MLB Baseball Column: Draft Strategy

More MLB columns

Showdown: Pujols vs. Votto

Rotoworld Staff

Senior Writer, Rotoworld.com

Often times in the midst of your draft, you’ll find yourself deciding between a couple players at the same position. With Player Showdowns, we take two players who are closely ranked by Average Draft Position (ADP) and/or Rotoworld’s 2013 season projections and have writers take a side and debate who should be selected first. Whose side will you be on?

We’ll offer up one Showdown per position (catcher, first base, second base, shortstop, third base, outfield, starter and reliever) here, and you can get dozens more by purchasing the 2013 Rotoworld Baseball Draft Guide. It’s an essential weapon to have in your arsenal at the draft table this spring.

Also, be sure to sign up for a free fantasy baseball league with our partners over at Yahoo! Sports. As you’re all well aware of at this point, it’s the best fantasy platform out there.

Albert Pujols vs. Joey Votto

Pujols

News that Pujols may not see spring training game action until mid-March has me a little worried about his recovery from offseason knee surgery, but for now at least I'm banking on him returning to elite status. Last year Pujols didn't hit his first homer until May 6 and the shockingly poor start dragged down his season totals, leading to lots of talk that he's in the midst of a significant decline at age 33. However, he hit .305 with 30 homers, 42 doubles, 100 RBIs, and a .934 OPS in his final 127 games. During that time period only Miguel Cabrera and Josh Hamilton drove in more runs. Votto is an amazing hitter and perhaps even better than Pujols, but his incredible on-base skills aren't valued properly in fantasy leagues and from 2010-2012 his per-150 game averages of 28 homers and 97 RBIs are good but not great for the position. Votto also missed one-third of last season with knee problems of his own, so health-wise he's in a similar boat to Pujols. If you're building a real-life lineup I'd probably rather have Votto batting third, but if you're trying to pile up numbers that win fantasy leagues I'd still lean toward Pujols. – Aaron Gleeman (@AaronGleeman)

Votto

You can’t really go wrong here. Both first basemen are sure-fire first-round picks with the potential to produce astronomical offensive numbers in 2013. But I like Votto more than Pujols because I think the two players are at different stages in their respective careers. Votto is 29 years old and posted an outrageous .337/.474/.567 batting line last season. His batting line was .309/.416/.531 in 2011 and .324/.424/.600 in 2010. Pujols, who is 33 years old and has been on a steady decline for the past five seasons, had a .285/.343/.516 batting line in 2012, a .299/.366/.541 batting line in 2011 and a .312/.414/.596 batting line in 2010. Pujols probably has more raw power than Votto, but the cozy confines of Great American Ball Park could help nullify that. Pujols plays at Angel Stadium, where the marine layer during night games can turn big flies into fly outs. Pujols gets to hit behind Mike Trout and Erick Aybar. But hitting behind Shin-Soo Choo and Brandon Phillips isn’t so bad either. – Drew Silva (@drewsilv)

PREVIOUS SHOWDOWNS:

Wieters vs. Molina

Previous Draft Strategy column Recent MLB columns

Headlines

Cabrera's HR streak now 4, Tigers rally
Angels' 4 HRs back Blanton's first win
Indians' Francona makes return to Fenway
Indians rip Red Sox in Francona's return
Jays win 12-6, ruin debut of O's Gausman
Oblique strain lands 2B Utley on DL
Pirates top Cubs for fourth straight win

Cabrera's HR streak now 4, Tigers rally

Angels' 4 HRs back Blanton's first win

Indians' Francona makes return to Fenway

Indians rip Red Sox in Francona's return

Jays win 12-6, ruin debut of O's Gausman

Oblique strain lands 2B Utley on DL

Pirates top Cubs for fourth straight win

more ...

MLB Player News

Joaquin Arias SS - SF: May 24, 1:23AM: Arias slashing... Joaquin Arias has been one of baseball's worst hitters, slashing .205/.262/.205 through 43 plate appearances. The utility infielder, making $925,000 this season, batted .270/.304/.389 with a .693 OPS in 344 plate appearances last season. He can be ignored in NL-only formats.
Jason Frasor RP - TEX: May 24, 1:19AM: Frasor owns a... Jason Frasor has tallied a 3.65 ERA through 17 appearances in his first season for the Rangers. Signed to a one-year, $1.5 million contract in early January, Frasor has improved upon 2012's disappointing campaign for the Blue Jays, where he posted a rough 4.12 ERA and 1.47 WHIP across 43-plus innings of relief. Frasor owns a 13/5 K/BB ratio and 1.29 WHIP through 12 1/3 frames.
Jeremy Horst RP - PHI: May 24, 1:14AM: Horst struggling... Jeremy Horst has not carried over his success from 2012, posting a 5.09 ERA and 1.58 WHIP over 17 2/3 innings. Luckily for him, Philly's bullpen depth is poor. A lack of attractive alternative options will only save Horst's job for so long, however, if he keeps getting lit up at this rate. Horst posted a 1.74 ERA over 44 games in limited time the last two seasons, which is probably why the Phillies have given him as much rope as they have.
Adam Ottavino RP - COL: May 24, 1:08AM: Ottavino has a... Adam Ottavino boasts a 2.01 ERA over 22 1/3 relief innings for the Rockies. Ottavino has pitched exceedingly well as a swingman, posting a 24/5 K/BB rate and 1.12 WHIP in 14 appearances. As a 27-year-old, he appears likely to remain in the majors over the duration of an entire season for the first time in his career.
Jose Valverde RP - DET: May 24, 12:50AM: Valverde works... Jose Valverde worked a scoreless ninth inning against the Twins on Thursday, striking out two and earning his fifth save of the season. Papa Grande -- unwanted by 30 teams a month and a half ago -- has been lethal out of the back end of Detroit's bullpen. Through 11 innings, he has a 0.82 ERA, 0.55 WHIP and 10/4 K/BB rate. He's only given up two hits and one run.
Rick Porcello SP - DET: May 24, 12:45AM: Porcello pounded... Rick Porcello was chased by the Twins for five runs on 10 hits over five innings Thursday, but escaped with a no-decision when Detroit mounted a late comeback. He struck out two and walked one. Porcello was 0-2 with an 11.08 ERA on April 20 before a solid four-game stretch lowered his earned run average to 5.92. It's back up to 6.28, courtesy of the toothless Minnesota offense. Gamble on Porcello at your own risk Tuesday, when he has a date against the Pirates.
Miguel Cabrera 3B - DET: May 24, 12:37AM: Miggy Cabrera... Miguel Cabrera continued to torment major league pitching Thursday, going 2-for-3 with another homer in a comeback win against the Twins. He also walked twice. Now on a four-game home run streak, Cabrera is 9-for-15 (.600) with five walks, a double, six homers, 13 RBI and nine runs during that stretch. He's first in the AL in batting average (.391), second in homers (14), and first in RBI (55), runs (39), slugging percentage (.701) and OPS (1.168). He's only eighth in walks (25) at the moment, but he'll be gifted plenty more of those as teams realize it's an awful idea to throw Cabrera a hittable pitch at the moment.

Joaquin Arias SS - SF: May 24, 1:23AM: Arias slashing...