Are You Kidding Me?!

Pujols is in the news again.  Phillies’ first baseman, Ryan Howard, is arbitration eligible, and is comparing himself to Cardinals’ slugger Albert Pujols.  Apparently, there is a $3 million difference in exchanged figures for the arbitration case, but Howard is seeking a long term deal worth somewhere between Pujols’ contract and Alex Rodriguez’s last bounty. Just the thought of this makes me laugh.  I understand that the market has changed since Albert’s signing, but Ryan Howard should never, ever be compared to either of the other two superstars.  Howard isn’t even the best player in Philadelphia.  Here are a couple of links to the story.  If you’re an ESPN Insider, click here.  If not, get a quick summary from MLB Trade Rumors here.  Be sure to check out the comments after the latter, too. There’s some funny stuff there.  I thought about comparing the numbers of Howard and Pujols for you, but I don’t think that’s necessary.

In the rest of the baseball world, one of the most anticipated moves of the off season occurred today.  The Minnesota Twins finally traded their ace, Johan Santana, to New York for four of the Mets’ top prospects. Marty Noble has the full story.  Perhaps now we’ll see the remaining starting pitching trade candidates moved, as well as the remaining free agents picked up.