A-Rod vs Pujols

January 17, 2010

It’s a fascinating debate. The three time MVP against the three time MVP. Alex Rodriguez or Albert Pujols. It’s not even worth it to talk about which player you would rather have on your team, because both are incredible. But, a good question would be: When it’s all said and done, who will have had the better career? So, let’s answer it by looking at the home run totals of both of these players. Here is a graph showing the home runs totals by age for each of these players.

A-Rod had the head start. That in itself already gives you the idea that A-Rod is the more incredible player. Pujols came in at 21, like most great players. A-Rod came in at 18, like most historic, iconic players.

Pujols did get off to a quicker start though. In Pujols first season, he hit 37 home runs, quickly bringing his total to half of A-Rod’s, who had already been playing for three years.

For the next four seasons, Pujols kept pace with A-Rod. In fact, they both stayed at a somewhat constant rate.

The next season, though, A-Rod spiked up, and continued to do so, while Pujols stayed at the same rate.

Since A-Rod is older, we already know what he has done. He has continued to stay at the same rate after that spike around age 28.

So, if Pujols is going to catch A-Rod, his is not only going to need to keep up his own rate, but he’s going to need to throw in either a good 70 home run season, or a couple 50 home runs seasons. For a guy that has never hit 50 home runs in his career, that’s going to be tough to do. So, to all of the people who say that Pujols will pass A-Rod, you better hope he’s got a record breaking season in him.

Here is a table comparing both players:

The choice is yours, who’s the better player? Keep in mind that Pujols is in a much weaker division than A-Rod is in, so he faces worse pitchers. But also remember that Pujols is in a much weaker line-up, so he gets pitched around more than A-Rod does. And most importantly, A-Rod has done this for seven more seasons, it’s not a sure thing that Pujols can keep this up for as long as A-Rod has.

Poll of the Day:
Who will end up with the better career?(polls)

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Written by jesskcoleman Posted in Dailies Tagged with A Bite Off The Big Apple, Albert Pujols, Alex Rodriguez, Cardinals, NYColeman, Yankees