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Rating Albert Pujols among the greats

By Bill Felber

May 6, 2021; Anaheim, California, USA; An image Los Angeles Angels first baseman Albert Pujols (5) is displayed inside Angel Stadium. The Angels designated Albert Pujols for assignment today, leaving the 41-year-old’s playing future in limbo. Pujols was in the final year of his historic 10-year, $253 million contract. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
May 6, 2021; Anaheim, California, USA; An image Los Angeles Angels first baseman Albert Pujols (5) is displayed inside Angel Stadium. The Angels designated Albert Pujols for assignment today, leaving the 41-year-old’s playing future in limbo. Pujols was in the final year of his historic 10-year, $253 million contract. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Albert Pujols home run counter at Angels Stadium. (Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images)
The Albert Pujols home run counter at Angels Stadium. (Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images) /

Assuming Albert Pujols has played his final Major League game, his career will go down as deserving a place among the greats in baseball history.

To take the measure of how great Pujols was, one need only compare his statistics with the game’s best.

For example, he ranks:

  • Third in runs batted in, with 2,112. Only Hank Aaron (2,297) and Babe Ruth (2,214) stand ahead of him.
  • Fifth in home runs with 667. Only Barry Bonds (762), Hank Aaron (755), Babe Ruth (714) and Alex Rodriguez (696) are ahead of him.
  • Fifth in total bases with 5,955. Only Hank Aaron (6,856), Stan Musial (6.134), Willie Mays (6,066) and Barry Bonds (5,976) are ahead of him. Pujols also ranks 15th all-time in runs scored.

Virtually without exception, however, those statistics are situation-dependent. To truly assess where Pujols ranks among the game’s greats, we need to look at some era-normalized numbers.

There are three excellent ones for that purpose: OPS+, WAR and Win Probability Added. We’re going to measure Pujols against about two dozen of the acknowledged greatest batsmen of all time in those three categories.

Beyond that, we’re going to assess him twice: Once for career data and again for peak performance. We’re defining a player’s peak as his best period of five consecutive years.

Our two dozen comparable greats, with the exception of Rodriguez all Cooperstown enshrinees, are: Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks, Barry Bonds, Ty Cobb, Eddie Collins, Jimmie Foxx, Lou Gehrig, Rickey Henderson, Rogers Hornsby, Nap Lajoie, Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Joe Morgan, Stan Musial, Mel Ott, Frank Robinson, Alex Rodriguez, Babe Ruth, Mike Schmidt, George Sisler, Tris Speaker, Honus Wagner and Ted Willliams

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