MLB Batter vs. Batter: Which Superstar Would You Choose?

Pretend it is the middle of MLB’s offseason, and you are hard at work as most General Managers are at this time of year.

Significant decisions are looming and need to be made sooner than later, as your team’s forthcoming success depends on it.

Now, below are the stats of two currently active MLB hitting superstars, but the hitch is you can only sign one. The players and stats are real, but the each player’s name, respective team and year are all crossed out in order for you to make an unbiased decision.

You won’t be discouraged, that much I can promise you.

Once you are finished, please leave your decision, via a comment and hopefully an explanation at the end of this post. Presumably, each pick will be your opinion of who is the better player as you are trying to put the best team together possible to win.

PLAYER 1 - STATS:

Year	Age	G	AB	H	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP
19XX	20	146	601	215	36	123	15	4	59	104	0.358	0.414
19XX	21	141	587	176	23	84	29	6	41	99	0.300	0.350
19XX	22	161	686	213	42	124	46	13	45	121	0.310	0.360
19XX	23	129	502	143	42	111	21	7	56	109	0.285	0.357
20XX	24	148	554	175	41	132	15	4	100	121	0.316	0.420
20XX	25	162	632	201	52	135	18	3	75	131	0.318	0.399
20XX	26	162	624	187	57	142	9	4	87	122	0.300	0.392
20XX	27	161	607	181	47	118	17	3	87	126	0.298	0.396
20XX	28	155	601	172	36	106	28	4	80	131	0.286	0.375
20XX	29	162	605	194	48	130	21	6	91	139	0.321	0.421
20XX	30	154	572	166	35	121	15	4	90	139	0.290	0.392
20XX	31	158	583	183	54	156	24	4	95	120	0.314	0.422
AVG			596	184	43	124	22	5	76	122	0.308	0.392

PLAYER 2 - STATS:

Year	Age	G	AB	H	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	BA	OBP
20XX	21	161	590	194	37	130	1	69	93	0.329	0.403
20XX	22	157	590	185	34	127	2	72	69	0.314	0.394
20XX	23	157	591	212	43	124	5	79	65	0.359	0.439
20XX	24	154	592	196	46	123	5	84	52	0.331	0.415
20XX	25	161	591	195	41	117	16	97	65	0.33	0.43
20XX	26	143	535	177	49	137	7	92	50	0.331	0.431
20XX	27	158	565	185	32	103	2	99	58	0.327	0.429
20XX	28	148	524	187	37	116	7	104	54	0.357	0.462
20XX	29	160	568	186	47	135	16	115	64	0.327	0.443
20XX	30	159	587	183	42	118	14	103	76	0.312	0.414
20XX	31	147	579	173	37	99	9	61	58	0.299	0.366
AVG:			600	197	42	126	8	93	67	0.328	0.420

Before disclosing any true identities, let me give you the three reasons why I would sign PLAYER 1 over PLAYER 2.

1. PLAYER 1 is just as lethal once on base as clear from his stolen base numbers. PLAYER 1 also has 57 more RBIs.
2. PLAYER 2 doesn’t strikeout much, but my guess is that he gets intentionally walked a bit when looking at his base-on-balls numbers.
3. PLAYER 1's most recent numbers season shows improvement, while almost all PLAYER 2’s stats declined in his last season. This does not mean that PLAYER 2 can’t be productive again, as he could have had an off-year but PLAYER 1 hasn’t shown that kind of drop off. This leads me to believe that PLAYER 1  is the safer bet.

Now, it is your turn BUT it is recommended that you make your choice prior to knowing each player’s true identity. As a team’s GM, intentionally hindering any decision, instead of doing what is best for the team is selfish, so try to decide before you peak. You have been warned. 

PLEASE STOP!!! BELOW ARE THE REAL PLAYERS' NAMES!!!

For non-stat geeks, figuring out ‘who’ might be tough, so here are some real hints to see if you can guess:

• PLAYER 1 and PLAYER 2 have each won the MVP Award three times.
• They both won the MVP in their respective league in 2005.
• PLAYER 1 has played for three different AL teams.
• PLAYER 2 has only played for one NL team, where he won the 2001 NL ROY (rookie-of-the-year) Award.
• PLAYER 1 was a star shortstop before becoming a star third baseman.
• PLAYER 2 has only played first-base.

OK, have you guessed yet???

Alright, one last BIG hint:

PLAYER 1 currently plays for the New York Yankees, and PLAYER 2 currently plays for the St. Louis Cardinals, but is about to his the free agent market five days after he finished playing in the World Series.

PLAYER 1 is New York Yankees Alex Rodriguez; and PLAYER 2 is St. Louis Cardinals Albert Pujols.