"He will be a Hall of Famer someday..."

[PrettyT11]

Re: "He will be a Hall of Famer someday..."

Every player you mentioned above is within the twilight of their careers.

Except Pujols.

I'm not offering an opinion, though I will say I'm captivated by this thread. It's been a fun read.

But anyway, you have to see the distinction there.

Yes they are on the later parts of their careers but they all have been regarded as future HOF'ers for a while and rightfully so. There hasn't been a question if any of those guys are worthy for quite some time.

This is true.

Except they also didn't succumb to this hypothetical nose-dive decline (which I doubt will happen to Pujols) as discussed earlier in the thread.

This is also true but for as great as all of those guys are none of them have put up the type of historic numbers Pujols has. When his first 10 years can be argued as one of if not the greatest first 10 years of a career ever that puts him on a different level. Has it stands right now he already has 3 MVP's, two world series rings, 9 time all star, six silver sluggers, and two gold gloves. It doesn't matter if Pujols never hits another baseball again he is a lock for the Hall of Fame.

[Heroesandvillains]

Re: "He will be a Hall of Famer someday..."

This is also true but for as great as all of those guys are none of them have put up the type of historic numbers Pujols has. When his first 10 years can be argued as one of if not the greatest first 10 years of a career ever that puts him on a different level. Has it stands right now he already has 3 MVP's, two world series rings, 9 time all star, six silver sluggers, and two gold gloves. It doesn't matter if Pujols never hits another baseball again he is a lock for the Hall of Fame.

If he never swings the bat again, I agree. He gets in.

But what if he hits .205 every year for the next 10 years? And what if he only averages 10 HR per year? Does he get in then?

[55]

Re: "He will be a Hall of Famer someday..."

If he never swings the bat again, I agree. He gets in.

But what if he hits .205 every year for the next 10 years? And what if he only averages 10 HR per year? Does he get in then?

That is a hypothetical impossibility.

With his contract, there is no way that he would have a job if he hit that poorly for that many seasons. He would be put on waivers by year three. Plus, you know, he is still a great player and it's just not going to happen anyway.

[CMH]

That is a hypothetical impossibility.

With his contract, there is no way that he would have a job if he hit that poorly for that many seasons. He would be put on waivers by year three. Plus, you know, he is still a great player and it's just not going to happen anyway.

What do you mean? If he were put on waivers the team would still have to pay him unless someone else picked him up.

I think the Angels would find a way to play a guy they would have to pay $25 MM a year to.


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[55]

Re: "He will be a Hall of Famer someday..."

They would buy out his contract. Stranger things have happened.

The Magic are still paying Arenas 20 million bucks a year and he isn't even on the team.

In any event, the dude is on fire right now and clearly hasn't fallen off the way people thought.

The day Pujols hits .205 or worse and hits 10 HR or less in the same season (barring injury, of course) I will wait until the dead of winter here in Cleveland, shovel a good mound of snow about five feet deep, climb up to my roof and take a massive swan dive into said snow pile. I will then post the video on YouTube for all to see.

It simply isn't going to happen.

[TheNumber35]

Re: "He will be a Hall of Famer someday..."

They would buy out his contract. Stranger things have happened.

The Magic are still paying Arenas 20 million bucks a year and he isn't even on the team.

In any event, the dude is on fire right now and clearly hasn't fallen off the way people thought.

The day Pujols hits .205 or worse and hits 10 HR or less in the same season (barring injury, of course) I will wait until the dead of winter here in Cleveland, shovel a good mound of snow about five feet deep, climb up to my roof and take a massive swan dive into said snow pile. I will then post the video on YouTube for all to see.

It simply isn't going to happen.

I have nothing against Pujols, but purely because of this proclamation, I want him to play that badly. I'd love to see you take a swan dive into snow off your roof...YouTube gold right there.

[12]

Re: "He will be a Hall of Famer someday..."

If he never swings the bat again, I agree. He gets in.

But what if he hits .205 every year for the next 10 years? And what if he only averages 10 HR per year? Does he get in then?

Absolutely.

If you're elite for a decade, I believe that deserves HoF enshrinement. Just because someone chooses to play longer than they probably should does not take away from what they did in their prime.

