“Can you imagine someone saying that to me?” Pujols tells USA TODAY Sports in recalling the question from a reporter. “I felt like saying, ‘Come on, are you serious? Are you really asking me that? Check out my numbers. I know what Mike Trout has done in his first two years is pretty special, but will you look at my numbers. I’ve been doing this for almost 14 years.’
“The only guy in baseball who can match the numbers I’ve put up is Barry Bonds, and someone is actually asking if I can put up numbers like Mike Trout?
“Are you freaking kidding me?”
Well, no. It’s not about what you’ve done, dude. It’s about what you can do. And I don’t think it’s crazy to think that Trout will have better numbers than Pujols going forward for the rest of Pujols’ career.
Maybe that’s not the best way to couch that kind of question to a veteran -- and maybe Pujols bristling is a good sign with respect to his motivation to do better than he has the past couple of years -- but he’s no more the straw that stirs the drink in Anaheim than Barry Bonds still is in San Francisco.
OK, maybe a little more. He’s still playing after all. But that’s Mike Trout’s team now.
