Big MLB deals looming

BY PHIL ROGERS CHICAGO TRIBUNE

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They were Harry Stuhldreher, Jim Crowley, Don Miller and Elmer Layden, but you probably know them as Notre Dame’s Four Horsemen of the 1920s.

We bring you a baseball version of these literary horsemen of the Apocalypse. They are Albert Pujols, Joe Mauer, Prince Fielder and Adrian Gonzalez.

We will call Mauer famine, as he’s clearly the best catcher to come along since Ivan Rodriguez; Pujols destruction (duh); Fielder pestilence; and Gonzalez death, as in to the Padres franchise.

All four of these elite hitters are within two years of free agency, as for that matter is Ryan Howard. He’s a little older than the others and not quite as big of a contractual question (albeit still a huge one for the Phillies), so we’ll stick to the aforementioned four.

Mauer, who can hit the market next fall, wants to stay with the Twins. But can they afford him?

Pujols is talking a good game with the Cardinals. But can he really ignore the 10-year, $27.5 million-per-year deal that Alex Rodriguez got from the Yankees two years ago, when he was older than Pujols will be when his contract ends after the 2011 season?

Nothing happens in a vacuum, including the relative lack of spending by the Yankees and Red Sox this offseason. Executives with other clubs believe baseball’s two biggest spenders are sitting out the Matt Holliday sweepstakes because they want as much flexibility as possible to land one of baseball’s four horsemen at some point in the next two years.

The Red Sox have been pursuing a Gonzalez trade. Given Kevin Youkilis’ ability to play either infield corner and their holding a club option on David Ortiz’s contract for 2011, they would be a fit for any of the four.

The Yankees are keeping the DH spot clear, for the time being, as a potential way to accommodate Pujols, Fielder or even Gonzalez playing alongside Mark Teixeira.

There’s little I would like more for baseball in 2010 than for the Cardinals, Twins, Brewers and Padres to sign their stars to contract extensions. It would be great for the sport and those four markets. However, history suggests that, in the end, the rich get richer.