Pujols in LA – Great for Baseball

I was driving around town listening to the radio at about 9 o’ clock in the morning the other day when the big news broke.  My Chevy Trailblazer just about flew off the road when I heard Albert Pujols was heading to Southern California.  I was feeling it.

Let’s get this out of the way – Pujols had no business going to Miami.  That would been along the lines of sending American football to Europe.  Remember NFL Europe?  Teams like the Frankfurt Galaxy and the Berlin Thunder played meaningless football in front of maybe 18,000 fans in stadiums that held around 50,000 people.

Sure, the novelty of attending baseball games in Miami should be there in 2012.  Afterall, there is talent on the roster.  Josh Johnson when healthy is special.  You also have Hanley Ramirez, the rising star Mike Stanton and Jose Reyes.  Plus, from the limited images I’ve seen online, the new ballpark looks outstanding.

But history has shown local interest is most likely unsustainable in Southern Florida.  Even during the initial stretch of the 2011 season when the Marlins were competitive, average paid attendance resembled a high school tennis match more then a big-league ball game.

This is all kind of unfortunate because the Marlins are a lot more entertaining to watch then a bunch of other Major League teams.  However, at least up until this point, Florida is just a crummy baseball market.

Anyhow, King Albert’s presence in Los Angeles is great for a handful of reasons…

1.  The Rangers have built something special over in Arlington, and after reaching the World Series in consecutive seasons, people in the baseball world are mentioning the ball club as a potential dynasty.  The Angels kept things reasonably close in the standings last year in the AL West, but a lack of offensive fire power ultimately was their downfall.  Now that you toss C.J. Wilson and our generation’s greatest hitter in the fold, things are going to get a lot more interesting out west.

As a fan of baseball, it isn’t a whole lot of fun when you know at the start of a season which team will win a certain division.  With Pujols joining the Halos, you have the makings for an all out war the next few seasons between the Angels and the Rangers.

Anaheim’s new first baseman will no doubt effect the other perennial powers in the rest of the American League as well.  You will probably see more of a log jam near the top of the wild card standings in coming seasons, making things all the more nerve-racking for teams like the Yankees, Red Sox, Tigers and Rays.  This is all great for baseball.

2.  Pujols is going to a major market which is also great for the game.  You’ve got the game’s best player going to Southern California which is perfect.  The Angels finished third in the AL in total attendance last season averaging just over 39,000 fans through the gates per game.  Seeing as how Angels Stadium seats about 45,000, you will likely see a whole lot of sellouts next year in Anaheim.

Albert could conceivably make the Angels into a team every bit as marketable as the Yankees and the Red Sox in the next few years.  This could help grow viewership for the game, maybe getting some folks to stop obsessing over the NFL and NBA and switch to the game I personally feel is much better to watch on a nightly basis.  The more mega teams there are in baseball to go along with the Yankees, Red Sox and Phillies the better.

3.  Playing in the AL should also help Pujols lengthen the amount of quality years to which he can contribute for the duration of his ten-year contract.  With the DH rule in place, the 31-year-old Pujols, who isn’t getting any younger, can get the occasional day off on defense while still keeping his thunderous bat in the line-up.

Hopefully the DH spot can help Pujols keep some form of his youth as he trots towards the age of 40.  It can be a bummer watching a hall of famer play the game at a level far below what he was like in his hay day.

Now we can all sympathize with St. Louis to some extent.  It has got to feel lousy for Cardinal fans to watch Albert chase down the money trail towards California.  But there might be a silver lining in all of this for St. Louis.

The Cardinals still have a good team and they have saved themselves a ton of money.  2012 will mark the return of Adam Wainwright, and while the hometown hero may have just bolted town, there might be a new hero waiting in the wings.

Was it Albert Pujols who hit the game-tying triple and the walk-off home run in game six?  Nope.  It was David Freese.

Outside of the St. Louis area, Pujols switching clubs should be very entertaining, and frankly I’m really looking forward to it.