St. Louis Cardinals Sign Albert Pujols to a 1-Year Contract

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Derrick Goold reports that the St. Louis Cardinals have signed Albert Pujols to a one-year, $2.5 million contract.

The addition of the universal designated hitter opened the door for Pujols to return to the Cardinals. Pujols spent 11 years with St. Louis, winning Rookie of the Year in 2001, three MVPs, and appearing in nine All-star games while with the club. He had 30 or more home runs in his first 12 seasons and 100 or more RBI in 11 of those (99 in the one he fell short). Pujols also hit over .300 in his first ten years in the bigs.

The first-ballot Hall of Famer is 21 home runs short of 700 career dingers. In 2021, he had 17 home runs and 50 RBI in 275 at-bats. Over his career, Pujols has 3,301 hits, 2,150 RBI, 679 home runs, with a .297 batting average, a .375 OBP, and a .919 OPS.

Obviously, Pujols won’t be able to put up the same monster numbers at 42-years-old but could be effective in the DH role against lefthanded starters or relievers later in a game.

Over at FanDuel Sportsbook, the St. Louis Cardinals are +3500 to win the 2022 World Series.