Albert Pujols numbers not encouraging

[GrittyVeterans]

Actually Check the stats. Hamilton was not more useless than Albert is right now.

although it's a weird comparison because Hamilton was a drug addict

[JarsOfClay]

13 hours ago, GrittyVeterans said:

Not even the biggest fan boys on this board can defend Pujols batting cleanup this season.

It's ridiculous

Well last year they claimed there were no better options. This year there are better options, yet he's still batting 4th lol.

[Homebrewer]

4 hours ago, fan_since79 said:

Expectations: no offseason surgery, lost weight, best shape of his life...

Reality: same old numbers or worse.

We fell for it. Three more years after this one. Happy days. NOT.

I didn't...But there is a silver lining

Imagine what those numbers would be like without his "spectacular and amazingly successful"  off-season !

[Lou]

It's about time someone brought up the fact that Albert isn't playing up to his contract and shouldn't be batting 4th. 

[mulwin444]

Just now, Lou said:

It's about time someone brought up the fact that Albert isn't playing up to his contract and shouldn't be batting 4th. 

Yep, it's been under the radar...practically subterranean...it's why I come to this website, Pujols "hot takes". 

[FanSince'98]

19 hours ago, Warfarin said:

People keep saying/hoping he will retire, but let's face it, this is not happening.  Why walk away from a guaranteed 25 million (per year)?  The best we can hope for is a "medical retirement" a la Prince Fielder, where he still pockets the money but the team moves on.  

Sadly I think Pujols stays the cleanup hitter for at least the rest of this year, and quite possibly next year too.

Agreed, if it's a medical retirement doesn't the insurance company cover the payroll and we drop it off our team salary that goes towards the cap? Best case scenario for the Angels. 

[Blarg]

3 hours ago, Dochalo said:

his contact quality has been better.  

He just can't stop swinging at everything.  It's crazy because if you took 10 PA and turned them into walks instead of outs, he would be .267/.340/.440

That would be totally respectable and something I could totally live with.  

I think he is trying to get to his mental milestone as quick as possible and as such threw plate discipline out the window. Walks don't generally create RBI's and he is not much of a run scored threat being so slow. Expect more desperate looking plate appearances and pitchers taking advantage. 

[Angelsjunky]

Taking a step back, it is kind of an interesting situation. He's now one of the worst players in the major leagues, a below average hitter, but is under contract for 3.75 more years with over $100 million owed him. He's hitting .251/.286/.413 now, which is about the same as last year, so I don't think we can hope for more than an Indian Summer from him, and probably not even that. He's supposedly 38 years old, but probably 40 or 41. 

What makes it interesting is there's a bit of a game of chicken going on. How bad will Albert need to get in order to voluntarily retire? I think pretty bad, considering his contract. But at the same time, he must realize at some point that he's undergoing one of the worst and most drawn out declines among all-time great players. But I don't think he gets it yet and it is almost like Scioscia is working against that by optimizing RBI opportunities, rather than dropping him in the order or platooning him. If Albert gets another 20+ HR and 90+ RBI, he's going to be able to pretend he's still contributing.

Now Albert could hold some value for another year or two, if he's used sparingly in an optimized match-up platoon. But as a regular player, he's just awful.

[GrittyVeterans]

.246/.278/.404/.681; -0.2 WAR

 

Batting cleanup and playing everyday still

[Ohtaniland]

We need Scioscia to just get in somebody’s face. Maybe some of these players don’t know that they’re sucking because they haven’t been told. 

 

[JustATroutFan]

It would be embarrassing for Pujols to finish his career with a batting average under .300. I mean, come on, like 10 years ago, no one would have thought of something like that.

[ten ocho recon scout]

5 hours ago, calscuf said:

Oooo, insurance fraud.  Good idea!

We hire that guy to figure out the loophole for eppler, than get pujols' agent and get him to testify.

