Albert Pujols is a Chicago Cubs division rival once again

There have been a lot of good players to come through the National League Central Division over the years. Even the Chicago Cubs have had a few of them but the opponents have also had a lot. One of the best ever was Albert Pujols during his time with the St. Louis Cardinals.

It has been a long time since he played for them, however, as many of his recent years have been spent with the Los Angeles Angels before being traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2021. They made a deep playoff run but his stay there was short-lived.

Now, Pujols is back in the NL Central as he has signed a one-year deal worth 2.5 million dollars with the St. Louis Cardinals. He is returning back to the place where it all started for him. At 42 years old, you have to think that this is his final year playing with the team where he became a legend.

This is going to be so cool for fans of baseball. He currently has 679 home runs which is good for fifth all-time. He is one of only nine players to ever reach the 600 plateau and only trails Alex Rodriguez by 17 home runs for fourth all-time. He had 17 in 2021 so it could be close if he has a good year (for his 42-year-old self standards).

The Chicago Cubs are going to be division rivals with Albert Pujols once again.

Of those 679 career home runs, 445 of them came with the Cardinals. He did most of his damage there in his prime and now he will try to finish his career on a high note with that team. He isn’t going to terrorize the Cubs as he once did as a division rival but he can still make life hard on the opponent.

In his career, he has hit 57 home runs against the Cubs. That is the second-most against any team as he only has more against the Houston Astros. The Astros were also his division rival with both the Cardinals and Angels (they switched to the American League) so it makes sense why he had slightly more against them.

The division is going to be interesting this year as the Cubs try to prove a lot of people wrong. Pujols will certainly give the Cardinals a morale boost but they had intentions of winning the division before this news.

It will come down to them and the Milwaukee Brewers (unless the Chicago Cubs, Pittsburgh Pirates, or Cincinnati Reds pull off a miracle). As annoying as it might be for Chicago fans to see him back in Cardinal red, this is so cool for baseball. Pujols is truly one of the greats.