MLB Free Agents 2012: Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder Helping Value in NLCS

Two of this winter's most coveted free agents are squaring off in the National League Championship Series and neither one is doing anything to hurt their sky-high value. Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals and Prince Fielder of the Milwaukee Brewers are both staring at huge offseason paydays.

ESPN.com's Jayson Stark summed up Pujols' NLCS Game 2 performance and impending free agency in his latest column.

"

It's still Albert Pujols' world. The St. Louis Cardinals are just playing in it.

They don't know for how much longer. They couldn't tell you how many gazillions of dollars it will take to keep the guy from doing this stuff for somebody else's team next year.

All they know is, they're now back even in the National League Championship Series, at a game apiece. And they owe it to You Know Who.

"

Fielder and Pujols combined to hit 75 home runs during the regular season and were the fourth and fifth ranked first basemen in baseball, based on wins above replacement (WAR). That's especially impressive for Pujols, who got off to an ice-cold start in April and May.

Through the first two games of the NLCS, Pujols and Fielder are 8-for-15 with three home runs and eight runs batted in. Thanks to that kind of production, the suitors will be lining up at both men's doors trying to coax them away from their current homes.

Until the season ends and their current teams make starting offers, it's impossible to tell what type of deals both men will demand, but both will be jaw dropping.

Pujols will be 32 by Opening Day 2012, so this will likely be his last major, long-term contract. He made $16 million this season and will almost certainly be looking for a nice raise, at least during the early years of the deal.

Fielder avoided arbitration last winter by signing a one-year, $15.5 million extension, with eyes on testing the free-agent waters. Prior to the season, there was a lot of talk that Milwaukee would trade him at the deadline instead of losing him for nothing, but they couldn't pass up a World Series chance.

The hefty slugger is five years younger than Pujols and could receive two more big deals if that's what he's angling toward.

Getting power production from first base is essential in today's MLB. The NLCS features Pujols, Fielder and Miguel Cabrera. Even Texas got strong production from the position with its rotation.

So it pretty much comes down to which team will shell out enough dough to reel them away from their current squad, and that won't necessarily be easy. Each guy has spent his entire career in one organization, and might allow for a minor hometown discount.

Wherever Pujols and Fielder land, they'll continue to rake like few others at the position can.