Los Angeles Angels: The sad ending of Albert Pujols

As Albert Pujols limps to the finish line of an impressive career, his standing as one of the all-time greats continues to slip ever so slightly.

Monday should have been a reason for celebration. Los Angeles Angels first baseman Albert Pujols recorded his 2087th career RBI, surpassing Alex Rodriguez for third on the all-time list. One of just five players in MLB history with over 2000 RBI, he now trails Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth for the most RBI over the course of a career.

But that RBI is also one of the few highlights for Pujols this season. He enters Tuesday’s action with a .211/.250/.368 batting line, hitting three homers and three doubles in 80 plate appearances. The once great machine has fallen apart.

And that can be seen with his all-time standing. Pujols is one of just 21 players in MLB history to have at least 100 bWAR, ranking 20th all time. However, in that metric, Pujols is starting to slide.

After the 2016 season, Pujols was worth 101.4 bWAR. Although he was not the player he was during his time in St. Louis, Pujols had still averaged approximately 2.9 bWAR per season over his first five years with the Angels. It may have taken some time, but he was expected to climb past Mike Schmidt, Frank Robinson, and Nap Lajoie on the all-time list.

That has not happened. Instead, Pujols is in danger of sliding past Joe Morgan on the bWAR rankings, and could even end his career below that 100 mark. Over the past four years, he has been worth -0.8 bWAR, dropping his overall mark to 100.6 for his career.

Pujols had even dipped below 100 at one point. His disastrous 2017 campaign was worth -1.9 bWAR, dropping him to 99.5 bWAR at the end of the season. As Pujols has been worth -0.2 bWAR and is signed through next year, a further drop is entirely possible.

We see it far too often where those greats of the game refuse to acknowledge that Father Time has caught up with them. Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker ended their careers on the 1928 Philadelphia A’s. Babe Ruth tried for one last hurrah with the Braves. Willie Mays stumbled about the outfield grass at Shea Stadium in a Mets uniform. And now, we have Pujols, holding on desperately to a career that should be at an end.

Albert Pujols is continuing to move up leaderboards. But his days of being productive ended a long time ago.