On this day 29 years ago, Albert Pujols was born. 2009 will be the sixth year of his eight year, $111MM deal (safe to say Cards will pick up his ’11 option). According to Fangraphs, Pujols has already been worth $151.9MM in the first five years of the contract ($30.4M per season), begging the question: How much will Pujols command following the ’11 season, when he will be 32? Last winter, Alex Rodriguez signed for 10 years and $275MM prior to his age 32 season. With less than a month to go before pitchers and catchers report, many players are still looking for their own new contracts. Let’s take a look at what is being written in the Blogosphere…
- River Ave. Blues expands on Baseball Prospectus’ case against a salary cap and how small-market teams likely would not be able to support a minimum payroll.
- Bucco Blog says the value of young talent has kept the Pirates from rebuilding. Instead, the team has spent the last two years restructuring and are now moving on to the next phase.
- Jorge Says No examines the market for Orlando Hudson and feels the Nationals have to make a play for the second baseman.
- The Detroit Tigers Weblog takes a look at who is still available to close for the Tigers in ’09.
- Infield Chatter says the Braves were forced to overpay for Derek Lowe.
- Braves Blast takes a look at the Braves offseason and what is left to do: adding an outfield bat and extending Chipper Jones’ contract.
- On Baseball and The Reds takes a look at Adam Dunn’s value, with the numbers suggesting he is not worth much more than $20MM over four years.
- Pinstripes Published makes a case for the Yankees acquiring Lastings Milledge from the Nats, while The Chuck Knoblog argues for Elijah Dukes.
Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com. If you have a suggestion for this feature, Cork can be reached here. This is by far the best way to get your blog linked on MLBTR.