Saturday, December 7, 2013

My (Hypothetical) 2014 BBWAA Hall of Fame Ballot

Barry Bonds - Yes, he used steroids. But if we assume he was clean through 1998, he would still have over 400 HRs and 400 SBs just through age 33, along with a 164 OPS+ and 99.6 WAR. In other words, Bonds was already an inner-circle Hall of Famer even before he (likely) began using steroids.

Roger Clemens - Essentially the same argument as Bonds. He had already reached 60+ WAR through age 29, at which point he had 3 Cy Young awards.

Greg Maddux - 355 wins. 3371 strikeouts. 104.6 WAR. 4 Cy Youngs. Enough said.

Mike Mussina - While he doesn't have the glitz and glamour of some of the other candidates, no pitcher with 250+ wins and 2500+ strikeouts has ever been left out of the Hall. 270 wins, 2813 strikeouts and 82.7 WAR easily makes the cut.

Tom Glavine - Perhaps a bit overrated, but nonetheless a tremendous pitcher. 305 wins, 2607 strikeouts, 74.0 WAR and 2 Cy Young awards is more than enough.

Frank Thomas - Stands as probably the greatest "clean" hitter of the Steroid Era. 521 home runs matches McCovey and Teddy Ballgame. A 156 OPS+ and 73.6 WAR place him in elite company. The 2 MVPs are just icing on the cake.

Curt Schilling - Tremendous postseason resume (11-2, 2.23 with 3 rings) backed up by a great regular season career. Win total is a bit low, but 3116 strikeouts and 80.7 WAR is fine by me.

Jeff Bagwell - Suspicion is the only reason he's not already in. 449 home runs and 1529 RBI are elite in any era. 79.5 WAR places him just outside the top-5 among first basemen.

Mike Piazza - Likely suffers from same problem as Bagwell. 427 home runs and a 143 OPS+ leaves him as unquestionably the greatest hitting catcher ever. Even with horrendous baserunning and porous defense, he still comes in with 59.2 WAR, a fantastic number for a catcher.

Alan Trammell - Should have gotten in a long time ago (see comps to Barry Larkin). 70.3 WAR and a 110 OPS+ are Hall of Fame level for a shortstop. Beats out Tim Raines for final spot due to fewer years of eligibility left. Would also put in (given larger ballot): Larry Walker, Edgar Martinez, Craig Biggio, Rafael Palmeiro.

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