The other mashing All-Star first baseman who expects to hit the open market this winter, Milwaukee's Prince Fielder, believes the head of the class, Albert Pujols, should get whatever he can from free agency.
"He should command it all," Fielder said Sunday in the Brewers' clubhouse before a 3-1 loss to the Cardinals. "It's not crazy (money) if someone decides to pay it."
Fielder is less sure how that deal will influence his.
The Brewers' first baseman figures to be an option for the teams that enter the bidding on Pujols, though Fielder is four years younger than Pujols and more of a pure slugger. Fielder is on a one-year, $15.5 million contract, and he figures to aim for at least a seven-year deal like those recently awarded Adrian Gonzalez and Jayson Werth. Fielder is not closed off to contract talks during the season, as Pujols has been, but he doesn't see any forthcoming.
"If (free agency) is what he wants to do, then it's awesome," Fielder said. "Right now it's not on the top of my list. That's for the offseason. My contract is up at the end of the year, and after that nobody knows. What I do know is I'm here for this year, and that's that."
BERKMAN 'LOCKED IN'
The Brewers found a way to contain Cardinals outfielder Lance Berkman on Sunday, holding him hitless in four at-bats, but Milwaukee catcher Jonathan Lucroy still had a keen view of the switch-hitter's scorching start. Berkman is batting .374, leads the NL in RBIs (32) and is in the top three in all three triple crown categories, including his 10 homers. Lucroy turned to umpire Gary Darling during Saturday's game to compliment Berkman after his second walk of the game.
"I told Gary, 'Man, that guy, he's really locked in,'" Lucroy recalled. "You can tell because he's taking borderline strikes like they're nothing. As a hitter, when you're really locked in like that, you can take these pitches. You see them coming. You can tell they're going to be a ball. And they were close, the ones he took. That's what happens when you're locked in like he is."
Teammate Matt Holliday put it more simply after Sunday's win: "He's probably the MVP of the league."
MARTINEZ ACES DEBUT
Cardinals prospect Carlos Martinez threw four shutout innings Saturday in his debut with a North American pro club. Martinez, 19, struck out six of the first nine batters he faced and took a perfect game into his final inning. The righty, who has one of the better power arms in the Cardinals' system, averaged 96 mph on his fastball and touched 98 mph and 99 mph.
MILLER REBOUNDS
After going five consecutive appearances without recording an out, Trever Miller made an adjustment to his pitch selection and has retired the past five batters he has faced, including one on a double play ball. Miller and pitching coach Dave Duncan recognized that he was dropping his arm early in the count, going to his sidearm slider earlier than he had been when effective.
"I was pitching backward," he said. "That's my put-away stuff. I was never able to get to that stuff, and that's when the walks started piling up."
EXTRA BASES
Shortstop Ryan Theriot (bruised shin) returned to the lineup and hit leadoff. He missed one game with the contusion. Allen Craig (bruised calf) joked that the Cardinals could be called "Team Contusion." The bruising on his leg had subsided Sunday and he was available, if needed. ... Alissa Nicks served as the honorary bat girl for the Cardinals on Sunday as part of the Mother's Day celebration. Nicks, a breast cancer survivor, is from Maryland Heights. ... Eight members of the Cardinals' starting lineup used pink bats Sunday as part of baseball's campaign for breast cancer awareness. Berkman was among the players who also wore pink cleats, and most of the roster sported pink sweatbands. Instead of his signature or name, Craig had his mother's name, Kim Craig, branded on the top of the bat so he could give it to her as a gift.
