Albert Pujols

[ten ocho recon scout]

Maybe i should post this in the Mang thread, but that should remain for his big moments.

Obviously this is a lot of fun to watch. Its scary to think about how much better he was with st louis (same power, but with a better average and baserunning). Dude truly is a machine (when healthy), and its impressive as hell to see an all time great go to work.

I know this is gonna rub some the wrong way, but i think arte deserves a pat on the back. Yes, its a bad contract, and in time its going to be really bad. But what were seeing now is what he, and we all, expected the first few years.

Imagine how much of a difference 2012 would have been with this version of albert. Imagine how fun it would have been to see this albert when trout first came up and set the world on fire...that wouldve been one of the most impressive duos anyone could hope to see in a lifetime. (Manny/ortiz was unreal, but im talking about a beast hitting 3rd with superhuman leadoff guy).

Now imagine that scenario with haren not falling off a cliff 6 months after he completely owned the competition. And if CJ Wilson did what he shouldve done coming from arlington to angel stadium.

Again, i know some will disagree and i respect anyones opinion, but even if he made bad choices, credit moreno for trying to give this team a lift and get us back to the post season.

Anyway, for now, sit back and watch the machine go to work. Glad to see him have a good run throwing it back at the haters

[Don]

A healthy Pujols for a few more years would be massively helpful. I'd like to hope for a Hank Aaron-esque ending to his career. Hank was just out of this world awesome for the first 14-ish years of his career, really good but not quite the same for the next 6 or 7 years (with a few flashes of greatness again), then pretty mediocre for the last two. Basically, if we can get about 4 more years of .260-70/.330-50/.500-50 Pujols with 30-35 HRs, I'll call it a win. Not necessarily what we hoped for when he first put ink to paper, but it's a pretty solid way to finish up a HOF career.

[ten ocho recon scout]

Agreed. .260/.330 with 25 plus the next 4 will make me happy. Obviously hope for more, and its not "great", but in the current low scoring enviornment it would be pretty decent

Can only imagine what he was like in the 2000s when he still had his legs. As a 1B he doesnt get as much of a nod for his defense (vs a SS,C or outfielder) but hes a very good defensive player. His eye was phenom, outstanding power and average, and from what ive read a plus base runner.

[wopphil]

I think one of the best things about what we are seeing now is that it bodes well for the future. Maybe he will be able to remain at least semi-productive into the latter years of the deal.

[Redondo]

I think one of the best things about what we are seeing now is that it bodes well for the future. Maybe he will be able to remain at least semi-productive into the latter years of the deal.

 

+1

[CanadianHalo]

Agreed. .260/.330 with 25 plus the next 4 will make me happy.

Yep same. Those numbers are basically what you're going to get from Justin Upton minus the million strikeouts.

Looking back we all had these crazy expectations for Albert when he was signed but minus his injury plagued 2013 he's actually been solid for us. As long as Albert can stay healthy I don't see why he can't continue to stay around his career numbers as an Angel.

2012: 30/105/.285/.343 (if I remember correctly he didn't even hit his 1st home run until May against the Jays at home)

2014: 28/105/.272/.324

2015: 26/56/.264/.335

I forget who said it but I heard Albert has only hit into 6 double plays so far this season, he hit into 30 last year.

[NorCal Halo]

I think what is most important about Pujols is his mentoring of Trout.  This will make his contract worthwhile for many years to come.  Second importance is keeping Aybar in line.

[seenoevil]

Less intentionally walking trout too

[Chuck]

As long as his lower half is healthy and strong he'll continue to be a machine.

[UndertheHalo]

As long as his lower half is healthy and strong he'll continue to be a machine.

this is the key, plus he's finally been able to have a normal offseason and be healthy at the same time.  Really only his second year with us was horrible because of the plantar facitis(2013 was disaster in general for the Angels).  He's been good, albeit not incredible in general with us.  I think what really stands out in a negative way are the prolonged slumps he's had with us.  Probably makes people think of his overall preformance in a more negative light then they should.  This year he's been great though.  Hopefully we can see him get the BA up into the .270, .280 range.  He can still do it.

Edited July 8, 2015 by UndertheHalo

[The Ghost of Bob Starr]

I equate this situation and Arte's insistence on the contract as some young dude that marries a hottie.  

 

Things go swimmingly for the first few years.  But they have a couple of kids, and she puts on about 50 lbs, and struggles to get back what she once had.   

 

Albert's success this season is awesome, and has been tremendously fun to watch.   It's what we expected when the deal went down.   I remember that day well!

 

Having said that, we are in the phase where wife still looks good, and she's still putting out 4-5 times a week.

 

We haven't reached the point, where wifey isn't putting out anymore, and you're too depressed over her sloppiness to care.

[juansavage1]

In case you guys were worried, my lower half is 100%.

