The Pujols Drama

Well well well. The drama continues to unfold in Cardinals camp, and it isn't pretty. Albert Pujols and the Cardinals failed to reach an agreement on a new contract for the slugger, which means there won't be any more discussion until after the season, so as to avoid distraction. Too late. That contract is now an elephant standing in the corner of that clubhouse. You can't tell me that every player in there isn't thinking about what this team would look like without Albert. Quite frankly, the St. Louis Cardinals need Albert Pujols more than Albert Pujols needs the St. Louis Cardinals. He played for ten years for their price, and now he'd like to finish his career there at his price.

What uniform will Albert be wearing in 2012?

Let me clarify: Albert does not WANT to leave St. Louis. This does not mean he won't leave St. Louis. As I said, he wants to play for his price. Presumably, Albert's price is in the range of 10 years, $300 million. Honestly, that's a nice price for King Albert. He's worth much more than that. Almost invaluable, in my opinion. He is one of the rare players that doesn't just carry his team for weeks, but for months. He may go down as the greatest player ever. He's certainly had one of the best 10 year runs to start a career, ever. Supposedly, the Cardinals low balled him in years and money. They obviously don't want to pay him $30+ million when he is 41 years old. Instead, they were offering in the range of 6-8 years, and somewhere between $19-23 million. Remember what I said a couple of days ago? No small market team (and the Cardinals are a small market team) can afford to pay a player $20+ million. Certainly not much more than that. The Cardinals can't go much higher. Pujols certainly won't go lower. There's no reason to give in. 

Personally, I'm split on this issue. Him leaving is fantastic for the Reds as a team, and terrible for baseball. If he won't sign for that amount, how can the Reds possibly afford Joey Votto, who will presumably be looking for $20+ million? And it says to all the teams out there, that you have no chance of being consistently competitive and having a shot at winning it all every year unless you can spend well over $100 million. Few teams can do that, so they rely on smart drafting, shrewd trades, and good player development. That gives them a three or four year window, and then they have to unload, and start over. It's tough stuff, and a couple of bad drafts leave you looking like the Kansas City Royals. Albert leaving would be good for the Reds, well, because he would no longer be killing them - as long as he leaves the Central. 

At the end of the day, I think the Cardinals give. I'm thinking 8 years at around $27 million a year. St. Louis won't stand by and watch Albert walk. They can't afford to.

Nonetheless, let's get to seven spring story lines:

The Phillies rotation...perhaps the best in history?

1. The Phab Phour - It's basically all anyone has talked about this offseason. Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt, and Cole Hamels. How in the world can anyone stop the Philadelphia Phillies. The best answer people have given is that you simply can't. With four aces like that, supposedly, the Phillies will romp to a World Series title. They may, but you have to get to the playoffs first. Right now, Philadelphia is more closely built for October than the 162 game season. I have questions about that aging offense.

2. Boston's New Toys - Carl Crawford plays a great left field, and is as talented as they come in the speed and hitting department. He could leadoff or bat third. And now there's some more thump in the middle of the order with Adrian Gonzalez. If this guy put up these kind of numbers in spacious Petco Park, imagine what he will do in cozy Fenway. Boston is the clear favorite in the American League, especially considering they won 89 games with a banged up and depleted roster last year. With the upgrades this year, look out.

3. Aces High in Milwaukee - The team that made the most waves in the league this offseason was the Milwaukee Brewers. Realizing their window of opportunity could be closing, especially with slugger Prince Fielder most likely departing after the season, they ravaged the farm system to get Shaun Marcum from Toronto and Zack Greinke from Kansas City. Will it pay off? Has Milwaukee sacrificed the future for this year? We'll find out.

4. Misfits, Part Deux - The San Francisco Giants were a team filled with midseason and weird pickups. They were the Misfits, with a bunch of players that seemingly no one else wanted. But great pitching helped them to their first World Series in the city by the bay. They made little moves in the offseason, again counting on their dominant pitching to carry them. But can newcomer Miguel Tejada make up for the clutch hitting they lost in Juan Uribe? Can a team that caught lightning in a bottle once really do it again?

Michael Young

5. Rangers, Reloaded - It seemed simple, the Rangers, if they brought back Cliff Lee and Vladimir Guerrero, would be the favorites out West again, and would have as good a shot as any to get back to the World Series. Now, I'm not so sure. How will C.J. Wilson handle that jump in innings? Can Brandon Webb be an impact arm for them? Adrian Beltre has historically been a contract year player, can he quiet that talk this year? And any time a team messes with clubhouse chemistry it is never good. Michael Young is a class player, and one of the best players in the history of the Rangers. They are treating him like a rag doll, and he has reportedly asked out. The Rangers are playing with fire when it comes to their heart and soul.

6. The Need for Speed - How will Aroldis Chapman's first full year in the majors go? Now that people have seen the 105 mph gas, how will hitters respond and prepare? Can he replace Arthur Rhodes in the back of the bullpen? Is he the closer down the line? When will Cincinnati take a chance and put him in the rotation? So many questions behind the most talented young pitcher not named Stephen Strasburg.

7. M&M Boys - When will the Minnesota Twins finally get over the hump and start winning some playoff games? Justin Morneau is back and healthy this season, which means he and Mauer will be raking again this summer. A full year again in that ballpark should do some good for all of their hitters. This team owns the AL Central, but it's a little disappointing that they are seemingly swept out of the playoffs each and every year.