When Rob Neyer, sabermetric missionary and post-grunge flannel icon, joined SB Nation, he immediately set about making things difficult for the St. Louis Cardinals in their quest to draw up Albert Pujols's contract. If you haven't read his piece about the possible first basemen of the 2010s—well, it's going to look extremely familiar to you.
↵It turns out that most of the star first basemen in baseball are still Pujols's age, which is a benefit of having been the first baseman of the last decade while starting at 21. Prospects like Eric Hosmer and Freddie Freeman would have to chase Pujols's seven-win advantage from having been the best player in baseball in 2010; Joey Votto, four years younger and perhaps the second-strongest of the established candidates, only has one Pujolsian season under his belt.
↵Of course, the Cardinals aren't paying Pujols to be the best first baseman of the decade; the oft-rumored, never-sourced 10-year, $300 million megacontract would carry him out of it, and even if Pujols coasts into winning the award—he only has to age better than his competitors—they'd be paying top-player-in-baseball money for that age-39 coasting.
↵But I can only imagine that John Mozeliak, upon seeing the column, swore very loudly.
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