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Albert Pujols hit his 450th career home run in a win over the Mariners on Thursday. Is he finally coming around?

• dollarbill8: "You knew Albert was going to get going. He'll still hit .300 with 30HRs and we'll call it an off year, that he is losing a step, hahahaha"
• shufelt: "Look out - his slugging percentage is almost .360! I like Pujols, but his season so far is incredibly bad......I didn't see this coming."
• skylers79: "Great accomplishment for him and their pitcher but as of right now he is considered a waste of money with his numbers. Sort of like Jose Reyes....waste of money with his numbers too. He needs to drastically up his game and fast"
• Shademan2: "So will the Angels end up paying Albert more or less than $1,000,000 per home run?"
• Teresa2992: "here is no way he is going to be able to perform up to the amount of that contract in my opinion. He is still a good players and has a few years left, but I think the Angels overpaid."
• pholtos: "I see Pujols is finally starting to see AL pitching all right now."



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His older brother almost had one back in the day, but Jered Weaver's no-hitter wasn't broken up in the late innings by a fly ball to right field like Jeff Weaver's was in 2002. Weaver's no-hitter is the second so far this season, trumped only by Philip Humber's perfect game. Humber's result might have been rarer, but Weaver's future seems brighter -- he's the Angels' ace and much more likely to follow up on his success. Is he a truly elite pitcher?

Where does Jered Weaver rank among MLB pitchers?

•  
  18%
  Top five
•  
  47%
  Top 10
•  
  29%
  Top 20
•  
  7%
  Not in the top 20

(Total votes: 47,320)

Which is more surprising?

•  
  26%
  A no-hitter and a perfect game already occurring this year
•  
  74%
  Albert Pujols still homerless

(Total votes: 164,498)

Will the Angels (10-15) make the playoffs?

•  
  54%
  Yes
•  
  46%
  No

(Total votes: 4,947)

Albert Pujols ended April with no home runs -- his current homerless streak extends to 29 games, counting last season. Will his power outage continue?

• markpringle2003: "We know that in baseball the numbers usually come around, however Pujols is 32 years old...not terrible for baseball...but it makes me wonder if things will even out for him so that he's worth what they are paying him. "
• jooo83: "The Angels overpaid for Albert Pujols but one bad month doesn't prove anything."
• MrMacross: "Based on last season's numbers, I figured he was in the decline phase of his career, but I didn't expect him to have a month this bad so quickly into his Angels career."
• sonnysdesign: "happened to Ortiz a few years back. all the talk of "over the hill, release him" .still ended up with 30 or so. All forgotten now."
• pcproam: "If the Angels were winning this would be moot. AP has been on base EVERY game this year. He quietly had a 10 game hit streak. The Angels are junk. Bullpen is junk. AP will be fine. "
• bmyfive: "This will prove to be one of the worst free-agent signings in baseball history."



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Here is a short list of Angels players who have a higher OPS than Albert Pujols: Maicer Izturis, Chris Iannetta, Mark Trumbo, Vernon Wells, Howie Kendrick. Take heart, Angels fans; he's beating Erick Aybar by a single point. Obviously, this isn't going to last all season, but Pujols has gone almost all of April without hitting a home run, which has to be somewhat perplexing for the team that paid him (we're estimating here) eleven hundred trillion dollars to be their franchise player for the next decade. Should the team be in panic mode about Pujols' slow start?

How worried should Angels fans be about Albert Pujols' slow start?

•  
  28%
  Very worried
•  
  49%
  A little worried
•  
  23%
  Not worried

(Total votes: 64,447)

How many home runs will Albert Pujols have this season?

•  
  61%
  Fewer than 30
•  
  39%
  30 or more

(Total votes: 63,737)

Has Albert Pujols entered his decline phase?

•  
  61%
  Yes
•  
  39%
  No

(Total votes: 151,170)

Opening Day -- well, Opening Night, really, and we technically already had one of those in Japan, but who's counting? -- is finally here, as the Cardinals will take on the Marlins tonight in the first stateside regular-season MLB game. It's bound to be an exciting season with so many players having changed teams, but has the power structure been altered significantly?

Vote: Pick each division and pennant, and the winner of the World Series

Rank: Baseball's best teams? | Top players in the game?

Which team is more likely to make it back to the World Series?

•  
  21%
  Cardinals
•  
  79%
  Rangers

(Total votes: 63,581)

Which of these players would you most want on your team?

•  
  6%
  Miguel Cabrera
•  
  17%
  Roy Halladay
•  
  6%
  Felix Hernandez
•  
  39%
  Albert Pujols
•  
  31%
  Justin Verlander

(Total votes: 64,564)

Which of these AL East teams is most likely to miss the playoffs?

•  
  30%
  Rays
•  
  54%
  Red Sox
•  
  15%
  Yankees

(Total votes: 38,308)

Which is the best team in the American League?

