Albert Pujols: 11 Reasons Through 11 Seasons Why He Is Worth Whatever He Wants
As the negotiations are on hold and Albert Pujols is starting the season, it's worth asking, how much Albert Pujols worth? I looked up how Albert has done through the course of his career to check and see how he stacked up against the best ever.
The following is a list of areas where Pujols is among the all-time leaders, and where he might be at the end of 11 seasons. In short, they are 11 reasons why Pujols' contract negotiations should boil down to a fill-in-the-blank contract.
11: RBI
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Through his first 11 years, Al Simmons drove in a borderline grotesque 1,379 runs. So far, Albert Pujols has 1,230 RBI. Based on his career averages, Pujols should move ahead of Joe DiMaggio (1,344 RBI) for second place all time.
10: Games Played
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Presently, the record for most games played through 11 seasons belongs to Pete Rose, who played 1,697 games. Albert Pujols has played in 1,558 games through his career, and if he plays 140 games this year he will set a new all-time high through 11 seasons.
This might come as a surprise to some. But Pujols is the "Machine," and his consistency in the lineup is a big reflection of that.
One disclaimer here is that Ichiro Suzuki actually has 30 more games played than Pujols, so it's probable that Pujols will actually be second all time if both maintain their normal consistency.
9: MVP Shares
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Baseball Reference keeps track of MVP Award Shares, which accounts for MVP awards won, as well as how a player finished in voting in the years he didn't win.
Pujols' three MVP awards have him tied for the second most in MVP history (and the most without using steroids).
Pujols, with 6.51 MVP shares, has finished in the top 10 in voting every year of his career, in the top four nine times, the top three eight times and the top two seven times. Because of that, he is currently second behind Stan Musial, 6.96, and could overtake him and move into second this year.
Barry "Big Head" Bonds is first with 9.30.
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8: Doubles
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The current leader through 11 years in doubles is Todd Helton, who has 455 through that stretch. With 426 already, Pujols only needs 29 more to catch Helton and should surpass him by the All-Star break. Pujols should end the year with nearly 480 two-baggers.
7: Wins Against Replacement
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Presently no one has more wins above replacement (WAR) through 11 years than Mickey Mantle, who has 90.7. Albert Pujols, through 10 years, has 83.8. If he continues at his normal pace, he should surpass Mantle this year with 91.6.
6: Runs Created
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No one has more runs created than Ted Williams, who amassed 1,557 through his first 11 years. After 10 seasons, Pujols has 1,506. With a normal year he should easily surpass Williams and become the all-time leader through 11 seasons with 1,657.
5: Times on Base
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Presently the most a player has ever reached base in his first 11 years is Wade Boggs, whose feet touched the first bag 3,124 times. So far, Albert Pujols has gotten there 2,887 times. If Pujols gets on base 238 times this year, he will set the new record. Based on his season averages, that record should be in the neighborhood of 3,168.
4: Total Bases
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The most total bases over 11 years belongs to none other than "Hammerin" Hank Aaron, who hit for a whopping 3,692. Only 35 players have even topped 3,000.
Albert Pujols already has 3,580, more total bases than anyone except Aaron. Based on his career averages, he should be around 3,938 by the end of the season, well ahead of Aaron and anyone else.
3: Runs
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Through his first 11 years in the bigs, Lou Gehrig scored 1,213 runs, more than anyone else. Through his first 10 seasons, Pujols has scored 1,186, placing him fifth through the first 11 years. If Pujols can score just 28 runs this year, he'll have set a new record.
Based on his career averages, he should easily surpass 1,300 this year.
2: Zone Runs
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So much attention goes to Pujols' bat that his glove work gets overlooked. In spite of not settling in as a regular first baseman until his fourth year, Albert Pujols already has more zone runs than any first baseman in the history of baseball through 11 seasons with 100.
In fact, he's already second all time, trailing only Keith Hernandez's 120.
When it comes to both fielding stats and sabermetric stats, it's hard to know what is valid and what isn't. Zone runs is a nice idea though. It indicates how many runs you saved or cost your team in the field, compared to an average player.
If you've watched Pujols play you know this is a valid stat. The "zone" he plays in is much larger than most first basemen. The value of this is that he's able to play further away from the bag, which in turn allows the second baseman to play further to his right. In essence, he makes everyone else in the infield's job a little bit easier. The argument for his fielding doesn't rest solely on one stat though.
His range factor per nine innings stands at 10.494, good for third all time. He has led the league among all positions in putouts four times. Among first basemen he has led the league in assists four times, zone runs six times and range factor six times. He has finished in the top five in fielding percentage at the position four times.
Keep in mind that he's done all of this having learned the position his fourth year in the majors. His bat has overshadowed his glove, but his glove is certainly an argument for him getting in the Hall.
1: Home Runs
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With 408 home runs through his first 10 seasons, Pujols has already hit more home runs than anyone through 11 seasons.
Just in case you're wondering, if he hits 30 home runs this year, he'll have more than anyone in history through 12 seasons. If he hits what he's been averaging over the last five years, he'll be tied with Sammy Sosa for the most through 13 years.
How Much Is the Greatest of All Time Really Worth?
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Through his first 11 years Albert Pujols has already accumulated three MVP awards and more votes than all but two people in all of history.
His accumulated stats over his first 11 seasons are simply mind-boggling. He should be top two in games played and runs batted in. He should end up leading in WAR, times on base, doubles, total bases, runs created and runs scored. He already has the most zone runs and home runs.
Offensively, he will the surpass the prowess of hitters like Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Stan Musial, Hank Aaron and Mickey Mantle. He's doing all of this while surpassing the fielding exploits of the greatest fielding baseman ever, Keith Hernandez.
His amazing start has put the all-time record for home runs, runs, and runs batted in well within his reach. He has the highest OPS of any right handed hitter in the history of the game. It is not unreasonable to project that when Albert Pujols retires he could be considered the greatest hitter who ever lived.
So how much is that worth? It's beyond the simple marketing of ticket or merchandise sales. In the way that Michael Jordan still has value to the Bulls, there's a value that Pujols would have to the Cardinals if he retires a Redbird.
Beyond that, there's the value of his leadership and hard work on the team. There's the conduct and way he carries himself off the diamond. How much value can that have? That's what the Yankees just paid Derek Jeter for.
In short, how can you possibly overpay him? To be able to say the greatest player of all time never wore a jersey other than that of the Cardinals is worth more than Pujols could possibly be asking.
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