Big Day in Baseball

Today was a big day in baseball, with the Los Angeles Angels signing Albert Pujols and C.J. Wilson to big-time contracts. I am not going to get into my opinion on the matter, because that is not my job, but it just amazes me on the money that was spent in one morning at the Winter Meetings. Via a tweet by CNBC Sports Biz guru Darren Rovell, Pujols will make roughly $4,762 per pitch based on 750 plate appearances and 7 pitches per at-bat. Think about that for one second. I am figuring out how to balance the Comcast and Puget Sound Energy bill for next month.

Putting money and everything else aside, I can tell you that I am very excited that the Mariners will be seeing Pujols more next season (just a little bit of sarcasm here) as a rival in the American League West. But it is fun to think of all the match-ups with King Felix and Michael Pineda.

And now think about this. The American League West will feature three of the best players in the game over the last 11 seasons with Ichiro, Albert Pujols and Michael Young. This is a look at the hits leaders since 2001 and their respective stats:

Player	H	G	AB	R	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	Teams
Ichiro Suzuki	2428	1749	7456	1127	280	74	95	605	.326	.370	.421	.791	SEA
Derek Jeter	2080	1640	6738	1164	339	30	162	782	.309	.378	.440	.818	NYY
Albert Pujols	2073	1705	6312	1291	455	15	445	1329	.328	.420	.617	1.037	STL
Michael Young	2061	1665	6786	1006	388	52	169	917	.304	.350	.451	.801	TEX
Juan Pierre	1958	1700	6623	954	232	86	16	464	.296	.345	.364	.709	COL-FLA-CHC-LAD-CHW



Albert Pujols and Ichiro at the 2005 All-Star Game