•  
  21%
  Angels
•  
  21%
  Rangers
•  
  21%
  Tigers
•  
  23%
  Yankees
•  
  14%
  Another team

(Total votes: 66,943)

Which is the best team in the National League?

•  
  10%
  Marlins
•  
  10%
  Giants
•  
  46%
  Phillies
•  
  8%
  Reds
•  
  26%
  Another team

(Total votes: 63,887)

C.J. Wilson tweeted Mike Napoli's phone number, and Napoli's not happy about it. Was Wilson's prank harmless or out of line?

• carloshobbs: "Way too serious Rangers fans! Wow! Let it go and just let them take care of it when they face each other."
• Pylon Phaneuf: "who cares, Napoli is a millionaire. Just buy a new phone."
• PS_28: "Wilson has secured his place as the next Barry Zito. The baseball gods usually keep to the diamond but even they do not approve of this level of off the field lameness."
• CheckPlease7777: "Good job, CJ! I thought it was funny and Napoli just acting like a baby. (please don't apologize)"
• CompDiddy: "CJ will play great all year for them since they won't make the playoffs. He should stick to what he does best; brag about irrelevant nonsense, quote samurai proverbs, and race go carts."
• Clark_and_Addison99: "Wilson's "joke" is a text book example of using poor judgement. I hope Napoli can light Wilson up at the plate this season. "



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It's a curious development that the two teams that most successfully avoided wild-card races will help determine which teams earn those spots. The Phillies and Yankees are safely in the postseason, but the Yankees visit the Rays for three games, with the latter just one game behind the Red Sox in the AL wild-card race. In the NL, the Phillies visit the Braves, with the latter just one game ahead of the Cardinals. Do the leaders owe the wild-card contenders full effort? Rank 'Em: Your MLB Power Rankings

Which team will win the AL wild card?

•  
  46%
  Red Sox
•  
  50%
  Rays
•  
  4%
  Angels

(Total votes: 64,452)

Which team will win the NL wild card?

•  
  55%
  Braves
•  
  45%
  Cardinals

(Total votes: 59,811)

Which team would be the most dangerous in the playoffs?

•  
  4%
  Angels
•  
  12%
  Braves
•  
  22%
  Cardinals
•  
  36%
  Rays
•  
  25%
  Red Sox

(Total votes: 12,668)

The Cardinals wasted a golden opportunity in losing late against the Mets on Thursday, but neither the Braves in the NL nor Red Sox in the AL can feel comfortable about their leads entering a potentially wild weekend. Do you expect a clear picture by Monday morning?

What record will the Red Sox have on Monday morning?

•  
  14%
  91-68
•  
  34%
  90-69
•  
  33%
  89-70
•  
  19%
  88-71

(Total votes: 3,377)

What record will the Rays have on Monday morning?

•  
  47%
  89-70
•  
  34%
  88-71
•  
  12%
  87-72
•  
  7%
  86-73

(Total votes: 3,160)

What record will the Angels have on Monday morning?

•  
  28%
  88-71
•  
  42%
  87-72
•  
  19%
  86-73
•  
  10%
  85-74

(Total votes: 2,704)

What record will the Braves have on Monday morning?

•  
  27%
  91-68
•  
  41%
  90-69
•  
  21%
  89-70
•  
  12%
  88-71

(Total votes: 2,748)

What record will the Cardinals have on Monday morning?

•  
  31%
  89-70
•  
  39%
  88-71
•  
  19%
  87-72
•  
  11%
  86-73

(Total votes: 5,111)

What record will the Giants have on Monday morning?

•  
  18%
  87-72
•  
  35%
  86-73
•  
  30%
  85-74
•  
  17%
  84-75

(Total votes: 2,510)

Short of Lucy pulling away the football as you prepare to kick a field goal, it's difficult to imagine many more embarrassing or depressing ways to lose a game than by getting picked off first base on the fake-to-third move that (almost) never works. That fate befell Curtis Granderson on Tuesday night, providing the final out in a 6-4 loss to the Angels.

• "Was Girardi behind Granderson's decision to try and steal second base with Teixeira batting and two outs in the ninth inning? Did Granderson do that on his own? Whoever was behind that decision should be benched. If it was Girardi, he should just watch the games from his office in the clubhouse." -- SN commenter kisssmee

What do you think of Curtis Granderson trying to steal second?

•  
  48%
  Stupid move
•  
  52%
  Reasonable move that backfired

(Total votes: 2,715)

What was the more surprising ninth-inning development in Tuesday's game?

•  
  58%
  Mariano Rivera gives up second home run in 46 appearances
•  
  42%
  Curtis Granderson picked off first on fake-to-third move

(Total votes: 2,589)

Are the Angels serious wild-card contenders?

•  
  57%
  Yes
•  
  43%
  No

(Total votes: 2,634)