When the Colorado Rockies traded for starting Jeremy Guthrie last February, they expected him to be a reliable innings-eating pitcher with a deceptive fastball, a good slider and change up. The right-handed Guthrie was the Opening Day starter for the Baltimore Orioles the last three seasons and Guthrie was the Opening Day starter for the Rockies. By July 20, Guthrie’s 2012 season was a bust and the Rockies sent him to the Kansas City Royals for the disappointing lefty Jonathan Sanchez.

The 2012 season started out well with an Opening Day win against the Huston Astros. But the Rockies lost 13 of the 19 games Guthrie pitched in and he ended up with a 6.35 ERA, 4.5 K/9 and a 3.1 BB/9 over 90.2 innings. In late April and early May, Guthrie also missed 15 games with a right shoulder injury. By June 20, the Rockies sent the struggling Guthrie to the bullpen as their long reliever, going with a four-man rotation. Guthrie rejoined the rotation July 4, but the Rockies lost three of the last four games Guthrie started before being dealt to the Royals.

In his first three starts with the Royals, Guthrie looked like a right-handed version of Sanchez, giving up 14 earned runs over 16.1 innings, 12 strikeouts and five walks, being pegged as the losing pitcher in all three games.

But the last two starts reveal a different Jeremy Guthrie. In a combined 15 innings, Guthrie hasn’t given up a run, earned or unearned and thrown 14 strikeouts and given up just two walks. And the teams he pitched against were the Chicago White Sox and the Oakland A’s, both teams who are in the thick of the playoff hunt.

Since the trade, Guthrie has a 4.02 ERA, 7.5 K/9 and a 2.0 BB/9 over 31.3 innings. Meanwhile, Sanchez has a 9.53 ERA, 6.1 K/9 and a 7.4 BB/9 over 11.1 innings. So far, it looks like the Royals got the better end of the deal.

So why the turnaround? A big part of it is Guthrie’s change of scenery. When Guthrie pitched at Coors Field, he had a 7.84 ERA and a 5.1 K/9 over 12 games in 59.2 innings pitched. When he was away from Coors Field, Guthrie had a 3.75 ERA and a 5.3 K/9 over 12 games and 62.1 innings pitched. Guthrie also gave up 15 homers at Coors Field compared to nine homers in other ballparks. And did I mention Guthrie is a flyball pitcher? That’s not a good thing in the rarefied air of Coors Field.

Kauffman Stadium is more of a pitcher’s ballpark and with the Royals good defensive outfield, Guthrie can afford to be a flyball pitcher. Lately, the Royals offense is improving, so that gives Guthrie and the starting rotation better run support.

Another factor is Guthrie’s attitude when joining the Royals. Sanchez always acted like he didn’t want to be with the Royals and his performance showed it. But Guthrie says the Royals were one of the three teams he would like pitch for and so far he’s displaying a good attitude.

But two good starts doesn’t mean Guthrie will continue his good run. And Guthrie isn’t going to turn the Royals 2012 season around by himself. These are the Royals we’re talking about, and starting pitching is still the weak link of the team.

Guthrie will be a free agent at the end of the year. If he has a good rest of the season, he could command more than his current $8.2 million salary. Would the Royals be willing or able to sign him, or will Guthrie go somewhere else for a bigger paycheck? And the Royals may believe they have better and more affordable in-house options and let Guthrie walk.

For a trade that seemed to be a wash about a month ago, Jeremy Guthrie is becoming a pleasant surprise. And with yesterday’s news of former Royal outfielder Melky Cabrera being suspended for 50 games for testing positive for testosterone, the Sanchez/Cabrera trade doesn’t seem too bad, especially with getting Guthrie out of the deal.

St. Louis Cardinals fans can already see the writing on the wall, they sit six games behind the division-leading Milwaukee Brewers and their team is playing uninspired ball: Games that should be won are lost, leaving many to scratch their heads.

However, what many Cardinals fans have seemingly forgot about or have chose to forget entirely is that Albert Pujols, the teams best player, is not under contract for next season. It seems so long ago now, but the one they call King Albert made a scene early in Spring Training about wanting a long-term, big-money contract.

Both sides negotiated, but they remained far apart, apparently so far apart that Pujols decided he no longer wished to negotiate with the club until after the season. You may ask how can the Cardinals can even think of not giving Pujols the money he wants?

Well, a $30 million per year asking price is enough to even make thew New York Yankees blush, so how can a mid-market such as St. Louis pay that much money for one player? Added into the mix is Pujols’ desire to have it be a 10-year contract and you really have problems.

The former National League MVP is still producing eye-popping numbers in his Cardinals red, but they are a NL team, meaning they do not have the benefit of the DH. Pujols is currently 31 years of age and even a eight-year contract brings him to almost 40.

Is it possible that Pujols can still be a productive hitter and fielder at that advanced age? Sure. But is it more likely that he will no longer be able to play the field and they are stuck with a very expensive bench option?

One has to only look at the Yankees and their decision to give Alex Rodriguez a shiny new deal and where that leaves them now. Rodriguez is no longer the feared hitter he once was and has to be the DH regularly because of a problem-filled hip. This same scenario could happen to Pujols.

However, lets take money out of the equation for arguments sake. Pujols has already established himself as one of the game’s greatest hitters. Since the moment he has taken the big stage, Pujols has flashed leather, showed a keen batting eye and tremendous power.

In fact, he is the first person ever to have achieved 11-consecutive seasons of 30 or more home runs to start his major league career. That is a stability of greatness. Over those years, the perennial All-Star has accomplished many individual awards, but has only tasted one World Series Championship.

To quote a former football coach, “You play to win the game.” It’s as simple as that, the reason Major League players continue to work on their trade and continually give it their all, day in and day out is to ultimately win a championship.

Pujols has witnessed many years where the Cardinals sat atop the National League Central every year, but now he has seen that stop. He has the seen the building of a young but talented team in the Brewers, one that is set up to contend for years to come.

The Cardinals meanwhile have struggled to find the pieces to match-up with their division foes. Mariano Rivera has made a career out of postseason success and you can be sure Pujols wants to have a chance to experience the same kind of success.

He may not be able to fulfill that dream in St. Louis, so the question is this: Why would King Albert want to stay in St. Louis.

Cardinals management better have a good answer to give Pujols when the question is asked or one of the best players in baseball will leave for a new journey.

Ryan Lazo is a contributing writer for i70 Baseball. He is also a Senior Writer for BaseballDigest.com. He can reached at RMLazo13@gmail.com, followed on Twitter @RMLazo13 and read his blog Artificially Enhanced.