Pujols is "finished"?

[brett]

My prediction for this year: .287, 35 home runs.

[fenrir]

David Ortiz in 2009 had a 102 OPS+ in a full season, and this year at age 36 he's among the best hitters in baseball. Also, as Willshad pointed out, last year Dunn was horrendous, and this year seems back to form.

Pujols probably won't age as well as somebody like Hank Aaron, but then again few players have aged that well.

[RaysFan_98]

I think A Monster might of just gotten awoken.

[White Knight]

My prediction is .240 with 20 HR.

[fenrir]

My prediction is .240 with 20 HR.

I bet you are praying for him to have an ugly decline phase, eh?

[Bothrops Atrox]

My prediction for this year: .287, 35 home runs.

.290, 32 HRs this year.

Back to .305/38 HR next year.

[White Knight]

I bet you are praying for him to have an ugly decline phase, eh?

I wouldn't pray for something like that, but I hope he does. Was it wrong for me to hope Cal would be benched so he didn't break Gehrig's streak?

[pheasant]

Pujols will finish with 56 HRs, .359 avg, .700 slugging pct this year. He will light it up with 15 HRs this month and a record setting 21 HRs in June. Then, his power will cool off, but he'll hit .380 in the 2nd half.

[White Knight]

Pujols will finish with 56 HRs, .359 avg, .700 slugging pct this year. He will light it up with 15 HRs this month and a record setting 21 HRs in June. Then, his power will cool off, but he'll hit .380 in the 2nd half.

And then he's hit with a 50 game ban.

[fenrir]

And then he's hit with a 50 game ban.

^^ This

Honestly, I believe Pujols to have been clean throughout his career, but if he suddenly became Babe Ruth at the plate at age 32, I would have no doubts that he dabbled with some steroids.

[fenrir]

I wouldn't pray for something like that, but I hope he does. Was it wrong for me to hope Cal would be benched so he didn't break Gehrig's streak?

I don't see why you would hope he has an ugly decline phase. I can tell you right now, no matter what numbers he retires with, he'll never be as respected as Gehrig because most fans in general hold the game's legends on an untouchable pedestal. Plus, his career occurred during a time of rampant steroid abuse, and thus in the eyes of many he will always be suspect because of his size and numbers, fair or not. Just google "Pujols steroids" and you'll see tons of people questioning whether he juices or not.

[White Knight]

^^ This

Honestly, I believe Pujols to have been clean throughout his career, but if he suddenly became Babe Ruth at the plate at age 32, I would have no doubts that he dabbled with some steroids.

Yeah, I hear ya. I think he's been clean though, if I had to guess.

[pheasant]

I believe Pujols will prove everybody wrong. Pujols is distracted now in his new town. If he had the fire that Frank Robinson did, then he'd be fine. But Pujols wasn't traded, so he doesn't have that fire to prove everyone wrong like Robinson did. Pujols will make his adjustments to his city and be back to putting up monster numbers. Last year, he hurt his wrist and never quite got back on track after his layoff(See Ruth in 1922 and 1925).He's never been a blazer on the basepaths. Thus, I believe that he's still in his prime. If this season ends up being a slump, then I think he'll turn it around next year. I think he'll break some Angel records. As long as he gets the plate appearances and avoids injuries, then he'll get back to his peak for about 3-4 more years. And if I'm right, he'll pass up the Iron Horse as the greatest 1st baseman ever.

[PlanetZoltan]

Im gonna have to agree with Raysfan98. Alberts got his first home run of the season, and now that he knows he can still hit them, he will go on a major tear for the rest of the season like we are used to him doing. I dont think he is going to hit his usual .300/30/100 this year, but i predict a .290ish with 33 HR and 90 rbi or so.

[chicagowhitesox1173]

I think he'll end up with 25-30 homeruns and below 90 rbi's. I use to like him in St.Louis but I have a hard time liking him anymore for leaving the cardinals and I know he didnt leave on bad terms but I just dont look at him the same anymore. I kinda hope he falls flat on his face. I suppose thats wrong of me to wish that upon him but I kinda think he's a bit of a jerk.

I also didnt like how he threw his hitting coach (Mickey Hatcher) under the bus like that either.