Edited July 8, 2015 by Juan Savage

[The God of Runs]

Pujols will hit 50 HRs........ After the All Star Break

[Chris Lovelace Barber]

A healthy Pujols for a few more years would be massively helpful. I'd like to hope for a Hank Aaron-esque ending to his career. Hank was just out of this world awesome for the first 14-ish years of his career, really good but not quite the same for the next 6 or 7 years (with a few flashes of greatness again), then pretty mediocre for the last two. Basically, if we can get about 4 more years of .260-70/.330-50/.500-50 Pujols with 30-35 HRs, I'll call it a win. Not necessarily what we hoped for when he first put ink to paper, but it's a pretty solid way to finish up a HOF career.

 

Ok of course hoping for a Hank Aaron ending to his career would be great but I think call years 36-41 merely good but not the same is kind of understating things a bit.

 

Aaron age 36 - 41 is the best of all time (unless you counts Bond's and his steroid induced 36-41) He literally has better numbers during that stretch of his career than any player in MLB history (other than Bond's) which is what caused him instead of Mays to break Ruth's record. Of course Aaron was helped by playing half of his games during this span at home in the place called "the launching pad."

 

By asking Pujols to do what Aaron did you are essentially saying break a bunch of records (something that would be awesome if we got to see) because those years are what set Aaron's overall career astonishing numbers apart from many of his hall of Fame contemporaries. By way of comparison consider this:

Through age 35:

Name PA HR BB% K% BABIP AVG OBP SLG wRC+

Willie Mays 9266 542 11.0 % 10.5 % 0.298 0.312 0.387 0.591 160

Hank Aaron 10527 554 9.1 % 9.9 % 0.303 0.313 0.374 0.563 156

Albert Pujols 9520 546 11.9 % 9.8 % 0.300 0.316 0.401 0.587 158

Of course we know that Aarons career offensive numbers end up surpassing Willie's by quite a bit but that is mainly due to this 5 year period we are discussing. If we isolate this to one category lets say HOME Runs because this is what Aaron is most famous for we can really see the differences pop of the sheet. Aaron hit 245 Homers after his age 35 season where as Mays only had 118. Another one to consider is Ken Griffey JR who had 536 Home runs by the end of his age 35 season but only had 94 more and there are other examples of this type of drop of for great players after the age 35 season.

Pujols could end up being any of these guys but if he does what Aaron showed could be done all natural then he will be in the conversation for greatest offensive player ever when he is done (ala Aaron) based on his stats alone and the fact that he would be right there with an opportunity to be the all time homerun king.

One other thing to note here. Pujols has those stats above that are so comparable to Mays and Aaron through age 35 seasone with still a half season to go. There is a very real chance that he starts his age 36 season next year with slightly better numbers than both Mays and Aaron (if he keeps up this power surge he has shown of late (HR wise if he kept his current pace he would end up at 570 even passing up where Babe Ruth was at entering his age 36 season where he started with 565 and ended up hitting 198 more).

I did not think he was capable of this but his recent power surge and seeing that Aaron did it cleanly have got me hopfully optimistic That we could possibly watching the future HR King at work. The contract the Angels gave him says they believed that when they signed him and if he does get there in my mind with all the attention it will get he will be very much worth his contract that we as angels fans have thought to be so horrible. Then again he may just be HR wise the equivalent to Ken Griffey, Willie Mays or Babe Ruth (such lowly company lol) instead depending on this upcoming 5 year stretch.

[ELEVEN]

In case you guys were worried, my lower half is 100%.

Good news for when you hit puberty.

[ELEVEN]

Ok of course hoping for a Hank Aaron ending to his career would be great but I think call years 36-41 merely good but not the same is kind of understating things a bit.

Aaron age 36 - 41 is the best of all time (unless you counts Bond's and his steroid induced 36-41) He literally has better numbers during that stretch of his career than any player in MLB history (other than Bond's) which is what caused him instead of Mays to break Ruth's record. Of course Aaron was helped by playing half of his games during this span at home in the place called "the launching pad."

By asking Pujols to do what Aaron did you are essentially saying break a bunch of records (something that would be awesome if we got to see) because those years are what set Aaron's overall career astonishing numbers apart from many of his hall of Fame contemporaries. By way of comparison consider this:

Through age 35:

Name PA HR BB% K% BABIP AVG OBP SLG wRC+

Willie Mays 9266 542 11.0 % 10.5 % 0.298 0.312 0.387 0.591 160

Hank Aaron 10527 554 9.1 % 9.9 % 0.303 0.313 0.374 0.563 156

Albert Pujols 9520 546 11.9 % 9.8 % 0.300 0.316 0.401 0.587 158

Of course we know that Aarons career offensive numbers end up surpassing Willie's by quite a bit but that is mainly due to this 5 year period we are discussing. If we isolate this to one category lets say HOME Runs because this is what Aaron is most famous for we can really see the differences pop of the sheet. Aaron hit 245 Homers after his age 35 season where as Mays only had 118. Another one to consider is Ken Griffey JR who had 536 Home runs by the end of his age 35 season but only had 94 more and there are other examples of this type of drop of for great players after the age 35 season.

