Yanks 4 Ever were content with that, there will be no need for yet another post denigrating A-Rods achievements or contributions. If he wants to argue that he is the best hitter in baseball today, let alone all time – that is a losing argument. As Antone points out, Pujols is just plain better.

My issue with A-Rod is along the lines of what Steve says – his contract (and to a lesser degree, his personality) make him a focal point and even a lightning rod. With his contract, he can NEVER meet fan expectations. He will always fall short, especially in seasons when he actually does fall short (’06, ’08).

The Yanks problem IMHO, is that A-Rod is not alone on that expectation pedestal. He shares it with every $15M plus player we have on the roster – starting with the free agents we brought in. Giambi, Abreu, Damon et al. Homegrown Yankee heros who worked their way up to those numbers like Jeter and Posada get more of a pass, but not a complete pass.

In a sport where 3 out of 10 is the definition of success, having a roster full of players who are expected to come through EVERY time they come to the plate creates an environment where failure is almost assured. The ’96 to ’01 teams had a mix of players – some from whom much was expected like Bernie or Paulie and some from whom less was expected Brosius, Posada, and a large cast of other characters. We went away from that.

Can we go back? Will Hank allow it? Can we do it with A-Rod on board? That is my issue.

Bravo Antone. Excellent analysis. A-Rod is a spectacular talent by any measure. He will undoubtedly be considered one the the greats in history. If

Also, could you please expound upon the idea that “he is not a great “hitter” in the way that he approaches at-bats which is why he struggles in certain situations.” This is extremely vague and I don’t see how it’s true. He’s a .300 hitter and draws plenty of walks in addition to all of the slugging. What is his flawed approach to at-bats?
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I can understand your confusion with this because I was struggling with how to word it myself. I have a couple reasons I believe this to be true:

- Pujols is a more complete hitter than A-Rod because he uses the whole field while A-Rod sometimes because too pull happy. I couldn’t find any historical data but Pujols hit to Center/Right of the field 50% of the time last year while A-Rod was 39% and I would imagine he is even less so this season. I think Pujols goes with the pitch more and A-Rod is easier to get out because he might try to pull a pitch he should be going the other way on. I just have seen too many A-Rod at bats where he just looks like he doesn’t have a clue. I think A-Rod could be just as good as Pujols if he went the other way more and became less of a pull hitter.

- Pujols strikes out way less than A-Rod about 60 times per season compared to A-Rod about 120 times per season. To me that means that Pujols has better bat control and is a better hitter than A-Rod because he is putting the ball in play more often which gives him a better chance to get a hit. Striking out gives you no chance obviously.

So that’s why I believe A-Rod relies more on his talent than his approach…he’s so gifted he can make mistakes at the plate and get away with them sometimes…while Pujols uses both his immense talent and solid approach at the plate.

So because A-Rod relies on his talent more than Pujols…I think once A-Rod’s talent starts to slip he will decline a lot more rapidly then Pujols will. They might have the same skill set when they are both 38 years old for instance but I think Pujols will still be able to put up better numbers because of his approach at the plate. I didn’t really mean lose his power, I meant more when his skills start to decline which in effect will bring down his power from 35-50 range to 25-35 range.

Basically I think that Pujols will age more like Manny Ramirez (130-150 OPS+ range), while A-Rod will be more like Griffey JR (100-120 OPS+). Obviously that is a few years from now, but I’m actually kind of interested to see how it all plays out and that is just my opinion on that.

Definitely fair points.

A-Rod has also played far more challenging defensive positions for his whole career than Pujols and Bonds.

Right now I think you can easily say Alex is one of the 3 best players in the game today. His health and consistently spectacular numbers also put him on pace to have the career stats that will easily put him in the argument to be one of the top 10 or even top 5 players of all time.

Also, could you please expound upon the idea that “he is not a great “hitter” in the way that he approaches at-bats which is why he struggles in certain situations.” This is extremely vague and I don’t see how it’s true. He’s a .300 hitter and draws plenty of walks in addition to all of the slugging. What is his flawed approach to at-bats?

And “Once A-Rod loses his power I think he is going to struggle big time.” What guy who average 40 HR’s a year for a career, still looked great when he lost his power? This doesn’t make sense. Will Pujols be a better singles hitter than A-Rod when they both lose their power? And even if he is, when they both become singles hitters with mediocre SLG%’s, the difference between hitting .300 and .330 isn’t significant.

