Angels' Albert Pujols Could Join 3,000-Hit Club in 2017

Los Angeles Angels designated hitter Albert Pujols enters 2017 needing just 175 hits to total 3,000 for his career, per MLB.com. Only 30 players have done so previously, but Texas Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre sits just 58 hits shy of beating Pujols to the milestone.

Pujols has failed to reach 175 hits since 2010, but he has topped 170 in three of the last six campaigns. If he can manage to stay in the lineup again in 2016, it's reasonable for him to challenge the milestone. However, questions about his health have arisen early in the season.

The veteran slugger underwent surgery to relieve plantar fasciitis pain in his right foot during the offseason, placing his return date around the start of the season. He appears to have fast-tracked his recovery and ran the bases Wednesday with the expectation that he will make his Cactus League debut before the end of the week, per Pedro Moura of the Los Angeles Times.

While his days as an elite hitter in the league have passed, Pujols was an MVP candidate from the year he joined the league in 2001 until 2011—his last season with the St. Louis Cardinals. Over the 11-year span, The Machine won three NL MVP awards and finished in the top five in the MVP race 10 times. He finished ninth in in the voting the only year he wasn't among the top five.

Pujols' run with the Cardinals earned him his current contract with the Angels, which doesn't expire until after 2021. He will earn $30 million in the age 41 season (and final year) of his deal. It may be difficult for him to produce at a level worth that value, but he has totaled 71 home runs in the last two seasons and posted 119 RBI in 2016.