Albert Pujols will be the eighth player ever with 500 homers by age 34 - MLB

Not that there was any doubt about Albert Pujols reaching 500 career homers by the end of the season, but his strong start for the Angels with a league-leading six bombs puts him just two long balls shy of the magic number.

When he gets there, possibly this week, Pujols will become just the eighth player in baseball history to reach 500 career homers by age 34. Here’s the previous seven:

Alex Rodriguez      613
Sammy Sosa          539
Jimmie Foxx         527
Babe Ruth           516
Hank Aaron          510
Willie Mays         505
Ken Griffey Jr.     501

Pujols is at 498 right now, so he’ll likely surpass Ken Griffey Jr., Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, and Babe Ruth, and there’s a decent chance he could pass Jimmie Foxx as well.

Also, just in case anyone is curious, here’s a list of the most homers by anyone after age 34:

Barry Bonds         317
Hank Aaron          245
Rafael Palmeiro     208
Andres Galarraga    199
Darrell Evans       198
Babe Ruth           198
Carlton Fisk        193

Kind of a weird list.

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ST. LOUIS — Miles Mikolas is sticking with the St. Louis Cardinals.

The right-hander signed a three-year, $55.75 million contract on Friday that will carry through the 2025 season.

The new deal replaces a $68 million, four-year contract signed in February 2019 that covered the 2020-23 seasons and was set to pay $15.75 million this year.

Mikolas will receive a $5 million signing bonus payable July 1 and will make $18.75 million in 2023 and $16 million in each of the following two seasons. Mikolas can earn a $250,000 bonus for winning a Cy Young Award, $50,000 for All-Star election or selection or winning a Gold Glove, $100,000 for League Championship Series MVP and $150,000 for World Series MVP.

Mikolas is scheduled to make the second opening-day start of his big league career next Thursday when the Cardinals host Toronto. Mikolas went 12-13 with a 3.29 ERA last season while helping St. Louis to the NL Central title.

“Miles stands among the top pitchers in the game today, and has continued to provide a steady presence for us both in the rotation and inside the clubhouse,” St. Louis general manager John Mozeliak said in a statement.

Mikolas is 45-40 with a 3.79 in 143 games with San Diego, Texas and St. Louis. He recently pitched six shutout innings in two appearances for the U.S. in the World Baseball Classic.