Oh, hell no, the Cards just did it and signed Pujols

On my blog post about "Quo Vadis Albert Pujols," Dave Minn asked about why I thought Phat Albert Pujols was at least one year older, if not two, than his officially stated age? I gave some details, then went into a longer description beyond that piece, even, in a second blog post, about why he deserved nothing more than an MLB minimum contract, if that, and only with a team that had desperate need for a platooned DH.

I said "no" to Cards fans all schoolgirl giddy about the prospect of signing Pujols. In part for that reason, both at the first piece and now the second.

Many of them are probably even more giddy now, picturing that picture at left happening again, since the St. Louis Cardinals just announced they're signing him for a MLB contract, and at $2.5 million. (Update: Looking at that picture at left, vs the one above, Albert's neck is what, at least 1 full inch bigger in circumference. Probably 1.5-2 inches. Now that can happen in part from building up muscle due to more MLB-level weight training etc. [NOT roids; I'll kick you in the nads] but part of that is surely due to added weight over the years, and a non-insignificant amount of it.)

Basically, this smacks of being a turnstiles gimmick, if Pujols hits some career milestones. The team has said he'll be used like he was with the Dodgers; DH against lefty batters and an occasional pinch-hitter.

This doesn't really help team needs

As I said on the Quo Vadis piece, the Cards are lefty-light, not counting a couple of switchers. I had recommended Jonathan Villar, a switcher, as a much better upgrade than Pujols, and I stick by that even with the universal DH. As I noted, many teams today in the AL do NOT go the David Ortiz route. Rather, the DH spot is used to give position players a rest. Or, it's a mix; you have a lefty who sucks against lefties platooning there for 60-65 percent of the spot's at-bats, then you rotate position players in there for the rest of the time. Especially if Villar could learn a rudimentary 1B glove, along with the other three infield spots he already plays, that gives you time off to DH for both Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado. You can still add a regular "masher" type who might fit the lefty platoon angle, if one is relatively cheap, and sign that person (whoever it is) and Villar both.

As for those "regular mashers" who bat lefty? Per what I wrote when the lockout lifted? Kyle Schwarber was out there and would have perfectly fit the bill. Anthony Rizzo might cost a bit more (actually was less), but is another ex-Cubbie who'd fill the need, if Mozeliak could get DeWitt to break open DeWallet. And, in this case, Villar doesn't have to learn 1B. (Why nobody's tried to get Schwarber to do that, I don't know.) Kyle Seager would likely cost not much more than Schwarber and could probably be taught 1B as well as 3B plus DHing.

(With Schwarber and Rizzo both signed now, Seager is arguably the best lefty bat, especially among ones with at least bits of power, left available, per Spotrac.) 

And, with the Cardinals signing Corey Dickerson [why?] they're probably out of the Seager running.

Villar would have offered even better infield depth, of course, and speed that neither Dickerson nor Seager have. And, at $4.5M for one year plus a buyout on an option with more details here, vs $5M for a  year in Dickerson, he didn't cost that much more money.

But, no, "we're" signing Phat Albert. The universal DH was already turning me off. A gimmick signing, even more.With Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina's retiring this year? Yep. Ticket sales. Tchotchkes out the wazoo. Average fans spending money to help millionaires and billionaires both get richer. (And, he says it's his "last ride," so I'm assuming neither of other two Amigos or Musketeers sticks around. That said, as reported by Derrick Goold, Waino's was firmly noncommittal on retirement at the team presser officially announcing Pujols' return.)

Side note: It's interesting that the Cards fell to fourth in the NL in attendance last year. That's the first time since 2012 they've been that low, and even in that year, they still broke 3 million. That only reinforces to me what's driving this.

To put it another way, the Pujols plus Dickerson salaries, plus possibly an additional $1-2 million, could have signed Villar and Seager and given the Cards much better infield defense flexibility, batting flexibility and speed.

Or spent for a semi-big bat like Rizzo then signed Pujols for all the marketing dinero to pay for that?

I'll have my annual team prediction blog post in a few days. Just how much this doesn't actually help, and how much the need is, will be part of that.

And, holy fucking shit, blind hogs and acorns time! Redbird Rants agrees with me, and gets something right, when it says the signing is a "punt on 2022 season." Well, actually, ONE RR writer agrees; the next one, at their links at the bottom, claims the Cards "expect him to help their club."

UPDATE: David Schoenfield comps this to Seattle bringing back Ken Griffey Jr.. However, Griff had 0.6 WAR his first year back. Pujols last year had 0.1 for the Dodgers. He'll be lucky to do that in St. Louis. (I think B-Ref's projection of 392 PAs is high, especially if it's right on a projected OPS of .680 — which I think IS right.)