Albert Pujols vs. Matt Kemp: How much do they cost?

Albert Pujols and Matt Kemp were both free agents at the end of the 2011 season.  Both signed major deals in the off season. Obviously, one is hitting .406 and the other is hitting .197.  Pujols hit his first home run this weekend, while Kemp has hit 12 so far.  One has had a better season than the other, and that is easy to see.  My interest was: who was the better bargain? So the number crunching began.

                I took the two player’s salaries for 2012. Albert Pujols is earning $12,000,000 this year.  Matt Kemp is also making $12,000,000 and received a $2,000,000 signing bonus, totaling at $14,000,000.  Both players have played 29 games.  This comes out to be 17.9% of the season completed.  So far Pujols has “earned” $2,148,000 ,while Kemp has earned $2,506,000.

                I then calculated how much each game played, at bat, run, home run, and RBI were worth based off the money the players had “earned” so far with the season being 17.9% completed.  Albert Pujols earns $18,358.97 per at bat versus Matt Kemp’s $24,811.88. Kemp earns $6,452.91 more than Pujols per at bat.  Per game, Kemp earns $86,413.79 versus $74,068.96 earned by Pujols. Kemp makes $12,344.83 more than Pujols per game.

                Games played and at bats are the only two statistics where Albert Pujols COSTS less than Matt Kemp.  The numbers get interesting as we continue…

                The Dodgers payed $86,413.79 for each run (29) Matt Kemp has scored so far. The Angels have paid $214,800.00 for each run (10) Pujols has scored.  Pujols is paid $128,386.21 more per run.  The number gets even more staggering for home runs, as Kemp makes $208,833.33 per homer (12) versus Pujols’ $2,148,000.00 per homer (1).  Theoretically, Pujols costs the Angels $1,939,166.67 more than the Dodgers pay Matt Kemp per home run! In RBI’s, Matt Kemp makes $92,814.81 per RBI (27) while Pujols cost $238,666.67 per RBI (9). This saying (theoretically) the Angels pay Pujols $145,851.86 more than the Dodgers give Kemp.

                Of course all these numbers are based off of theory and player’s performance thus far.  I think it will be interesting to see these numbers at the end of the year.  Like I said, it is obvious who is having the better year, but I thought putting a monetary amount to the stats would make them more interesting.  As always, feel free to email me at JCGriffin13@yahoo.com or hit me up on twitter @griffaldo