In another huge blow to the fun of watching baseball (Buster Posey’s injury was the first) Albert Pujols will be out 4-6 weeks with a break in his forearm. Since the injury, the talk in baseball circles has inevitably gravitated to its effect on Prince Albert’s standing in the free agent market next winter and how much money the injury will cost him. According to those “in the know,” Pujols’ performance in the final two months of the season will be vitally important to his contract situation. I think that’s stupid. Albert Pujols is arguably the best hitter in Major League history over his first 10 seasons. He is not just A franchise player, he is THE franchise player, the guy literally every GM in baseball would trade literally any player for.
He is so far and away the most talented and popular player in the game that I don’t think his value to a franchise decreases in any way with this injury. I understand that Cliff Floyd had a similar injury that greatly effected his career arc, but Albert Pujols ain’t even in the same galaxy as Floyd. Additionally, the 3 time MVP has a break in his forearm, not necessarily his wrist. It may have very little impact on his swing. The great concern has been a potential loss of power for the former Rookie of the Year but Pujols’ balance and coordination are so good that I doubt this will have too much effect. Additionally, the 9 time All-Star has proven himself to be one of the most durable and reliable players in baseball. In early 2008, Pujols suffered a LIGAMENT TEAR in his elbow but played through it to a tune of a .357 AVG, 37 HRs and a freaking MVP award! He had surgery in the offseason before the 2009 season AND 2010 season on his elbow and hit 47 and 42 HRs respectively. He put up a .327 and .312 AVG and won another MVP and finished second in another? Are you kidding me? Albert Pujols is better at everything than everyone else! He very simply will not allow a forearm (not necessarily wrist) injury to hamper him too much.
Pujols has been having what is considered a “down year.” Want to know what a down year for the Machine looks like? How about a .275 AVG 17 HRs, 5 steals without being caught and 7 more walks than strikeouts. Yes, that’s way below his career numbers but that’s still All-Star caliber.
Admittedly, no one is saying that Pujols isn’t good, or even that he isn’t the best. They’re just saying that this recent injury could really hurt the amount of money he gets paid this winter. Allow me to address that. It’s total crap. First, as I believe I’ve implied so far, I think Albert will get right back to business. In the 17 games he played in June before he got hurt, Pujols hit .317, with 8 HRs, 10 walks and only 3 strikeouts. He’s was back and I have no reason to accept the notion that he’ll struggle when he returns (see above everything). Second, let’s say in the final two months of the season, Albert hit right around .300 with only 5HRs. Everyone would say that his power is gone, that it might take him a year or more to get it back. In response, let’s say the Cardinals offer the 31 year old “only” $170 or so million. You know what Albert would do? He’d go to Andy MacPhail of the Baltimore Orioles or Jim Hendry of the Chicago Cubs and say “You give me $21 mil. a year for 10 years and in return I’ll be Albert Pujols. I’ll hit .315 with 30 homers a year, minimum, and you can sell a hundred trillion Pujols 5 Orioles/Cubs jerseys and put hundreds of thousands of extra people in seats a year and make your team the talk of the baseball world indefinitely.” You know what MacPhail/Hendry would say? “Yes, please.” Then, Albert would either take the deal and walk or go back to the Cards with the offer and leverage it to get the same from them. Either way, Prince Albert is getting his money.
Bottom line, Pujols might retire as the best ever. His numbers, including games played (an average of almost 156/year before this season) and trips to the DL (only 2 before this one), completely outweigh an unfortunately timed injury. Thing is, it’s not like Pujols tore an ACL, not like he has “bilateral leg weakness, ” not like he has had any sort of physical breakdown or serious internal problem. He got hurt in a freak accident in the middle of a game.
-Max Frankel
