Who is the Best Player in the Major Leagues?

Who do you view as the best position player in the major leagues?

Albert Pujols 9 (56%)

Alex Rodriguez 2 (12%)

Hanley Ramirez 1 (6%)

Miguel Cabrera 1 (6%)

Prince Fielder 0 (0%)

Joe Mauer 3 (18%)

Other (specify in a comment on the blog) 0 (0%)

I did this poll because (obviously) I was curious to see who people thought the best player in the Major Leagues is. The overwhelming numberof votes for Pujols is fairly typical of what I was suspecting, but there are some interesting things that can be found in this poll.

The fact that Joe Mauer received the next highest number of votes (albeit, he was behind by a lot) indicates to me that people really view him as great. Understandably, the man hit .365 last year, which is higher than anything Pujols has ever done, although not by much since Pujols hit .359 in 2003. If Mauer continues to hit around .360 every year with about 30 home runs, like he did last season, it would be much easier to argue for him as the best player in the Major Leagues. The real problem is the fact that he hasn't done this consistently. He bats north of .300 pretty much every year, but he only developed power last year, and hasn't shown that he is going to around 30 home runs again this year. Mauer is undoubtedly the best Catcher in the Major Leagues, though.

I think, as do most of the people who voted on the poll, that Pujols is easily the best player in baseball because of his consistent excellence. At this point, Pujols looks like he is probably the best player of this generation. He is only 30, and looks to be pretty close to a lock for 600 Home Runs with a career batting average over .330. This is something that hasn't been done since the days of Babe Ruth. Just be sure to take in every Pujols at-bat you can, because he's truely remarkable.