Put it this way.everyone complains about Eric Hosmer’s offense relative to his position, and though he’s had some rough seasons, he doesn’t come remotely close to making this list.Īs I stated at the outset, none of this should detract from how great Pujols once was. If you expand the group to say, 25, you actually get a fading Hall of Famer in Jim Bottomley and a mid-career swoon from Andres Galarraga, but it’s mostly more of the same. It’s really not a club you want to see affiliated with Pujols. A bunch of guys from the turn of last century, a couple randos from the 1920s, Benzinger and good ol’ Chris Davis. And if they’re not, they don’t get to remain regulars for four years, unless there’s a, say, contractual reason. First base/DH types almost to a man are league average or better. An average range MLB shortstop or catcher might put up numbers in that range. And remember, there are no positional adjustments here. That drop of (4.40) OBP standard deviations and (2.08) SLG standard deviations is massive. He went from a slam-dunk first ballot Hall of Famer to a.slam-dunk first ballot Hall of Famer. In the four complete seasons since then, he dropped behind David Ortiz, Alex Rodriguez, Frank Thomas, Mike Schmidt, Yastrzemski, Miguel Cabrera, Eddie Collins and Trout. At the end of that campaign, he ranked as the #18 hitter of all time (22.96 OBP + 29.86 SLG = 52.82). Pujols’ last better than league average season was 2016. Thus, players can go backward during their decline phase, rather than accruing value while they are clear hindrances to their club. My career evaluation method compares players to league average, not replacement value.
![albert pujols stats albert pujols stats](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/7vv5jjBUo2iIwxauGYErwSFZ6CU=/0x140:4000x2390/1600x900/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/17040835/174509093.0.jpg)
Surely, his 10-year, $240M contract that runs through this season played a major role in keeping him on the field. Based on talent and performance alone, his stint as a regular would have ended years ago. In a weird way, Pujols’ “staying power” has been a significant drawback.