Pujols wasn't just elite, though... Few would argue that for the first 10 seasons of his career, he was the best hitter in baseball and the numbers back that claim up. He already has the accolades to get in.

[lonewolf371]

Re: "He will be a Hall of Famer someday..."

Absolutely.

If you're elite for a decade, I believe that deserves HoF enshrinement. Just because someone chooses to play longer than they probably should does not take away from what they did in their prime.

Pujols wasn't just elite, though... Few would argue that for the first 10 seasons of his career, he was the best hitter in baseball and the numbers back that claim up. He already has the accolades to get in.

Yeah but it's starting to seem that we'll be saying stuff like "worst year of Pujols's career" rather often over the next few years. Last year was the worst year of his career, and even with his recent hot streak he's likely to surpass it this year. It happens; players get old.

[Heroesandvillains]

Re: "He will be a Hall of Famer someday..."

They would buy out his contract. Stranger things have happened.

The Magic are still paying Arenas 20 million bucks a year and he isn't even on the team.

In any event, the dude is on fire right now and clearly hasn't fallen off the way people thought.

The day Pujols hits .205 or worse and hits 10 HR or less in the same season (barring injury, of course) I will wait until the dead of winter here in Cleveland, shovel a good mound of snow about five feet deep, climb up to my roof and take a massive swan dive into said snow pile. I will then post the video on YouTube for all to see.

It simply isn't going to happen.

You seem to be missing my point. Did anyone say a Pujols decline like I asked about was going to happen? I certainly didn't.

So just because it's NOT going to happen means the hypothetical question doesn't warrant an answer?

The topic intrigues me more than anything else.

So I'll ask you again. Pujols goes the next 10 years and only compiles 100 HR's while dropping his career BA (not to mention OBP, etc) .50 points (ish). Does he still get in???

[Sportsforever]

Re: "He will be a Hall of Famer someday..."

You seem to be missing my point. Did anyone say a Pujols decline like I asked about was going to happen? I certainly didn't.

So just because it's NOT going to happen means the hypothetical question doesn't warrant an answer?

The topic intrigues me more than anything else.

So I'll ask you again. Pujols goes the next 10 years and only compiles 100 HR's while dropping his career BA (not to mention OBP, etc) .50 points (ish). Does he still get in???

Just some amazing numbers to consider:

Let's assume that during the life of his contract (10 years) Pujols gets 600 at bats/year (not PA, AB). In order for him to drop his career batting average 50 points (from .325 to .275) he would need to hit .220 for that 10 year period. If this was to occur, he would STILL have 3,435 career hits. I think we can assume he WILL not hit .220 for the next 10 years and that if he did, he'd still get in with a .275 average, 3500 hits, and 600 HR's. The dude is as much as a lock as you can be at this point.

[TheNumber35]

Re: "He will be a Hall of Famer someday..."

Just some amazing numbers to consider:

Let's assume that during the life of his contract (10 years) Pujols gets 600 at bats/year (not PA, AB). In order for him to drop his career batting average 50 points (from .325 to .275) he would need to hit .220 for that 10 year period. If this was to occur, he would STILL have 3,435 career hits. I think we can assume he WILL not hit .220 for the next 10 years and that if he did, he'd still get in with a .275 average, 3500 hits, and 600 HR's. The dude is as much as a lock as you can be at this point.

Jesus...the man really is a machine isn't he? I never would have imagined he could do that poorly and still collect numbers like those. And I'm in the crowd that thought he'd get in no matter what happened, those numbers are something to think about. Wow!

[Heroesandvillains]

Re: "He will be a Hall of Famer someday..."

Just some amazing numbers to consider:

Let's assume that during the life of his contract (10 years) Pujols gets 600 at bats/year (not PA, AB). In order for him to drop his career batting average 50 points (from .325 to .275) he would need to hit .220 for that 10 year period. If this was to occur, he would STILL have 3,435 career hits. I think we can assume he WILL not hit .220 for the next 10 years and that if he did, he'd still get in with a .275 average, 3500 hits, and 600 HR's. The dude is as much as a lock as you can be at this point.

Thank you. Great post!