When you use numbers to support your arguments it makes sense. The vague, general statements that you try to use to prop up your arguments really just weaken them.

Antone, if I was asking about the better hitter, pujols, hitting in the weaker pitching NL is better. As an overall player, Arod leaves him in the dust though. Babe Ruth is better, not sure about Mays. Bonds started his decline way before he started on roids.
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He’s a better hitter period, just in his approach alone. Name me one thing A-Rod does better than Pujols other than stealing bases?

Bonds was not in decline unless you consider declining as going from a 1.080 OPS to a 1.000 OPS. He probably started taking steriods after 1998, so if you look at his numbers before that you can see he was better than A-Rod even then. Steriods just made him better than Babe Ruth. Don’t forget you are talking about a gold glove outfielder and someone who was probably a better base stealer than A-Rod too.

Bonds
(Year/Age/OPS/OPS+)
1986/21/0.746/103
1987/22/0.821/114
1988/23/0.859/148
1989/24/0.777/126
1990/25/0.971/170
1991/26/0.924/160
1992/27/1.080/205
1993/28/1.135/204
1994/29/1.073/183
1995/30/1.008/168
1996/31/1.076/188
1997/32/1.031/170
1998/33/1.047/178
1999/34/1.006/155
2000/35/1.128/188
2001/36/1.378/259
2002/37/1.381/268
2003/38/1.278/231
2004/39/1.421/263
2005/40/1.071/174
2006/41/0.999/156
2007/42/1.045/170

A-Rod
(Year/Age/OPS/OPS+)
1994/18/0.445/16
1995/19/0.672/72
1996/20/1.045/160
1997/21/0.846/120
1998/22/0.920/136
1999/23/0.943/134
2000/24/1.026/162
2001/25/1.021/160
2002/26/1.015/158
2003/27/0.996/147
2004/28/0.887/131
2005/29/1.031/173
2006/30/0.915/134
2007/31/1.067/177
2008/32/0.966/153

A-Rod’s best season was 2007 where he had a 1.067 OPS and1 177 OPS+ and Pre-Steriods for Bonds (1986-1998) Bonds had FOUR seasons better than A-Rod’s best season:

1992/27/1.080/205
1993/28/1.135/204
1994/29/1.073/183
1996/31/1.076/188

silly comment by O’Connor – would the Yanks have been better letting ARod go and let Cashman continue on the plans of building thru the Draft where the Yanks just sh*t the bed and had a horrible draft??
Two more picks would have left the Yanks with a 70 win team for the forseeable future, overpaying for prospects because everyone would have known they were in response to Arod’s departure, and without a right-handed bat in the lioneup?
Its stupid reporting which has given bloggers their place on this earth, so i guess by reading the papers & sites we lose the battle but win the war

Antone, if I was asking about the better hitter, pujols, hitting in the weaker pitching NL is better. As an overall player, Arod leaves him in the dust though. Babe Ruth is better, not sure about Mays. Bonds started his decline way before he started on roids.

It’s got to be Pujols. As far as greatest of all time…A-Rod will never be that..Babe Ruth is better, Mays is probably better, and Bonds even before steroids was better than A-Rod. Those are just a few that come to mind.

A-Rod is a great power hitter and has tremendous talent but he is not a great “hitter” in the way that he approaches at-bats which is why he struggles in certain situations. That is what sets Pujols apart from him in my mind. Pujols is a career .330 hitter compared to ARod’s .306 and Pujols would probably hit that good average wise no matter how big he was.

Pujols career OPS is 1.045 while A-Rod’s is .967. It’s not even close.

Once A-Rod loses his power I think he is going to struggle big time.

Hey antone, who do you think is the best player in the game right now? As far as greatest of all time, I am not the only one saying that, but people with a lot more knowledge of the game than you or I have stated the fact. However, I would love to hear who YOU think is the best player in the game right now.

First, Arod is not going anywhere. I think he is and will be the best player to ever play this game when all is said and done. He will be the true (non-steroid) home run leader before he retires.
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A-Rod isn’t even the best player in the game right now never mind the greatest of all time.