MLB Rumors: Miami Marlins Lose Their Minds Offering Albert Pujols 10-Year Deal

The Miami Marlins are turning into the New York Yankees of the National League this offseason. After spending $106 million over six years to sign Jose Reyes, they are going even more insane with their offers by putting 10 years on the table for Albert Pujols. 

According to Sports Illustrated's Jon Heyman, the Marlins pursuit of the three-time MVP has intensified since the start of the Winter Meetings. 

The Reyes signing combined with the pursuit of Pujols are nice public relations moves for the Marlins to make, but there is a ton of risk involved and not a lot of potential reward. 

We all know the health concerns involved with Reyes, so I am not going to dive into why I don't like that deal. 

But to offer a 10-year contract to any player, I don't care if it is Albert Pujols, you don't take that kind of risk. 

Plus, Pujols is going to be 32 when the 2012 season starts—though there are some questions about his age—so you are likely only going to get two years at his current level of production. 

You are basically paying him for two years of elite level production and then eight years of declining performance followed by the inevitable point when he falls off a cliff. 

The only argument for giving Pujols a huge contract like the one the Marlins are reportedly offering him is that he might one day break the home run record, which will mean a boost in attendance. 

Pujols is 318 away from eclipsing Barry Bonds' record of 762 home runs. That means he has to average at least 32 home runs per season for the entire life of the contract to eclipse it. 

Do you really think that Pujols is going to be hitting that many home runs a season when he is 36, 37 or even 38?

I know that Pujols has been superhuman since his rookie season in 2001, but every player hits a wall at some point and production goes down. There are a lot of things that can go wrong in his pursuit of the home run record. 

The Marlins have more pressing needs right now. They need to fix besides first base, like the starting rotation, so they should allocate more resources towards upgrading that area instead of paying for a 31-year-old first baseman. 

If the Marlins are so intent on upgrading first base, move Logan Morrison from the outfield, where he is a defensive liability, to his natural position.

That move would save the Marlins a ton of money and while they wouldn't get the same production from the position in 2012-13, they would be better off financially in the future.