Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Pujols' Progress

Cardinals star Albert Pujols is headed to the DL with a wrist fracture. It's going to cost him his well-deserved annual trip to the All-Star Game....and it's going to cost him a good deal more than that. See, Albert is in his walk year, hitting the free agent market after this season wraps up, and you just know that he's hoping for a big-time contract, but it's just not going to happen. He's going to be 32 years old next season, and this is the second major injury of his career (he had elbow surgery in 2008). That's going to make teams reluctant to lock him up long-term (usually one of the conditions of a blockbuster contract). What's more, none of the big-market teams will be looking for a first baseman--Boston, the Yankees, and Philadelphia are all set with Adrian Gonzalez, Mark Teixiera, and Ryan Howard, respectively, and two of the next three biggest markets (the Dodgers and Mets) are in such dire financial straits that there's no way they'll be able to offer him a blockbuster deal. That leaves the Cubs as the only "big-market" team in the running, and without a bidding war, there's no way Pujols gets an Alex Rodriguez/Mark Teixiera/Ryan Howard-level contract, no matter how much he deserves it.

No comments:

Post a Comment