Power Pros Forum

Once they've both retired, which one do you think will have had the better career?

I'd say Cabrera because it seems as if Pujols has declined more than him. Although I guess there is a 3 year age difference.

No doubt Pujols has declined since joining the Angels, but he still has a few good seasons (or at least seasons like last year) left in him, but Cabrera will be better because of the age difference, he has more time to pad his stats for the HOF.

Both players will be in the Hall of Fame at one point, I will guarantee you that much.

The homer (and analyst) in me will say Cabrera, though. He's been a very consistent player in his career, even despite somewhat major injuries the last couple years. You can pencil him ine very year for at least a .320/.390/.550 line every year with at least 30 dingers and 100 ribbies (with last year, and his injuries, being an outlier.) Maybe a bit more consistent than Pujols at his age, perhaps?

Miggy was great at a young age just like Pujols and he has years to catch up to his numbers, I think Albert's gonna decline soon. Plus Cabrera proved more effective in the field - he played LF/RF and 3B before moving over to 1B in his prime, as you guys know. The man won a WS and hit a clutch homer off of Clemens at age 20.

Some may say Pujols because a of the World Series rings he has, even if Cabrera wins more batting titles and Pujols in a decline.

These responses are exactly what I expected. A whole lot of recency bias and just false information. I saw something similar to this on reddit, and it made me realize just how good Pujols is.

Miggy has hit over 40 homers twice. Pujols has done it 6 times. In fact, Pujols is a lock for 600 with an outside chance at 700.

Miggy had more walks than strikeouts just once in his career. Pujols did it 10 straight seasons.

Miggy's career slash line is .320/.396/.564, while Pujols is .317/.403/.588, and that's even with the start of his so-called decline.

Miggy has an abysmal -13.2 defensive WAR, but Pujols is at a decent 1.6.

Miggy's highest bWAR in a single season is 7.5. Pujols surpassed that 7 times. In fact, Miggy has 59.4 WAR in 12 seasons, yet Pujols has 97.0 in 14 seasons.

Speaking of the decline, Pujols has still put up 10.6 WAR over his 3 seasons with LA. If he puts up 20 WAR over the next 7 years, he'd rank 16th all time. For Miggy to match that total, he'd need to average 6.4 WAR for the next 9 years.

However, you did ask who'll have the better career when all is said and done. Because Miggy is younger than Pujols, he'll have a few more years to catch up to him. Sure, they'll probably both have very similar careers, but I think Miggy will have the slightly better career.

The point of the post is that Pujols is so far ahead, Miggy just has no shot of catching him. Two or three seasons isn't enough to reach any of Pujols accomplishments. Miggy is a great hitter and a HOFer for sure. But Pujols is in that GOAT category.

why ask..

when you already know the answer?

Because this was really nothing more than me conducting a test. I was curious what the results would be, and I really wasn't surprised

Does everyone not remember how dominant Pujols was? There was about a 5 year stretch in which he consistently slashed about 340/440/600 while being the best defensive 1B in the league. IMO, Pujols is an all time great, while Cabrera is just a generational great.

5 year stretch means all-time? Cabrera has been just as dominant, right?

You set me up, dammit.

Well, no. Not quite. Over 7 years (03-09), Pujols put up 61.5 WAR, 295 HR, and a .337 AVG. Those numbers alone are possibly HOF worthy. And that's not even including four more seasons of over 5 WAR.

Cabrera is a bit tougher, because his curve is a bit weird. He had an okay first year and a half, two great seasons, two more just okay years, and then six great ones in a row. Even if we just pluck his best seven seasons, you get 44.7 WAR, 249 HR, and a .333 AVG. That includes his terrible defense though.

That isn't to take away from Miggy. Those are amazing stats, but that fact that Pujols still beats him out really says something. 15 years from now, people will remember Miggy as a top 25 hitter of all time. But Pujols could end up in the top 5.