Should the Cardinals bring back Albert Pujols and Matt Carpenter?

What would be the optimal result of this grand experiment in turning back time?  How about this?

At this point in his career, Pujols is nowhere close to his prime during his 11-year stretch in the Gateway City.  And he shouldn’t hit against righties if there’s anything approaching an acceptable alternative.  However, he still can hit lefties, as evidenced by last season’s .294/.336/.603 line in 145 plate appearances with a tidy total of 13 home runs against portsiders.  (Let’s not dig into his 2021 numbers against right-handers.)

In this perfect-world scenario, imagine Pujols continuing at a similar power pace and getting DH at-bats against left-handers all season long, with the occasional start at first base, maybe once every two or three weeks, and some pinch-hit opportunities against southpaws.  If the thump is still in the bat and Pujols can get to the plate 250 or more times (assuming the coming season is a reasonable length), that could push his homer total to the magic number 700.  Everyone – Pujols, the fans, his teammates, all of baseball – would be thrilled to see him reach that milestone.  You never know…

As for Carpenter, while there are no awe-inspiring round-number milestones within reach (unless you’re awed by players who walk 700 times in their career), he certainly has much to prove.  Thankfully, Carpenter is well aware of how poorly he has performed the last 2-3 seasons, and he’s gone coast-to-coast searching for answers to his hitting troubles.

In our dream world, let’s assume Carpenter rediscovers a good portion of his former prime.  As the DH against righties, he would get the bulk of the hitting duties throughout the season.  And his defensive versatility would allow Carpenter to fill in at first, second, or third base, either to give a starter a breather or in case of injury.  Let’s not get too crazy with our expectations, but how about a .240/.340/.440 line with 20 long balls?  That sounds pretty sweet.

And if these two players are doing that well, it’s likely the team is succeeding, too (especially since this is an optimistic view of the world).  Without having to dig into the details of every other player, let’s assume the hitting is impressive, the pitching is overpowering, and the defensive approaches the ability shown last season when the team won a record five Gold Gloves.

Put that all together, and the Cardinals obviously would finish with a triple-digit win total – even in a shortened season! – roll through the rest of the National League, and sweep the American League team of your choice to win its twelfth World Series championship!