2011 MLB Free Agency
Every year when the playoffs start for Major League Baseball I look forward not only to who plays in the World Series, but who is going to be a free agent when the five day waiting period is over; when the World Series ends. After the waiting period is over with, teams have about three weeks to sign their own free agents. When those three weeks or so are over, any free agent left that has not signed with his previous team can sign with any baseball team he wants that is willing to pay the price.
Sometimes theses free agents do not live up to their deals, such as Daisuke Matsusaka or Carlos Silva to name a few. When they don’t perform up to their expectations, teams just try to move on as quickly as possible and try to forget about their signing. Then there are some, who once they sign their deal, are worth every penny and help out their teams tremendously, such as Albert Pujols or Prince Fielder.
Some of the deals I agree with, can be steals and pay a player less than they should be paid. One of those deals that were worth the money is Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals, who signed before the 2004 season. The deal he signed in 2004 was for seven years and worth 100 million dollars with a possibility of making another $16 million for the 2011 season if he signed a contract extension for a one-year deal.
Albert’s deal is one of many throughout Major League history that proves someone can be underpaid for his skills and how much he means to a team and outperform his deal. He has a career batting average of .328, he averages 42 home runs, 126 RBI’s, 93 walks. He is a nine time all-star, three time NL MVP, Rookie of the year winner, six-time silver slugger winner, and two-time gold glove winner. I’m not sure what else he needs to do to prove how valuable he is the St. Louis Cardinals but if those kind of stats and awards aren’t screaming the words “Show Me The Money” I’m not sure what is.
Albert Pujols is one of three coveted free agents this year when the World Series ends. The other two free agents are Prince Fielder of the Milwaukee Brewers and C.J. Wilson of the Texas Rangers. If all three leave their teams for other teams the Rangers, Brewers, and Cardinals will feel the loss of their star players deeply for a long time. But I hear that their teams will make a hard push to keep them. They will definitely have to dish out the money to keep players of that caliber because Fielder who is a First Baseman just like Pujols and has put up similar numbers in terms of statistics. Fielder is not as accomplished though when it comes to awards. C.J. Wilson who is a starting pitcher who has done well in Texas with the help of Hall of Fame Legendary Pitcher Nolan Ryan, who is the president of the Texas Rangers, but when it comes to pitching on a big stage like New York or Philadelphia who knows what might happen if he is lured there.
I don’t think it will be hard for Texas to keep C.J. but when it comes to Pujols and Fielder that is where it’s going to be hard to say if they will stay with their original teams. If they want to pay them massive amounts of money most likely at least 10 years/$200 million minimum but probably more than that, they also have to think of how they want to spend their money for future free agents. If the General Manager of the Cardinals knew how much Pujols means to St. Louis outside of what his stats say, he should definitely hand out whatever kind of contract Albert Pujols wants because he is worth the money. Prince Fielder on the other hand, a National League GM should not pay the money to him just because of how big the man is and no one knows if he can hold up his stats if he is not playing for a team where his stats can be cushioned by the players he is with like when he is with the Brewers. As an American League GM though they should definitely pay Fielder what he wants because he would be able to play First Base and Designated Hitter. Playing DH would extend Fielder’s career and with many teams in the AL with money to spend this off-season, they could pay him to play both positions for the next ten or so years.
Needless to say I am looking forward to this years free agency and the wars that will be going on between the teams who are willing to show the big three, among the many other free agents, the money. My thoughts on the free agency pool this year is if Pujols stays with the Cardinals, Fielder will leave for whatever team wants to pay. But if Pujols joins the Chicago Cubs, another team that is linked to trying to pay Pujols, the Cardinals will most likely be the winners of the Fielder bidding wars. C.J. on the other hand my thoughts are that he stays is Texas until his next turn at free agency whenever his next deal ends after he re-signs a new deal with Texas this off season. I’ve been looking forward to this off-season for a while because I’m curious to know where Pujols might end up if he isn’t re-signed by St. Louis.
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