A lot has happened in Major League Baseball since the last Hanging Curve, including an injury to a future Hall of Famer (Mariano Rivera), the benching of another (Albert Pujols) and a career-week for a slugger (Josh Hamilton) on a path that could lead to Cooperstown.
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Over the next few weeks as the NCAA Tournament and Spring Training dominate the month of March, we have combined the two for our own March Madness, which will determine who the readers of RealGM will select in the second edition of our 'Be The GM' series.
Though there are many different potential answers, the question is simple; If you were to start a MLB franchise from scratch and had the option to pick any player in the world, who would you pick?
The Cardinals/Cubs rivalry has produced a lot of casualties over the years and unfortunately for Geovany Soto, he has to take on the juggernaut also known as Albert Pujols in the first round.
Geovany Soto , C, Chicago Cubs
Other players considered from the Cubs: Carlos Zambrano, Rich Harden, Aramis Ramirez, Carlos Marmol,
Why he's a franchise player: It wasn't realistic for Soto to be as excellent as he was at the end of the 2007 season when he hit .389/.433/.667 over 18 games and 54 at bats, but the Cubs were plenty satisfied with his ROY 2008 in which he had an OPS of .868. Soto is 26 and clearly one of the best catchers in the league.
He is consistent against both righties and lefties, while being a very dangerous first ball hitter.
Soto also plays a good defensive catcher and has a chance to be the best Cubs' catcher this side of Gabby Hartnett.
Albert Pujols, 1B, St. Louis Cardinals
Other players considered from the Cardinals: No need
Why he's a franchise player: Assuming we don't end up being thrown any PED curveballs a few years down the road the way we did with Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez, it will be safe to place Albert Pujols on the highest of pantheons.
Pujols reached the 4,500 at bat plateau during the 2008 season and he now ranks 7th all time in OPS+ behind Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Barry Bonds, Lou Gehrig, Rogers Hornsby and Mickey Mantle. That number should increase over the next five or six seasons assuming offensive production continues to decline as we come out of the steroid era.
His production over the first eight years of his career places him on a level that no other great can really compare to. Only Ralph Kiner hit more homers, only Ted Williams and Frank Thomas had a higher OPS,
Pujols moved all around the diamond during his first three seasons, but he has found a home at first base and he has become a very underrated defensive player.
