You can't select from all players, though. Some are nearly unobtainable (I don't see the Cards trading Albert Pujols to their division rivals), and others would require a steep price in young talent to acquire.
You can only add from the available talent on the market at a given moment in time. Of the bats on the market this year, I would have much more confidence in investing long-term in Carlos Lee than most any other. It is an excellent fit on the field (where his offensive game seems to fit the park) as well as off the field where he's coming back home as a high profile addition to a franchise that had badly needed another bat to rejuvinate a struggling and inconsistent offensive attack. Carlos Lee will be a very popular figure there and fine asset for that franchise both this year as they make another veteran run, as well as into the future. You don't have to give a darn about that, but they certainly do in the business and front offices across baseball everywhere.
If the Astros are going to be playoff contenders, I think you'll see Carlos Lee finish quite highly in the MVP voting with 35+ HRs while hitting around .290 and driving in 125+ runs in an improved offense. No need for another RBI discussion, as I understand/agree with most of those points related to team influences around a hitter, but he's going to be a big time run producer on a playoff team and that has tremendous value in the game and always has.
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