What matters more career OPS or career totals??
I’m going to throw a twist into the question as well

What matters more peak performance or career

So for example, Pinson had some great seasons early in his career.
From 1959-1965 his OPS+ was 124 with an average of over 20 SB, 20 HR, 10 3B, 35 2B, and 90 RBI

That is a solid 7 year peak.
So when evaluating him how much do we weigh his last 7 seasons where he had a 94 OPS+ averaging 10 HR, 20 2B and his speed had almost vanished?

honestly when I try and compare players from the past I don’t look at totals stats like 2B, 3B, SB, HR, RBI, none of it. The main totals stat I look at is Runs Created.

Players with very long careers should for the most part be rewarded not penalized for their longevity. I say this but of course if you’re playing 3 more seasons batting .190 you should retire.

Pinson is a great example even if his performance level did not drop dramatically.

Here is your question with numbers (I should point out that I’m not ignoring defense it’s just not easy to find #s and that OPS is a TERRIBLE metric for players like Pinson because it doesn’t include SB but that’s part of what I’m going to show)

Pinson had a career OPS+ of 110. 257 players in major league history have 110 OPS+ or better with at least 7000 PA. If you look at Pinson that way you think there is no way he should be in the HOF.

but if we look at one of the best totals stat, Runs Created (a totals stat) we see a different player

Pinson had a 1393 Runs Created. Only 102 players have more.

That’s a huge difference. From 257 major league players better to 102.
Add defense into the mix and Pinson is among the 75 best position players.

and for fun
Runs Created by Reds CFers
RUNS CREATED RC
1 Vada Pinson 995
2 Edd Roush 941
3 Bug Holliday 631
4 Eric Davis 563
5 Gus Bell 542
6 Ken Griffey Jr. 473
7 Cy Seymour 457
8 Cesar Geronimo 379
9 Dummy Hoy 358
10 Bobby Tolan 327

Runs Created above positional average
RCAP RCAP
1 Edd Roush 222
2 Eric Davis 157
3 Ken Griffey Jr. 99
4 Vada Pinson 96
5 Cy Seymour 88
6 Bug Holliday 74
7 Johnny Bates 53
8 Charley Jones 31
9 Chick Hafey 24
10 Jon Nunnally 22

and like Steve had done for his article about Reds SS
from Bill James book and the top 100 Center Fielders of all time.
the Reds

#7 Jr
#15 Ed Roush
#18 Vida Pinson
#30 Cy Seymour
#33 Eric Davis
#38 Pete Browning
#58 Gus Bell
#109 Johnny Bates
#111 Bug Holiday (I would put him higher)
#117 Bobby Tolan

Buckner was a very good player, early in his career with the Dodgers, the Reds/Dodgers rivalry was at its height, and he was the Pete Rose of the Dodgers in terms of being a fiery competitor, a tough guy leader.

With the Red Sox he was an outstanding RBI man, they wouldn’t have been in the 1986 WS without him.

One question that comes up is: What matters more, career OPS or career totals ? Durability is of course a big factor in career totals, Vada had that.

even if I lower the values a bit it’s still hard to find many players with more
this is a strange list of players, but the only players with…
SB >= 285, HR >= 235, 2B >= 465 and RBI >= 1150

Bonds, Mays, Dawson, Biggio and Pinson

replace RBI with 3B and the only player with more than 285 SB, 105 3B, 465 2B, and 235 HR are Mays and Pinson

Mays had a lot more HR and a lot more RBI but all the other categories are similar

Pinson is 5th on the Reds all time double list, 5th on the all-time Reds 3B list and 10th on the all-time Reds HR list.

I can’t offer much beyond the above analysis. In simulated leagues, how much emphasis is placed on speed and defense ? Cepeda could hit for average and power, Pinson was not a power hitter. But Pinson was a very good (arguably great) CFer, and his being a 20/20 HR/SB guy was very unusual at that time. His speed is underrated, in his prime he was clocked from home plate to first base in 3.3 seconds.

For the 1959 thru 1965 period, I’ll assert that Vada was the superior all-around player. But he did fade after 1965. Not having Frank Robinson hit behind him and be around as his best friend hurt his productivity and attitude. Then he broke his leg with the Cardinals in 1969, and was never the same, though he continued his “good year every other year” pattern in his 30’s in the AL.

Cepeda, in contrast, had a resurgent year with the WS winning 1967 Cardinals, and became a hero in St. Louis.

If you mainly go by OPS, Cepeda is the clear choice.
If you consider everything, well, I’m biased.