The best MLB player in this decade

When I was voting for the Espys two weeks ago I was surprised to see the nominations for best baseball player. The nominees were Alex Rodriguez, Jake Peavy, Josh Beckett, C.C. Sabathia, Jimmy Rollins, and where's Albert Pujols? Nowhere on that list, a guy who is one of the most feared sluggers in the game isn't even nominated for best baseball player. I always thought he's the best player mainly because of his performance ever since he stepped into the big leagues: 2001 Rookie of the Year, 2005 NL MVP, and a world series ring in 2006 to top it all.

We not only have seen the terror that his bat causes pitchers in the regular season, but in the postseason. In 2004, he won the NLCS MVP. When the Astros were 3 outs away from going to the world series in game 5 of the 2005 NLCS, he homered off Houston closer Brad Lidge to send the series back to St. Louis. This is just a taste of Pujol's clutch hitting from April to October and we saw it again in game 1 of the 2006 World series, when his homer led the Cardinals to a game 1 victory. Not to sound negative and mention names but you can't consider guys like A-rod and Sabathia because they have not yet proven to respond to pressure.

This guy is not only clutch but he impacts his team. In 2008, the Cards have been overachieving with names you have not heard of primarily because of Pujols. When he went on the DL, the team's offense began to struggle. It seems like every year Pujols can win the MVP, he came 2nd in the 2006 voting. And don't get me started on his stats, they are sickening. He is only 28 years old and already in his 8 years in the big leagues he has hit 30 or more homers, and batting averages higher than .310 in each of those seasons. Also from 2001-2007 has driven in more than 100 runs per season. In his young career he already has 300 homers and a career batting average of .333, which is 1st on the active list.

So how can this guy not be the best baseball player? At every month of the baseball calender he's a threat to drive in runs, he makes his team better, he's a gold glover at first (2006), and he's a great competitor. Maybe its because he's in a small market St. Louis that doesn't get him the fame he deserves. Let me tell you, he's the LeBron James of baseball, no wait he's better than James at his sport. I know A-rod has been around for a while and his 500 homers and 3 MVPs are nice but in this decade if you look at the numbers and who has exceeded in baseball's main stage, the postseason, its gotta be Pujols and he's at the half point of his career, Pujols is on pace to hit 600-700 homers with a .330 BA, and one of the greatest right handed hitters of all-time.