Since visiting the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, it’s been a small hobby of mine to track the balloting, predicting who will get in, and seeing how accurate the predictions are. With the holidays upon us and activity slowing to a trickle, it seems a good time to tackle the thought exercise of building my own proposed ballot.
This is a fairly lean year for worthy candidates. Really, the only addition who has a chance is pitcher Cole Hamels. He doesn’t get my vote because his peak was too low, and his career stats not impressive enough to make up for it. Sorry, too, to Nick Markakis, Howie Kendrick, Shin-Soo Choo, and Ryan Braun. All of them had solid careers; they can make the Hall of Solid.
Vote 1: Carlos Beltrán
Beltrán was a versatile, well-rounded player for his 20-year career. While he was never crowned MVP, he did make nine All-Star teams and win three Gold Gloves. Winning was his strong suit; he led five different franchises to the playoffs. Only seven other players have reached his 300-home run and 300-stolen base status. All of these make him worthy of enshrinement in his fourth year of eligibility.
In his seven postseasons, Beltrán played at an extremely high level. His playoff slash line was .307/.412/.609 in 256 plate appearances. Through no fault of his own, Beltrán was eliminated short of a championship every year until his age-40 season, winning in 2017 as a mercenary for Houston. (Of course, he might already be in if not for the cheating he facilitated on that final team.)
Anecdotally, the Puerto Rican center fielder was consistently thought of as a top player in the game, a truly graceful outfielder on both offense and defense. He’s the most obvious vote on this shallow ballot.
Vote 2: Félix Hernández
Hernández did not have a long peak. He did have a seven-year stretch where he was a Cy Young candidate, winning the award in 2010. That year was indicative of his absolute dominance: 2.27 ERA, 7.2 WAR, 232 strikeouts in 246 innings. In that brief but brilliant span, he never had an ERA over 3.04, and consistently started over 30 games.
Hernández won the Cy Young in a year when his won loss record was just 13-12. Voters for the award had to change their traditional voting pattern. In that same vein, pitching voters can now value peak over longevity. For a long stretch, he was the best pitcher in baseball, or at least on the short list of them. Injuries prevented him from sustaining this, but the peak gets him my vote here.
Vote 3: Andruw Jones
Cubs fans of the moment can appreciate elite center-field defense, after watching Pete Crow-Armstrong. Jones delivered that same level of defense for a decade—plus a 111 wRC+ bat. Jones had over 30 home runs seven times, peaking with 51 and 41 in 2005 and 2006. Also, not insignificantly, Jones won 10 Gold Gloves, although he played at a time when three center fielders could (and often did) win each year in the outfield.
Anecdotally, Jones was a key part of the Atlanta Braves’ impressive 1990s run. When you factor his team success, his prominence on the team, the all time great defense and solid bat, this is another guy worthy of the plaque. It’s important to remember that he comes with significant off-field baggage. He was arrested and charged in a domestic violence incident in 2012, after a Christmas Eve altercation in which he choked his wife. Whether that should be disqualifying, though, is up to each reader and thinker; the incident occurred after his playing career was over and there are (sadly) many people who did similarly heinous things to their partners in the Hall already.
Close, but nope:
Dustin Pedroia, David Wright and Chase Utley: Great players, but injuries keep them just below the line.
Bobby Abreu: Better than many remember, and modern stats love him, but defense and lack of elite elite numbers put him just short. It’s a high bar, guys!
Manny RamÃrez/Alex Rodriguez: Numbers worthy, but too many steroid things. Precedent matters here. Since Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens failed to be enshrined for 10 years and recently were rejected by the Veteran’s Committee, and they are better than RamÃrez and Rodriguez, the vote still has to be a no.
What do you guys think? Should Omar Vizquel get in, despite serious allegations that he was mistreating people even during his career? Andy Pettitte? Torii Hunter, a poor man’s Jones?
Thanks for reading. Enjoy your holidays, and your debates.
Are you interested in Cubs history? Then check out the Chicago Cubs Players Project, a community-driven project to discover and collect great information on every player to wear a Cubs uniform!