St. Louis Cardinals Place Albert Pujols On The DL

For just the third time in his career, St. Louis Cardinals superstar Albert Pujols will land on the disabled list.

The Cardinals have placed Pujols on the DL with a fractured left forearm. He fractured the forearm when Wilson Betemit of the Kansas City Royals ran into Pujols as Pujols was trying to stretch for a ball at first.

The original report had Pujols being out 4-to-6 weeks, but now new reports have Pujols out six to eight weeks. Either way, not having Pujols on the field is a crushing blow to not only the Cardinals, but for Major League Baseball.

The Cardinals will most likely move Lance Berkman over to first and let Jon Jay patrol right until Pujols gets back in the lineup.

When Pujols does return, his performance will be key in how the offseason negotiations go. A forearm injury could result in a loss of power, which might scare off a couple of teams this winter. This scenario only favors the Cardinals, so in a perverse and twisted way, this injury could help the Cardinals sign Pujols in the offseason.

I am in no way a doctor, but I would be shocked if this injury affects Pujols long term. My guess is Pujols does return to form when he comes back in August or September and still ends up back in St. Louis in 2012.