I know Pujols is a machine but I personally would have mixed emotions if this ever went down. It would almost be like trading for Malone or Stockton.
he's not dirty, and he's not an a-hole.. it'd be more along the lines of trading for david robinson in 1995 or something
he is possibly the greatest baseball player of all time. i would deal for him at literally any cost, and if he lists us as a team he'd accept a trade to, it would be safe to assume he'd stay here long-term. would be cool as hell to see him play here. he'd hit 90 homers, and i am dumb enough to actually believe that. it's fun to dream.
The Cards aren't trading Pujols to a team in their own division. I would be shocked if they traded him to a team in the National League. I think this is just the team planting rumors to help them sign him to a new contract.
Except that David Robinson always got owned by Hakeem and the Rockets. Pujols has torched us quite a few times. I'd love to have him though. But would you sign him to a long contract, 5-6 years, like Carlos Lee? He'll be around the same age as Lee when he signed with us. Granted the team hopefully is/will be on the upside rather than clinging to desperate hope, and Pujols could be a solid veteran presence to lead the younger guys. And what do you do with Berkman? Let him walk? Is his contract up this year or next?
So if the initial deal was based on Pujols for Howard, how would the Astros factor in exactly? Would we do a straight trade with St. Louis? But why would they do that if they had wanted Howard in return? Would there be a 3 way with Pujols coming here and Howard going to St. Louis? But why would Philly want to do that if their goal was to get Pujols? Would we just be flipping Pujols to get him to Philly? Is there a rule against doing that? What would be in it for us? Too many questions.
realistically, what would it take? Roy O + Pence + filler? whatever it is, i think you do it for the best player in the game.
Oswalt, Pence, Berkman, Norris, & $30 million. Basically we have to send back tons of talent, some young ML ready players, and a ton of cash to pay them all. The Cardinals have a chance at 2 more World Series appearances with Pujols before he hits FA, and you better bet they are going to take it having already been twice and winning once.
