How Good Is Albert Pujols?

Posted by Bill Baer on Tuesday, November 24, 2009 at 7:36 pm

Prince Albert was unanimously voted as the National League’s Most Valuable Player in 2009, his second consecutive MVP award and the third of his storied career. He has finished in the top-ten in MVP voting in each of his nine Major League seasons. If not for Barry Bonds circa 2002-04, Pujols could have as many as five NL MVP awards.

Albert Pujols

It goes without saying that Albert Pujols, right now, is the best player in Major League Baseball. Seemingly the only knock against him is that he doesn’t play a premium defensive position. He’s no Usain Bolt, but you can’t even complain about his speed game — he stole 16 bases in 20 attempts last season!

Assuming good health for the rest of his career, he’s a no-doubt Hall of Famer, and could be one already with just nine Major League seasons under his belt. He commonly finds his name being mentioned in the same breath as Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, and Babe Ruth. Opposing pitchers and their managers fear him immensely — the 44 intentional walks he drew last season was the fifth-most in MLB history behind only Barry Bonds 2002-04 and Willie McCovey in 1969.

There’s no doubt the guy is great. But how great is he? Let’s put it in some context.

• Pujols’ career-low in wOBA is .402 in 2002. By comparison, Chase Utley, Miguel Cabrera, Mark Teixeira, and Adrian Gonzalez had wOBA’s of .402 in 2009. That’s right: Pujols at his worst is only playing at the level of Miguel Cabrera.
• Pujols’ career-high in wOBA is .462 in 2003. Since 2001, only Barry Bonds has had a higher wOBA (2002-04, of course).
• Pujols hit 47 HR, drove in 135 runs, and stole 16 bases in 2009. There are only been 13 other player-seasons that have matched those numbers (at least 45 HR, 130 RBI, and 15 SB). Ken Griffey, Jr. had four such seasons, Alex Rodriguez three, and Larry Walker, Sammy Sosa, Andres Galarraga, Lou Gehrig, Willie Mays, and Babe Ruth one apiece.
• Pujols’ career-low in OPS+ is 151 in 2002. That season alone would place him in a tie for 30th on the all-time leaderboard in career OPS+ with Gavvy Cravath.
• Pujols’ career average OPS is 172. He is currently tied with Mickey Mantle for sixth all-time, behind only Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Barry Bonds, Lou Gehrig, and Rogers Hornsby.
• The Cardinals have paid Pujols $76.3 million since 2002. According to FanGraphs, he has been worth nearly $230 million in that same span of time. The Cards have theoretically gotten triple their investment, and they still have two more seasons in which they control him (club option in 2011).

Rogers Hornsby is the only right-handed hitter ahead of Pujols on the career OPS+ leaderboard. There is a chance that, when his career is over, Pujols will be the greatest right-handed hitter to ever play in the Major Leagues. Just as you should have appreciated the career of Barry Bonds, and should still appreciate Alex Rodriguez, you should be very, very thankful that you have been able to witness the career of a living legend.