MLB Batter vs. Batter: Which Superstar Would You Choose?

Pretend it is the middle of MLB’s offseason, and you are hard at work as most General Managers are at this time of year.

Significant decisions are looming and need to be made sooner than later, as your team’s forthcoming success depends on it.

Now, below are the stats of two currently active MLB hitting superstars, but the hitch is you can only sign one. The players and stats are real, but the each player’s name, respective team and year are all crossed out in order for you to make an unbiased decision.

You won’t be discouraged, that much I can promise you.

Once you are finished, please leave your decision, via a comment and hopefully an explanation at the end of this post. Presumably, each pick will be your opinion of who is the better player as you are trying to put the best team together possible to win.

PLAYER 1 - STATS:

Year	Age	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	TB
19XX	20	146	677	601	141	215	54	1	36	123	15	4	59	104	0.358	0.414	0.631	379
19XX	21	141	638	587	100	176	40	3	23	84	29	6	41	99	0.300	0.350	0.496	291
19XX	22	161	748	686	123	213	35	5	42	124	46	13	45	121	0.310	0.360	0.560	384
19XX	23	129	572	502	110	143	25	0	42	111	21	7	56	109	0.285	0.357	0.586	294
20XX	24	148	672	554	134	175	34	2	41	132	15	4	100	121	0.316	0.420	0.606	336
20XX	25	162	732	632	133	201	34	1	52	135	18	3	75	131	0.318	0.399	0.622	393
20XX	26	162	725	624	125	187	27	2	57	142	9	4	87	122	0.300	0.392	0.623	389
20XX	27	161	715	607	124	181	30	6	47	118	17	3	87	126	0.298	0.396	0.600	364
20XX	28	155	698	601	112	172	24	2	36	106	28	4	80	131	0.286	0.375	0.512	308
20XX	29	162	715	605	124	194	29	1	48	130	21	6	91	139	0.321	0.421	0.610	369
20XX	30	154	674	572	113	166	26	1	35	121	15	4	90	139	0.290	0.392	0.523	299
20XX	31	158	708	583	143	183	31	0	54	156	24	4	95	120	0.314	0.422	0.645	376
AVERAGE:			690	596	124	184	32	2	43	124	22	5	76	122	0.308	0.392	0.585	349

PLAYER 2 - STATS:

Year	Age	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	TB
20XX	21	161	676	590	112	194	47	4	37	130	1	69	93	0.329	0.403	0.61	360
20XX	22	157	675	590	118	185	40	2	34	127	2	72	69	0.314	0.394	0.561	331
20XX	23	157	685	591	137	212	51	1	43	124	5	79	65	0.359	0.439	0.667	394
20XX	24	154	692	592	133	196	51	2	46	123	5	84	52	0.331	0.415	0.657	389
20XX	25	161	700	591	129	195	38	2	41	117	16	97	65	0.33	0.43	0.609	360
20XX	26	143	634	535	119	177	33	1	49	137	7	92	50	0.331	0.431	0.671	359
20XX	27	158	679	565	99	185	38	1	32	103	2	99	58	0.327	0.429	0.568	321
20XX	28	148	641	524	100	187	44	0	37	116	7	104	54	0.357	0.462	0.653	342
20XX	29	160	700	568	124	186	45	1	47	135	16	115	64	0.327	0.443	0.658	374
20XX	30	159	700	587	115	183	39	1	42	118	14	103	76	0.312	0.414	0.596	350
20XX	31	147	651	579	105	173	29	0	37	99	9	61	58	0.299	0.366	0.541	313
AVERAGE:			706	600	123	197	43	1	42	126	8	93	67	0.328	0.420	0.617	370

Before disclosing any true identities, let me give you the three reasons why I would sign PLAYER 1 over PLAYER 2.

1. PLAYER 1 is just as lethal once on base as clear from his stolen base numbers. PLAYER 1 also has 57 more RBIs.
2. PLAYER 2 doesn’t strikeout much, but my guess is that he gets intentionally walked a bit when looking at his base-on-balls numbers.
3. PLAYER 1′s most recent numbers season shows improvement, while almost all PLAYER 2’s stats declined in his last season. This does not mean that PLAYER 2 can’t be productive again, as he could have had an off-year but PLAYER 1 hasn’t shown that kind of drop off. This leads me to believe that PLAYER 1  is the safer bet.

 

Now, it is your turn BUT it is recommended that you make your choice prior to knowing each player’s true identity. As a team’s GM, intentionally hindering any decision, instead of doing what is best for the team is selfish, so try to decide before you peak. You have been warned. 

PLEASE STOP!!! BELOW ARE THE REAL PLAYERS NAMES!!!

For non-stat geeks, figuring out ‘who’ might be tough, so here are some real hints to see if you can guess:

• PLAYER 1 and PLAYER 2 have each won the MVP Award three times.
• They both won the MVP in their respective league in 2005.
• PLAYER 1 has played for three different AL teams.
• PLAYER 2 has only played for one NL team, where he won the 2001 NL ROY (rookie-of-the-year) Award.
• PLAYER 1 was a star shortstop before becoming a star third baseman.
• PLAYER 2 has only played first-base.

Ok…. have you guessed yet???

Alright, one last BIG hint:

PLAYER 1 currently plays for the New York Yankees, and PLAYER 2 currently plays for the St. Louis Cardinals, but is about to his the free agent market 5 days after he finished playing in the World Series.

PLAYER 1 is New York Yankees Alex Rodriguez; and PLAYER 2 is St. Louis Cardinals Albert Pujols.

Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/921704-mlb-batter-vs-batter-which-superstar-would-you-choose

A.J. Burnett Steve Garrison Phil Hughes Damaso Marte Mariano Rivera Kerry Wood