Pujols could end up being any of these guys but if he does what Aaron showed could be done all natural then he will be in the conversation for greatest offensive player ever when he is done (ala Aaron) based on his stats alone and the fact that he would be right there with an opportunity to be the all time homerun king.

One other thing to note here. Pujols has those stats above that are so comparable to Mays and Aaron through age 35 seasone with still a half season to go. There is a very real chance that he starts his age 36 season next year with slightly better numbers than both Mays and Aaron (if he keeps up this power surge he has shown of late (HR wise if he kept his current pace he would end up at 570 even passing up where Babe Ruth was at entering his age 36 season where he started with 565 and ended up hitting 198 more).

I did not think he was capable of this but his recent power surge and seeing that Aaron did it cleanly have got me hopfully optimistic That we could possibly watching the future HR King at work. The contract the Angels gave him says they believed that when they signed him and if he does get there in my mind with all the attention it will get he will be very much worth his contract that we as angels fans have thought to be so horrible. Then again he may just be HR wise the equivalent to Ken Griffey, Willie Mays or Babe Ruth (such lowly company lol) instead depending on this upcoming 5 year stretch.

Asking Pujols to become an African American gentleman with hair is a bit much.

[seenoevil]

Pujols is a home run machine

[Guest]

2012 was a great team, it's the bullpen that sucked so much. I can't count how many times I personally watched Frieri blow save after save that season. That mofo is probably the reason Greinke went to the Doyyers. 

[IEAngelsfan]

I equate this situation and Arte's insistence on the contract as some young dude that marries a hottie.  

 

Things go swimmingly for the first few years.  But they have a couple of kids, and she puts on about 50 lbs, and struggles to get back what she once had.   

 

Albert's success this season is awesome, and has been tremendously fun to watch.   It's what we expected when the deal went down.   I remember that day well!

 

Having said that, we are in the phase where wife still looks good, and she's still putting out 4-5 times a week.

 

We haven't reached the point, where wifey isn't putting out anymore, and you're too depressed over her sloppiness to care.

What if Arte likes them a little plump?  Those 50 lbs makes her more appealing.

[Ohtaniland]

As long as his lower half is healthy and strong he'll continue to be a machine.

 

[CaliAngel]

I don't recall ever saying it was a bad contract. Arte wanted the big guy, Arte paid the big guy, and he's gonna play for us for the next 6+ years.Yeah he's not always going to be rainbows and butterflies, but to me it's just great that the guy WANTS to still be playing ball. And he prepares hard, and plays fiercely. Even as time goes by that's not going to change, even when his abilities diminish.

 

I'm glad Arte got him. He's a great presence in the clubhouse whether he's swinging like crap or not. He's a pretty solid 1st baseman as well.

[Hollyw00d]

Love me some MAJ

[ten ocho recon scout]

Another thing i think has come into play is pujols has settled in here. Normally id say that kind of stuff is blown out of proportion, but his first season here, he delt with lower leg problems, and id say it was caused by the stick up his butt.

But since last year (at least) hes become "one of rhe guys". He isnt one of the types to grab abeer after a game, but hes become "the old man" that guys go to for advice, and he jokes, polices guys etc. That was missing early on.

Theres been a handful of times ive seen him talking up other guys on the team to outsiders. Whatever ego he may have had getting here (which all guys of his stature have) is gone and hes a lot more relaxed now.

Wish the rest of the lineup would support it, but at any rate, the trout pujols show is pretty badass

[ELEVEN]

Another thing i think has come into play is pujols has settled in here. Normally id say that kind of stuff is blown out of proportion, but his first season here, he delt with lower leg problems, and id say it was caused by the stick up his butt.

But since last year (at least) hes become "one of rhe guys". He isnt one of the types to grab abeer after a game, but hes become "the old man" that guys go to for advice, and he jokes, polices guys etc. That was missing early on.

Theres been a handful of times ive seen him talking up other guys on the team to outsiders. Whatever ego he may have had getting here (which all guys of his stature have) is gone and hes a lot more relaxed now.

Wish the rest of the lineup would support it, but at any rate, the trout pujols show is pretty badass

I'm really looking forward to their race to 50 HRs.

[ten ocho recon scout]

Hadnt even thought of that, but thats a great point.

Weve never (off the top of my head) had 2 40 home run guys at the same time...would be cool if they finish one and two in the race. Impressive considering the park and the current enviornment.

Sh*t...the pitching is there, bullpen is solid (if aybe not as good as last year), and we have a bonafide mvp cadidate and a maybe one...if the rest of the cast wakes the hell up this could quietly get really good in the second half