Yeah, about Pujols and that NL DH, and for the St. Louis Cardinals

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 noted that if he were a year older, and tried going by his actual age, as has been explained in more depth elsewhere, he would have been ineligible for high school baseball. Without having graduated high school, he couldn't have immediately played for Osage Community College. So, he'd have had to have scrambled for a minor league contract. Thus, he had incentives.

That leads to this piece.

On that "Quo Vadis," I said "no" to Cards fans all schoolgirl giddy about the prospect of signing Pujols. In part for that reason.

Many of them are probably even more giddy now, picturing that picture at left happening again. (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.)

With Commissioner Corleone, Rob Manfred, reporting two and a half weeks ago that National League teams had signed off on a year-round DH, my fandom for MLB has taken another hit. A lockout extending into this season will increase that yet more. The NBA may indeed be ahead of MLB for me now. 

Now, to that issue, and to many better options for the Cardinals, even if they sign TWO free-agent batsmen.

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? Kyle Schwarber's out there and would perfectly fit the bill. Anthony Rizzo might cost a bit more, 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, if you think the Cards are OK enough on middle infielders and speed not to sign Villar, one of the last three, as a single signing, is still better than Albert Pujols.

Add another name to the mix. Via MLBTR, Derrick Goold at the Post-Dispatch says as a part of a larger discussion that the Birds are interested in Colin Moran AND as both a utility guy and a DH.

Color me hugely underwhelmed, but not surprised. Comes off as a typical Mo cheap-ass move. Moran neither has the fielding flexibility of a Villar nor the masher ability at the plate of Schwarber et al.

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As for Phat Albert in St. Louis? Just recently, owner Bill DeWitt himself pretty much kiboshed it. Mark Feinsand said on Twitter that three teams were interested ... but declined to say who they were. Sure. More troubling, per the first link, is DeWitt saying the lineup is pretty much set.