X9 Sports

Albert Pujols - new king of baseball?
April 18, 2006 by Eric Bailey

I'm officially jumping on the Albert Pujols bandwagon. Peter Gammons has already stated that he thinks MLB should put their marketing muscle behind guys like Albert Pujols. I couldn't agree more. This guy is a stud - and while most of the baseball world already knows it, they are too caught up in discussing Barry Bonds, steroids and what should happen to the record books. That's unfortunate for baseball because Pujols could make all those discussions moot.

Albert Pujols is just 26 years old and already has some serious numbers to back up his positive image. At the plate he's a true combination of pure hitting and power. In the clubhouse he's a team guy that just wants to win. He works hard, plays hard, loves to win and is said to be a truly nice guy. Unless Albert is hiding a major secret, he's due for a string of MVPs over the next decade.

Let's look ahead and think about what Albert's career might look like. The same expectations were heaped upon Ken Griffey, Jr. and Alex Rodriguez. So let's pretend we have a crystal ball and can predict what might happen for Albert. Here you'll find his current numbers through 5 seasons in St. Louis and projections through the age of 40. We took Albert's season averages and used those as the projected figures through age 34. After 34, we expect to see Albert's numbers dwindle by 5% every other year. Just to be conservative we made Albert sit out the 2012 season with an injury (our crystal ball doesn't say what that injury will be).

Albert Pujol's Season Averages

G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	AVG
158	591	126	196	45	2	40	124	80	69	.332

Current and Projected Career Stats

Age	Year	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	AVG
21	2001	STL	161	590	112	194	47	4	37	130	69	93	.329
22	2002	STL	157	590	118	185	40	2	34	127	72	69	.314
23	2003	STL	157	591	137	212	51	1	43	124	79	65	.359
24	2004	STL	154	592	133	196	51	2	46	123	84	52	.331
25	2005	STL	161	591	129	195	38	2	41	117	97	65	.330
Future Projections
26	2006	STL	158	591	126	196	45	2	40	124	80	69	.332
27	2007	???	158	591	126	196	45	2	40	124	80	69	.332
28	2008	???	158	591	126	196	45	2	40	124	80	69	.332
29	2009	???	158	591	126	196	45	2	40	124	80	69	.332
30	2010	???	158	591	126	196	45	2	40	124	80	69	.332
31	2011	???	158	591	126	196	45	2	40	124	80	69	.332
32	2012	???	Out for season
33	2013	???	158	591	126	196	45	2	40	124	80	69	.332
34	2014	???	158	591	126	196	45	2	40	124	80	69	.332
35	2015	???	150	561	120	187	43	2	38	118	76	65	.333
36	2016	???	150	561	120	187	43	2	38	118	76	65	.333
37	2017	???	142	532	113	177	41	2	36	112	72	62	.333
38	2018	???	142	532	113	177	41	2	36	112	72	62	.333
39	2019	???	134	502	107	167	39	2	34	106	68	59	.333
40	2020	???	134	502	107	167	39	2	34	106	68	59	.333
Age	Year	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	AVG
Career Totals			2,907	10,871	2,315	3,614	835	40	740	2,285	1,476	1,266	.333

If Albert can play that long he'll be one of the all-time greats, if not the greatest. He would be mentioned along side Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, and Barry Bonds as one of the greatest hitters of all-time. He would hold top 5 all-time career numbers in several categories:

1st	in Runs
1st	in Doubles
2nd	in Home Runs
2nd	in RBIs
5th	in Hits

Could he really keep this up? Why not? He might even be able to do better. Considering how seriously Pujols takes his job, he might get better with age and experience. As long as Pujols can steer clear of the steroids debate and keep his name clean, he's going to be a poster stud for the future of the game.

Albert Pujols could become the new king of baseball. What is MLB waiting for? They should be using him to market the game and make the public forget about the steriods debacle. Maybe they are waiting for Bonds to retire. Or maybe they know someting we don't know.

Eric Bailey