Pujols Who?

Cardinals have re-signed shortstop Rafael Furcal a key piece to them winning the 2011 World Series. Pujols may have left, but the Cardinals are not doomed without him. In all likelihood Lance Berkman will move to 1^st base and Allen Craig will take Berkman’s spot in Right. Craig is no Pujols but he is a solid up and coming player. The signing of Furcal though, gives them back their leadoff hitter who has speed and the ability to get on base like you look for in any leadoff hitter, but he also has quite a good glove and arm in the field. He really was the most under the radar move during the season last year as he was a waiver wire transaction from the Dodgers that boosted the Cardinals defense and offense. Furcal always brings a high level of competition to the field with seemingly unlimited energy. The only worry with Furcal is he’s had some back injuries. If he stays healthy he still has some baseball left in him and could help the Cardinals take the NL Central this year with it getting weaker by the moment. The Astros and Cubs don’t seem to be a threat at the moment, The Pirates showed some progress by putting together a good 1^st half last year but then returned to the “Pirates” way of ball for the 2^nd half, and the Reds seem to be firmly behind the Cardinals in my mind. Now the Brewers are the question, but with the probable loss of Fielder, and the fact that they didn’t get a big name free agent seems to hinder their team greatly, along with the pending 50 game suspension of Ryan Braun. The Brewers still have an alright team, but unless they make some moves I think that the Cardinals are the front runners to win the division. Furcal for 2 years and $14 million is a great deal. By the end of next season the St. Louis fans could be saying Pujols who?

Angels Out Of Left field

I don’t really want to write an article right now but I must. The Angels have signed Albert Pujols to a 10 year $250 million deal and CJ Wilson to a 5 year $75 million deal. I think they would now be the favorites from the AL mainly because of their pitching staff. They now have Weaver, Haren,Santana, and Wilson as a pretty strong top 4. Their lineup doesn’t look too bad now either after adding Pujols. I think they have the best pitching in the AL, and I think with the upgrades at 1^st with Pujols and Catcher with Iannetta, the Angels will be able to produce enough runs to win a lot of ballgames. I think the Mike Trout, easily a top 5 prospect in all of baseball, will step up and contribute a lot to the team this year too, so they have a lot of help coming their way to add to last year’s squad which was 10 games back of the division winners the Texas Rangers. They were 3^rd in the wild card race and with 2 teams getting in the wild card it even betters their chances of making the playoffs which I think is where they will shine due to their pitching staff. The Rangers are no doubt still a strong team, but they LOST their ace CJ Wilson to the Angels so that is a big swing in the Angels favor. I think the worst case for this Angels club now is a wild card spot, but I think this puts them ahead of the Rangers as of now. I wasn’t expecting them to land Pujols, Wilson yes, but not Pujols so I am a little shocked still. This has been a crazy offseason already. A few more quick things, K-Rod now expected to sign arbitration deal, and Octavio Dotel close to a 1 year deal with the Tigers. Oh and LaTroy Hawkings signs a 1 year $3 million deal with the Angels so they are on a bit of a shopping spree, and there goes 3 relievers on a pretty deep relieving market.