He's just not the average Joe

Every now and then, there comes a question of which MVP player would you rather have. In 2005, would you rather have A-rod or Pujols? In 2006, Morneau or Howard? Or we can go back in the 90's and debate between Griffey or Walker? Bagwell or Thomas?

There could be a serious debate as to who would you pick between any of the above--and this year raises a similar dilemma; would you rather have Pujols or Mauer.

On the one hand, you have a player that will probably end up destroying the all-time home run record while the other side has a dominant player in a position that is not particularly known for hitting.

Pujols hit 47 homeruns in the 2009 season, 135 RBI's, 186 hits, 124 runs, 115 walks, and only 64 strikeouts. Pujols has had 32 homeruns or more in each season in all of his nine years in the league. He has had 103 RBI's or more every season as well as batted .314 or above year in-year out.

Pujols has been getting more walks every year too; he started off with 69 walks in 2001, then 72, 79, 84, 97, 92, 99, 104, and 115 last year. His intentional walks have also increased every year too; 6, 13, 12, 12, 27, 28, 22, 34, and 44 last year. He is becoming a force that pitchers do now want to deal with at any cost--except now he has a safety spot in the line-up right after him so pitchers will have to respect Holiday and try to get Pujols out.

What is the most surprising thing about Pujols is not his dominance or the fear he creates, it's the concentration at the plate--his strike-outs have been decreasing every year as well. He started off the league with 93 strike outs and have cut it down in the 60's for the past eight years. He is more focused, more accurate, and simply more of a beast. And the best thing about him is he's clean. He hasn't been mentioned with the steroid drama and thus he has elevated to a higher platform on baseball--he is the most deadly clean player in the game. Hands down. End of story. He is 30 years old and easily has another 10 more years to play, and he can definitely get another 400 homers in that span.

Now let's take a look at Mauer. He's not the average Joe; he batted .365 last season and had 191 hits, 28 homers, 96 RBI's, 94 runs, and still won the AL MVP by playing only 138 games. Mauer has been in the league for 6 years now and has become one of the faces of the league--along with players like Jeter and even Griffey until this day. He too is clean from the tainted HGH era, and MLB has never been so happy to have such a player.

He is the best catcher in the league right now. He does not strike out often, he calls the game as good as anyone else in the league--and his arm is ridiculous. He is kind of like a Raul Mondesi from the catching position. I can't remember the last time a catcher won the batting title let alone actually have a catcher going for .400 average! Every year, he floods the headlines with his average. In 2006, he batted .347 and there was that same headline!

Mauer is not as dominant of a player as Pujols (in terms of batting), but he is a leader in all aspects. He orchestrates the pitchers and makes 3 errors a year. His fielding percentage was .996 last season and rarely gets any lower.

To be a catcher and not be placed in the lower part of the line-up is amazing; but to be batting third and becoming a dependent force in the batters box or right behind plate is the most looked for quality in all of the position players. A player who can hit from the catching position is simply more valuable then a player who can hit from any other position. It transforms a liability to an asset.

There are other players that play first base that hits homeruns--it's a cliche and almost expected that if you play first, you hit homers. If you play catcher, you bat 8th.

There's also the team factor--Mauer plays for a team that lacks hitting while the Cardinals have a line-up that can make any pitcher cry. It's obvious that Mauer's numbers would be worse in terms of the team he plays and of course Mauer is not as intimidating as Pujols, but if Mauer had a team with more than just Morneau--his numbers would elevate exponentially.

Either way, you can't go wrong between picking either of these players but what I find amazing is that there actually could be a debate; if it was any other player in the league, I don't think I would pick anyone over Pujols. He's just not the average Joe.