Robinson Cano & Prince Fielder

[markb]

Is it April 1st?

 

Howard is below replacement level since signing his contract, and Pujols has produced more WAR than Fielder in the last 2 years while playing half a season on one leg and doesn't weigh 300 lbs.  

 

So yeah, I'm in the "our trainwreck is better than yours" camp there.  

Edited April 18, 2014 by markb

[sneaky_flute]

Your position is patently false. I'm not thrilled that Texas is paying Fielder 19 million a year, but the Angels are paying Pujols 25 million per year until he's 42 (possibly mid 40s). Who cares if Fielder is chubby? He's one of the most durable players in the game so your "lol bad body" rationale doesn't make sense.  

[Blarg]

Durability is pretty good trait. Now all he needs is put the rest of his game together.

[markb]

My argument that uses statistics (the first part that you ignored) is patently false compared to your argument based purely on intuition.  ok then.  

 

Few will argue that the last couple years of Pujols's contract isn't anything more than severance pay.  What I will argue is that Pujols will outproduce Fielder by such a margin at the front end (as he's managed so far even with the throwaway season last year), that his overall value will still be higher.  Pujols's 2012 season (in which most around here are sorely disappointed in), produced 4.8 WAR, which is still better than any other year of Fielder's career, save for 2009.  

 

Yeah, Pujols is older.  But he's also a much better baseball player than Prince Fielder.  

[sneaky_flute]

What are you talking about? I've made it clear that I have no idea how he'll perform over the next few years and neither do you. You accuse me of basing my argument on intuition and then make some ridiculous, unfounded claim that Pujols is going to be considerably more value at the front end (by the way, he hasn't been so far). No one knows how these guys are going to play over the next few years so debating the aging process and career trajectories is utterly pointless.