Pujols Vs. A-Rod

A recent story indicating that Albert Pujols is doing fine after elbow surgery gave the Fan a chance to look at his amazing statistics through his first eight years. After viewing those statistics, the Fan wondered how they compared with Alex Rodriguez's first full eight years in the majors. The comparisons are interesting.

Through eight years:

• Albert Pujols has 319 homers compared to A-Rod's 340.
• Albert Pujols has 342 doubles compared to A-Rod's 279
• Albert Pujols has 2856 Total Bases compared to A-Rod's 2830
• Albert Pujols has an OPS of 1.049 compared to A-Rod's .976 (A-Rod didn't start walking a lot until his fourth year)
• Albert Pujols has 1531 hits compared to A-Rod's 1491
• Pujols averages around 63 strike outs a year. A-Rod, well over a hundred.
• Albert Pujols has stolen 45 bases. A-Rod had 170
• Albert Pujols has a .334 batting average through eight years, A-Rod was around .318.
• Albert Pujols has made 79 errors thus far in his career, A-Rod had 117.

Both players have truly amazing numbers. Pujols has him on Batting Average, OPS and strike outs. A-Rod is better on the bases and played shortstop all those years, which according to most, is a more important position than first base or outfield.

It is fun to compare the two and to debate which player has been better through eight years. When looking at some of the new statistics, Win Shares gives a slight edge to Pujols with 184 compared to A-Rod's 176. The edge also goes to Pujols with OPS+. Pujols has averaged an OPS+ of 170 compared to A-Rod's 146 over his first eight full years.

It's an interesting debate that appears to give Pujols the edge. The Fan would take either one of them on his team any day.