Baseball - Pujols to Get Perfect

Only four days after winning a World Series title, Albert Pujols became only the sixth player to get a perfect 100 score in the annual player rankings. The St. Louis Cardinals first baseman finished first at his position in plate appearances, batting average, on-base percentage, home runs and RBI during the 2005 and 2006 seasons, according to rankings released on Tuesday by the Elias Sports Bureau.

As the rankings were created in the settlement of the 1981 strike, the only previous players to get perfect scores were New York Yankees first baseman Don Mattingly (1987), Baltimore Orioles shortstop Cal Ripken Jr. (1991), Chicago White Sox first baseman Frank Thomas (1995), Houston first baseman Jeff Bagwell (1995) and Boston designated hitter Manny Ramirez (2002).

Pujols is accustomed to break records. He was the top NL first baseman for the third straight year after finishing among the top three outfielders in 2003. Catcher Michael Barrett and reliever Billy Wagner also repeated. Chase Utley replaced Mark Loretta at second, and Miguel Cabrera took over from Aramis Ramirez at third. Cabrera was among the top three outfielders in 2003.

Rafael Furcal replaced Jimmy Rollins at shortstop, Chris Carpenter was the starting pitcher in place of Roy Oswalt and Jason Bay, Matt Holliday and Moises Alou were the top three outfielders, replacing Cabrera, Lance Berkman and Bobby Abreu. In the AL, starting pitcher Johan Santana, reliever Mariano Rivera, catcher Victor Martinez and designated hitter Travis Hafner repeated. Alex Rodriguez was the top third baseman for the second straight year after leading shortstops for six straight seasons. Paul Konerko replaced Mark Teixeira at first base, Brian Roberts took over from Placido Polanco at second, and Michael Young followed Derek Jeter at shortstop. Ramirez was among the top three outfielders for the 10th time in 11 years, and Vladimir Guerrero repeated. Abreu, acquired by the Yankees in July, replaced teammate Hideki Matsui.

Rankings are basically used to decide whether players are Type A or B free agents. As a result it will determine which draft picks their former teams get as compensation if they sign elsewhere. The top 30 percent in each group get an A ranking, and the next 20 percent a B ranking. Other type of compensation from Type C players has been removed in baseball's new labor contract. Clubs that sign Type B players won't give up any draft picks, but their former clubs will receive intermedary picks between rounds.