[Stradling]

6 hours ago, OHTANILAND said:

We need Scioscia to just get in somebody’s face. Maybe some of these players don’t know that they’re sucking because they haven’t been told. 

 

Haha. Ok. 

[fan_since79]

7 hours ago, GrittyVeterans said:

.246/.278/.404/.681; -0.2 WAR

 

Batting cleanup and playing everyday still

shut your mouth! He's a future Hall of Famer.

 

[Dtwncbad]

On 5/18/2018 at 10:33 AM, GrittyVeterans said:

Actually Check the stats. Hamilton was not more useless than Albert is right now.

although it's a weird comparison because Hamilton was a drug addict

Well apparently Pujols is addicted to batting 3rd or 4th.

[TM3]

What is puzzling is that Scioscia is playing musical chairs with the batting lineup, everyone is getting shuffled around all except Pujols like this guy is untouchable.  Very weird.  

[failos]

I would like to see him batting 5th or 6th, but we’ve been saying this for years now

[kevinb]

16 hours ago, fan_since79 said:

shut your mouth! He's a future Hall of Famer.

 

I wonder what team he goes into the Hall with. The numbers are really close. Where was he better 

[jsnpritchett]

1 minute ago, Kevinb said:

I wonder what team he goes into the Hall with. The numbers are really close. Where was he better 

I'm assuming this is a joke.

[Dtwncbad]

Lowest walk rate of his career.

Highest strikeout rate of his career.

Lowest OB% of his career.

He is 61 rbi away from 2000.

.304 lifetime batting average.

He should get 2000 rbi and still have over .300 lifetime batting average.

I don't really see any other reachable milestones that are worth sacrificing the .300 lifetime average.

Will he be smart enough to orchestrate his own exit when gets into that over 2000 rbi and still over .300 window?

[GrittyVeterans]

6 minutes ago, Dtwncbad said:

Lowest walk rate of his career.

Highest strikeout rate of his career.

Lowest OB% of his career.

He is 61 rbi away from 2000.

.304 lifetime batting average.

He should get 2000 rbi and still have over .300 lifetime batting average.

I don't really see any other reachable milestones that are worth sacrificing the .300 lifetime average.

Will he be smart enough to orchestrate his own exit when gets into that over 2000 rbi and still over .300 window?

Only if the exit includes him getting all the money he is owed.

Seriously, this guy is not retiring and leaving 90 million on the table. It's nonsensical to think that he would. I don't even think he'd leave 30 million on the table but 90 million? That's not even worth discussing

The only solution to this mess is for the Angels to either cut him or sit him on the bench. The money is gone

[yk9001]

On 5/19/2018 at 9:56 AM, JustATroutFan said:

It would be embarrassing for Pujols to finish his career with a batting average under .300. I mean, come on, like 10 years ago, no one would have thought of something like that.

0 f's given by Albert.

 

The checks still cash.

[Blarg]

18 minutes ago, Dtwncbad said:

He is 61 rbi away from 2000.

The way he is playing he won't make it this season. We are over a quarter of the way into the season and he has 21 rbi. In half as many plate appearances Ohtani has 17 batting behind him.

My bold prediction is by mid season Albert is batting behind Ohtani and spends more bench time in favor of Marte. 

[Dtwncbad]

18 minutes ago, GrittyVeterans said:

Only if the exit includes him getting all the money he is owed.

Seriously, this guy is not retiring and leaving 90 million on the table. It's nonsensical to think that he would. I don't even think he'd leave 30 million on the table but 90 million? That's not even worth discussing

The only solution to this mess is for the Angels to either cut him or sit him on the bench. The money is gone

Yes pay him.

There is one tiny slice of optimism in the back of my brain that the Angels and Pujols are on the same project to get him 2000 rbi as fast as possible so he can leave gracefully with his milestone numbers.

If I knew that, I would be fine batting him where he hits.

[Blarg]

I'm more about winning games so let him finish his milestone in a Cardinals uniform.