The Cubs, obviously. They clearly don't have the same financial constraints as the Cardinals, which would preclude form your scenario in the first place. Not to mention we have at least some talent on the way, potentially. The Cards' system is pretty barren, so they won't be filling positions from within anytime soon. And in a few years, we ditch the Soriano contract as well. We're in very different financial situations down the road. And how long before we aquire or produce an Edmonds or Holliday? We have some very promising guys in the farm system, but nobody who really projects to be that guy, or even close. A lot of people seem to talk as though Pujols=World Series, but he only got the Cardinals 1, and remember, while the '06 Cards seemed unstoppable at one point, they pulled it off by the skin of their teeth. And then there was the 2004 team as well, and they had 4 guys with OPS over 1.000 in Pujols, Edmonds, Rolen and Walker. My point is that if we do sign Pujols, which I hope we do, I hope that their ready to build around him. Who knows, maybe Soto and Castro really do come into their own as stars, and Soriano can OPS in the .800s for the next few years. On a side note, when all is said and done, is there a good chanc that this becomes the longest thread in NSBB history? huh? why wouldn't they build around him? they aren't going to spend mega bucks on one player and call it a night.