Prince Albert Pujols, he reigneth

Breaking fantasy news: Albert Pujols finally drives in a run.

tbh it seems like a very good time for him to hang it up, if the Angels make the postseason he’ll be an albatross. His WAR continues to creep down.

he could suck ass for the rest of the season...or pick up the rest of his $24 million for the year. he'll get to make the same decision every year through 2021

he has some stiff competition for worst player this year, though. He's at -0.4 fWAR, but chris davis is somehow already at -1.4 fWAR! ian desmond and dexter fowler have both been godawful, too, and seem likely to continue getting lots of playing time

wonder if mike scioscia will be able to sit pujols more often, in general, now that he's reached 3000 (unless we're all supposed to care about reaching 700 or 714 home runs, too)

how about not batting him 4th

Prince Albert Pujols, He Has Obtained positive WAR so far this season!!

0.2 fWAR, 1.0 bWAR.

.257/.293/.437, 17 HRs, 99 wRC+

he is hovering just above replacement level, at least

he has the slowest sprint speed of any player this year at 22.3 ft/s, which is faster than he was in 2017 when he was also the slowest player, at 21.8 ft/s. he tied for last with victor martinez in 2016.

Was Pujols' 2017 the worst season ever for a player with 100 RBI's?

Dante Bichette had some bad WAR seasons with Coors-inflated numbers, but according to bWAR his defense was the worst part of his game.

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/24270231/mlb-how-shift-ruined-albert-pujols

More hard hit outs than anyone in baseball the past four years, blames the shift, thinks RBIs aren't overrated.

Pujols is one of only eight players who have been active over the past 18 seasons

pujols, beltre, utley, bartolo, ...?

sabathia

fernando rodney? he pitched a few games in 2002

ichiro

joaquin benoit

that's 8!

From 2015 to 2018, Pujols has accumulated a whopping 403 hard-hit outs, putting balls in play that travel at least 95 mph. Nobody has more. His average exit velocity is 90.3 mph, ranked fourth among those with at least 1,700 batted balls during that stretch, according to Statcast. His batting average on balls in play is .245, tied for the lowest in the majors among qualified hitters during that time.

Pujols shrugs.

"What can you do, bro?"

wwjvd

yeah that's a pretty pathetic attitude from someone who is too rich to care lol

i like how they paired the article with a sam miller piece explaining how shifts are bullshit

espn, something for everyone

Thinking about that makes Pujols think about all the line drives he has lost up the middle -- guaranteed hits in the baseball game he once knew. He is asked what his batting average would look like if second basemen played their position traditionally and didn't shade toward center field.

"Between .290 and .300, for sure," Pujols says, who instead sports a .254/.290/.428 slash line "Look at the balls that I'm hitting up the middle, especially this year. Out of those 30 or 40 or 50 balls, give me 25 hits. Add those 25 hits to my .250 batting average, I'd be hitting like .290."

(narrator voice): "he'd be hitting like. 316."

...

(narrator voice): "if you assume he's actually right about losing 25 hits up the middle this year against the shift"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwZJR3x9xwI

right after i posted that, he got injured and then underwent season-ending surgery on his left knee. sorry albert.

his line for 2018:

117 G, .245/.289/.411, wRC+ 90, 19 HR, 5.6 BB%, 13.1 K%, -0.2 fWAR, 0.1 bWAR (positive!!)

only 3 years left on his contract, after this season

he actually injured his left knee in the hardware store

happy 39th

sigh... thread:

He’s listed at 38, but I’m pretty sure Albert Pujols is 40. Today @baseballpro, I lay out new evidence (from Pujols’s own mouth), and then dig into why this happens, and why it matters, and what parts of it *don’t* matter much (Free): https://t.co/HGub38otZd

— Matthew Trueblood (@MATrueblood) April 24, 2018

or rather link:

https://www.baseballprospectus.com/news/article/39462/rubbing-mud-aging-angel/

only 3 years and $72 million left on his contract

slowest sprint speed in the majors last year (22.2 ft/s, which, when you put it that way, always seem really fast to me)
slowest sprint speed in 2017 (21.8 ft/s)
slowest sprint speed in 2016 (22.6 ft/s)
8th slowest sprint speed in 2015 (23.5 ft/s)

this will be close when it's all said and done

Pujols career (18 seasons): .302/.382.554
Cabrera career (16 seasons): .316/.395/.551

(after 16 seasons Pujols was at .309./.392/.573)

wow that's sad

(cabrera obviously a HOFer, but pujols' fall from the inner circle back to the mere mortals has been a long, slow, sad journey)

pujols still a little more valuable overall, on average, due to his blazing speed and impressive defensive skills compared to miggy, but yeah :(

Pujols w/the Angels: .260/.315/.453

to compare to similar "decline phases" from a couple recent HOF guys who fell off a lot from their peak:

Frank Thomas after his MVP runner-up campaign in 2000: .262/.376/.507

Griffey Jr with the Reds/ChiSox/Seattle pt 2: .262/.355/.493

that's why Peak Value and Career Value are separate considerations

prince albert pujols, he broketh free agency

First I've ever heard that Ruth's and Cap Anson's RBI totals are not considered official. I can maybe see that for Anson, but I don't get it for Ruth.

Box scores from the teens and '20s are not all absolutely verified/complete.

It's strange though that the pre-1920 RBIs aren't included in the official totals at all. Mistakes aren't too uncommon, and the "official" totals can easily be adjusted.

i was trying to think of a solid comparison for Pujols in terms of an all-time great player falling off a cliff. i checked out Frank Thomas, specifically the era after his 2000 MVP runner-up season. During his age 33-39 seasons he accumulated 14.8 bWAR. Albert during that same run (this is his age 39 season, doubt he'll add much to the total and may subtract some, he's at 0.0 bWAR now) has accumulated 8.5 bWAR.

Griffey Jr. put up a 7.1 bWAR during those same seasons.

Beltre, on the other hand, put up 37.6 bWAR. And it's probably not fair to include Barry Bonds but...63.1 bWAR from his age 33-39 seasons.

when i think of falling off a cliff, i think of andruw

🙌 Mr. 2,000 RBIs 🙌 @PujolsFive tacked on the two-thousandth RBI of his Hall of Fame career with a solo shot in #Detroit!

He joins Hank Aaron & Alex Rodriguez as the only #MLBPlayers to ever reach the milestone. Congrats to The Machine! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/jgjvwD9Xvz

— MLBPA (@MLB_PLAYERS) May 9, 2019

1,329 of those RBIs with the Cardinals, 2001-2011

he is the Aged Compiler :/

his fWAR w/LA is a lot lower than his bWAR (6.6 vs 13.3)

even by bWAR's generous standards he's put together a WAR of 3.1 since the beginning of 2015, which is i think equal to what Cody Bellinger did in April.

The stories of fans doing right by players and being rewarded with autographs and such are nice. But Pujols has long been a humble fellow who gets to the heart of the matter. https://t.co/256RvmhZCC

— Richard M. Nixon (@dick_nixon) May 9, 2019

saw people being really weird about that on twitter -- like 'how selfish!' or 'what an idiot; he didn't get it authenticated so now it's worthless'

Ignore the headlines you'll read about this being Albert Pujols' first time back in St. Louis since 2011. Truth is, he never left at all.

How Pujols' impact on those with Down Syndrome has continued to grow in STL even as he took a new uniform. https://t.co/5zNJNBtTBL

— Jenifer Langosch (@LangoschMLB) June 20, 2019

pujols gets a curtain call in STL after homering to deep left