The Chicago Cubs have a new general manager, money to spend, and a hole to fill at first base.
So who should they sign, Albert Pujols or Prince Fielder?
The rumor mill has had the Cubs interested in both players in recent months. The only trouble is that they're not the only ones who have been linked to Pujols, and the market for his services is starting to heat up.
You can thank the Miami Marlins for this. They've made Pujols an offer, one that SI.com's Jon Heyman thinks proves just how serious the Marlins are about bringing Pujols aboard.
However, this doesn't mean the Cubs are out of the Pujols race.
Or does it?
It's hard to tell, really. Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has written that the Cubs have submitted a bid for Pujols' services, but Carrie Muskat of MLB.com shot that down by writing that a Cubs official had denied the report.
So it sounds like the Cubs are still in the picture, but whether or not they're actually in the race for Pujols is questionable. The Marlins made Pujols a huge offer, and one can forgive the Cubs if they're not willing to up the ante.
Especially not when they can turn around and sign Prince Fielder. Per Heyman, the Cubs actually find him more attractive than Pujols.
According to FOX Sports's Ken Rosenthal, the Cubs aren't even interested in giving Fielder a nine- or 10-year deal. They will, however, give him big dollars.
The breakdown is thus pretty simple: the Cubs can either risk signing Pujols to a 10-year deal, or they can sign Fielder to a shorter deal worth a ton of money.
Between the two options, the Fielder signing is a much safer option. In fact, it's not even close.
As great as Pujols is, giving him a 10-year contract at this stage in his career is downright stupid. He's going to be 32 years old on Opening Day, and you naturally have to wonder when his skills are going to start to erode. He'll be in his mid-30s in no time, and he'll still be under contract into his late 30s.
At some point, Pujols is not going to be capable of producing his average season, which typically consists of a .325 average, 40 home runs and 125 RBI.
Fielder is several years younger than Pujols, and is arguably just as good a hitter. His OPS is going to hover around the 1.000 mark, and he's going to hit you 40 home runs and drive in well over 100 runs every season. He's in his prime now, and is still many years away from the twilight of his career.
True enough, Fielder does not have Pujols' glove. But given what it's apparently going to take to sign Pujols, that's a sacrifice the Cubs should be willing to make.
My hunch right now is that the Cubs are going to end up with one of these guys, but I'd be shocked if it was Pujols. Theo Epstein wants to make a splash, but he should know from experience that bad free agent signings can kill a team. If he has any brains, he'll play this one safe.
And that means signing Prince Fielder.
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