I'm not touching Albert Pujols' projection yet. Reports suggest his sore elbow is causing him more concern than ever right now, but it's something he's been playing with since 2003 and there hasn't been any actual indication that he's damaged his ligament further. It's something he can continue to play with until the day he blows it out and maybe even past then. It's not a problem when he hits. It is when he throws, but that's less of an issue for a first baseman. He could do nothing but underhand the ball all year and still be one of the league's most valuable players.

I can envision a scenario in which Pujols calls it a season in August and undergoes surgery if the Cardinals are out of contention. That's what Luis Gonzalez did back in 2004. If Pujols waits until October to undergo surgery, he'd have a much more difficult time getting ready for the start of 2009. Still, I think it's a pretty good bet that he'll play out the year and see what happens. I wouldn't necessarily gamble a first-round pick on it -- with the weaker than usual supporting cast in St. Louis, I have him considerably lower in the rankings than usual anyway -- but I also wouldn't be trying to get out now if I owned him in a keeper league.