These baseball reunions often don't work out well

As everybody and their baseball-loving grandmother knows, the St. Louis Cardinals just announced they're signing Albert Pujols for a MLB contract, and at $2.5 million.

Sorry, folks, that's Albert's old Cards picture. IN a new one, if it's like his Dodgers one, his 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. (That said, he's not hitting any such milestones, IMO. Certainly not 21 homers for 700.) Jeff Gordon admits as much with the Post Dispatch. That said, Gordon is a team spinner if he claims Albert left St Looie for "negligible financial gain." Derrick Goold is also a Cards-whisperer, as when he throws shade on the Angels claim that Pujols said he still wanted to play full-time.

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. He had a .637 OPS in Dominican winter ball, and I've told the stable genyuses among the Best Fans in Baseball repeatedly to check those numbers out.)

That said, per regular commenter Dave M., I am also reminded of someone else whose homecoming didn't work out so well — Willie Mays.

I still remember the 1973 World Series, when he was trying to score from second (I have, for some reason, long thought that he was on first and rounding second for third) and tripped. He managed to score anyway, but, after his outfield misadventures in that same game, and on the national stage, it looked sad. (Unfortunately, I can't find a clip of just that on YouTube.)

Junior Griffey did OK for the Mariners in 2009, yes, but plunged off a cliff the next year.

Speaking of the Mariners? Ichiro Suzuki is another whose return just was ugly. It was ugly in his second-last official year, and real ugly, reading between the lines, on his not wanting to accept reality when he came back for another year. That said, it was also ugly by the Mariners to sign him back that second time.

Don Sutton's return to the Dodgers wasn't quite craptacular, but it wasn't good and ended midseason. Reggie Jackson's venture back to the A's was OK, and Gary Carter did decently with his last year with the Expos. But, even Reggie wasn't 43 or whatever, Carter was in good shape for a catcher and Sutton was a junkballer who didn't lean as much on fitness and still failed.

Albert will surely be at least as stubborn as Ichiro if reality turns out to be what I think. And, the fact that Mozeliak probably was bidding against himself (those two other teams allegely interested in him must have been mice in some MLB.com writer's pocket) and paid well over the minimum means they're kind of stuck with him.

Will this be part of a Three Amigos/Three Musketeers joint retirement with Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina? Well, in the presser, as reported by Derrick Goold, Waino isn't committing to anything. That said, he's fixing to drop like a Pujols rock this year, and while the Cards might scrape a few bucks from him having a retirement next year, it won't be that much.

Anyway, Goold et al will be much more reverent than Big Apple media were to Mays.