Rumors: A future Baseball Hall of Famer to the Colorado Rockies?

Mike Rodriguez of Univision reported on Twitter on Friday that there are three teams interested in future Baseball Hall of Famer Albert Pujols. The frontrunner of the three teams? The Colorado Rockies. The other two teams are the St. Louis Cardinals (the team Pujols played for from 2001 through 2011) and the Seattle Mariners.

Mark Feinsand of MLB.com also reported on Twitter that there are three teams interested in him but he did not specify which teams.

The Colorado Rockies are “most interested” in Albert Pujols

That’s right, the Colorado Rockies are “most interested” in free agent Albert Pujols. Pujols, 42, started his MLB career all the way back in 2001 with the St. Louis Cardinals. He played with them through the 2011 season. From 2012 through 2021, he played with the Los Angeles Angels and for the last four and a half months of 2021, he played for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The fit with the Colorado Rockies is an intriguing one for a few reasons.

Considering Pujols’ decrease in production, he is not an everyday player anymore. He’s also best just as a DH at this point too. Rockies GM Bill Schmidt told Rox Pile at the GM Meetings in Carlsbad, Calif. just before the lockout that they don’t want a full-time DH but want more of a revolving door there to give their position players a day off.

But, perhaps, Pujols could provide the Rockies with a veteran bat that comes off the bench primarily but can play first base or DH two or three days a week.

For the Rockies, though, this can be an addition to add a veteran presence to their bench or as an occasional DH/first baseman … but it cannot be their main addition to their lineup.

In 2021, Pujols played in 109 games between the Angels and Dodgers and he hit .236/.284/.433 with 17 homers, 50 RBI, and OPS+ of 91.

In his career, Pujols is a three-time NL MVP (2005, 2008-2009) with seven more top five MVP finishes. He is a 10-time All-Star, six-time Silver Slugger Award winner, 2003 NL batting champion, 2001 NL Rookie of the Year, and a two-time World Series Champion.

His career WAR is 99.6, which is second among primary first basemen of all-time. The only player ahead of him? Lou Gehrig.

Pujols is an intriguing name for the Rockies but they cannot expect the offensive production that he had 10+ years ago. Even if he hits as he did with the Dodgers (101 OPS+ in 85 games, 37 starts), that would still be an improvement for the Rockies offense and their bench.