Angels lose sub-replacement-level Albert Pujols to injury
Los Angeles Angels lose Albert Pujols to season-ending knee surgery.
Los Angeles Angels first baseman/DH Albert Pujols had surgery on his left knee Wednesday and will miss the remainder of the season. He was previously on the Disabled List in mid-July with left knee inflammation. Since coming off that DL stint, he was hitting .229/.285/.347. With the Angels sitting 18 games out of first place in the AL West and 15.5 games behind the second wild card team, their playoff hopes are dead. Pujols’ injury will allow Jefry Marte and Kaleb Cowart to get playing time at first base.
The 2018 season has been another ugly one for Pujols. In 117 games, he hit .245/.289/.411, good for a 90 wRC+, meaning he was 10 percent below average on offense when league and ballpark effects are taken into account. Combine his below-average hitting with sub-par fielding and you have a player who was below replacement-level. Fangraphs has Pujols with -0.2 WAR.
Sadly, this season has been a step up from last year when Pujols was worth -1.9 WAR. Since the beginning of the 2017 season, he’s hit .243/.287/.397. His -2.1 WAR during that time is third-worst in baseball out of the 380 position players with 300 or more plate appearances. Only Chris Davis (-2.3 WAR) and Victor Martinez (-2.7 WAR) have been worse.
A contributing factor to Pujols’ knee issues may have been the 70 games he played at first base this season. Last year, he only played six games in the field and was the DH in his other games. In 2016, he played 28 games in the field. The offseason arrival of Japanese star Shohei Ohtani forced Pujols to play in the field more often than he has in recent seasons because Ohtani was regularly used as the DH.
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Unfortunately for the Angels, this is likely going to be a problem for a few more years. Pujols still has three years and $87 million left on the long-term contract he signed as a free agent when he came to Los Angeles. Ohtani is hitting .275/.352/.545 in 262 plate appearances. His 145 wRC+ is right there with fellow rookie sensations Ronald Acuña, Jr. (145) and Juan Soto (144) and better than Nelson Cruz (143), Freddie Freeman (141) and Francisco Lindor (141).
It makes for a difficult problem for GM Billy Eppler and manager Mike Scioscia. Pujols is, by all accounts, a terrific teammate and a player who works hard to stay on the field even as his body is failing him. He picked up his 3000th career hit early in the season and recently passed Ken Griffey, Jr. on the all-time home run list. He needs 27 homers to catch Willie Mays for fifth on the career list, 63 homers to catch Alex Rodriguez for fourth, and 67 to join Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron and Barry Bonds with 700 career home runs.
The milestones are within reach, but at what cost? Over the last two years, Pujols has cost the Los Angeles Angels wins and a hefty sum of money. His rest-of-year projection is for 0.0 WAR, exactly replacement-level. As he heads into his age-39 season next year, his projection will likely be for more of the same. The Angels weren’t remotely close to a playoff spot this year, but if they bounce back with a contending season next year, Pujols is likely going to be detrimental to their cause.
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It’s always sad when a once-great player has lost it. Pete Rose spent the last five years of his career chasing the all-time hits record, but was a sub replacement-level player during that time (-1.0 WAR). Eddie Murray topped 500 career home runs in his second-to-last season, but was below replacement-level that year and the next. You have to wonder how many more years Pujols will want to continue playing and how many more years the Los Angeles Angels can afford to keep him in the lineup.