has batted .300 or more, hit 30 or more home runs, hit over 100 RBI's or more, struck out 60 times or less except for two times back in 2001 he had 93 strikeouts and in 2010 he had 73 strikeouts, he is the only power hitter who really doesn't strikeout out a lot. Also don't forget his slugging percentage has been between .560 - .600 or more. He is the game’s greatest hitter and who wouldn't want him?


That has been the talk around baseball this offseason where will Pujols go after this season when he becomes a free agent? After Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard got a 6 year deal for 120 million dollars everyone asked themselves what will Albert Pujols get? So far nothing, and were talking about the best player in the game, aren't we? Seems like Cardinals haven't been to worried about losing the face of their franchise for the past 10 years, I mean he has only scared almost every pitcher in the National League for the last 10 years and has helped the Cardinals win 6 NL Central Division titles, 2 NL League Pennants, and 1 World Series title in the last 10 years. How could you not sign him? Well the only down fall is he is 31 years old and he will get up there in age and the Cardinals might want to move in a different direction with younger players and build a new team. That's the only reason I can see the Cardinals not signing him other than that he still is the best player in baseball.


The teams that want well I wouldn't be kidding myself if I didn't say the New York Yankee. The rumor has been said the Yankees would offer Pujols an 10 year deal worth $300 million dollars that would be the most money any player in baseball would ever receive. Now you're asking yourself why the Yankees, they already have a first baseman in Mark Teixeira, but let’s be honest the Yankees really don't have any good DH hitters on their club, so they would move Teixeira to the DH roll and bring in Pujols but were still unsure if that's true. Another team that comes to mind is the New York Mets. The Mets don't really have a good first baseman; yes they have young Ike Davis who played really well for them as a rookie last year but he’s no Albert Pujols. The Mets would love to get him just so they could shut up their friends the Philadelphia Phillies who have made all the big moves in the East by getting Halladay, Oswalt, and their newest member Cliff Lee back and the Phillies have been the kings of the NL East for 4 straight years.

Then come the Rangers who really need a first baseman in the club house but the Rangers might not have the money to bring him in but they’re still on the list. Next are the Cubs and if this happened, St. Louis fans would have a heart attack and would call Albert Pujols the new LeBron James of baseball. Fans would go nuts, now the Cubs got a first baseman this offseason in Carlos Pena but only for 1 year. The Dodgers are also on this list as teams that want him but the Dodgers have bigger problems then trying to bring in a big time name, but it would help them in starting over and turning the franchise around by adding him. Last team on this list is the Red Sox another team you’re asking yourself why them, well same reason as the Yankees they need a DH and they could turn Gonzalez into a DH player or Pujols into a DH player.


The Cardinals are by far not out of this yet Pujols has been on this team his whole career and knows what it’s like playing in St. Louis and he likes it there. It's not big time media town or big time spot light town which he likes and he enjoys playing for manager Tony La Russa who has been the manager of this team for 15 years. The Cardinals still have a shot of signing him before or during the offseason of 2011, but be sure whichever team makes the higher bid he might just end up going there.