Right now, the St. Louis Cardinals are pursuing one elite hitter in Albert Pujols, but they won't be turning to the obvious alternative should that pursuit fail. According to MLB Trade Rumors, Cardinals GM John Mozeliak told reporters in Milwaukee on Tuesday that he doesn't envision the team going after Prince Fielder should they not succeed in their attempts to retain their star first baseman.
I wouldn't envision that given the composition of our club with [Matt] Holliday, [Lance] Berkman and [Allen] Craig. Our hope again would be to find a way to keep Albert, but I wouldn't see going out on the market to do something else.
There isn't really a spot in the lineup for Craig assuming that Pujols comes back, but the assumption here is that Berkman would move to first base and Craig would take his spot in right field should the icon sign elsewhere. It wouldn't certainly be a hit to the Cardinals' chances of repeating, but they should still be getting quality performance from their first baseman and corner outfielders.
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