Every baseball player dreams of getting enshrined in Cooperstown in the Baseball Hall of Fame. It cements your place among the all-time greats in baseball history. That being said, it is an incredibly difficult thing to accomplish. According to Baseball Reference, there have been 18863 players who have had the luxury of putting on a Major League uniform. Of those 18863, only 323 of those are in the Hall of Fame, according to the Hall of Fame website. Here are the current players that have the best shot of entering the hall:
SURE THINGS:
Albert Pujols (.305 AVG, 2970 H, 615 HR, 1919 RBI)
Miguel Cabrera (.317 AVG, 2638 H, 462 HR, 1615 RBI)
Adrian Beltre (.287 AVG, 3050 H, 462 HR, 1642 RBI)
Ichiro Suzuki (.312 AVG, 3080 H, 117 HR, 1415 R, 509 SB)
One “easy” way to punch your ticket into the Hall of Fame is to reach a major statistical milestone (3000 Hits, 500 HR, 300 Wins, etc). Pujols, Beltre, and Ichiro have done just that, which makes them automatic bids in my opinion. Cabrera may not have any of those milestones (yet), but he can reasonably get to both 3000 hits and 500 HR within the next 3 seasons. He also won a Triple Crown in 2012, which is leading the league in AVG, Home Runs, and RBI. The last to do that was when Carl Yastrzemski did it back in 1967 according to ESPN. A combination of those things puts Miggy over the top.
WELL ON THEIR WAY:
Joey Votto (.313/.428/.540 AVG/OBP/SLG, 257 HR, 830 RBI)
Robinson Cano (.305 AVG, 2377 H, 301 HR, 1183 RBI)
Clayton Kershaw (144-65, 2.36 ERA, 2127 K in 1941 IP)
Mike Trout (.305/.409/.565 AVG/OBP/SLG, 202 HR, 570 RBI, 165 SB)
These are some guys that if they keep their current performance, or anything close to it, for a few more years, they will most definitely be worthy. Votto has been a quieter case as he has played his entire career so far for the small-market Cincinnati Reds, but he has put together quite the resume. While it is unlikely he will reach the 500 HR or 3000 Hit milestones discussed previously, his .428 OBP leads all active players by almost 20 points (Mike Trout is second) while playing in an era where getting on base is of utmost value. Plus, at age 34, approaching 400 HR is quite possible if he keeps up his recent production for a few more seasons. Those two coupled with winning an MVP award in 2010 should be enough to get him in. As for Cano, he could reasonably reach 3000 Hits within the next four seasons and already has 300+ HR. He’s done this all while playing second base, not a spot where you can usually expect big offensive numbers. Kershaw and Trout are different cases than Cano and Votto. They are much younger than Cano or Votto, but have had ridiculous starts to their careers. Kershaw is only 30 years old, and has already won 3 Cy Young Awards, an MVP, and is a 7-time all-star. Trout has won 2 MVPs, has been an all-star each of his six seasons in the league, and is only 26 years old (!). Their younger age means these guys could be forces in the league for another 10 years or more, which if they perform anywhere close to their current level for that time, they will no doubt be first-ballot Hall-of-Famers.
HAS AN OUTSIDE CHANCE:
Edwin Encarnacion (.265 AVG, 348 HR, 1049 RBI)
Edwin has been a late bloomer in his career, hitting 231 of his bombs in the last six seasons. His only hope of getting into the Hall of Fame is to keep hitting homers until he has over 500, because he doesn’t provide much else apart from power production. That might be a stretch given he is 35 years old currently, but if he gets to the milestone then he deserves to be in.
Giancarlo Stanton (.269 AVG, 269 HR, 676 RBI)
Similar to the Trout and Kershaw cases, Stanton has many years left in the league as he is only 28 years old and has already won an MVP. The main difference between Stanton and Trout/Kershaw is that Stanton has had an injury history, which tends to not get any better once players age. Though if he keeps putting up seasons anywhere near his 59 HR output from 2017 and avoids injury, he should finish with 500 home runs and maybe much more, which will put him in the Hall.
C.C. Sabathia (237-146, 3.70 ERA, 2846 K)
Sabathia’s has some pretty impressive career numbers. He even passed the legendary Cy Young on the all-time strikeouts list in 2017. He has won one Cy Young award and was a world champion in 2009 with the Yankees. That being said, he is 37 years old. If he can put up 2 or 3 more productive years from here on out, he’d have a very good chance of getting in. But if not, I’m not sure the voters will have enough to be convinced.
Buster Posey (.308 AVG, 128 HR, 594 RBI)
Posey had the heck of a start to his career, winning a Rookie of the year, an MVP, and 3 world championships in his first 5 seasons. The hardware is all there. The question for Posey is whether he can pile up the counting stats required for induction. Playing the difficult position of catcher, he probably wouldn’t need to get to 3000 Hits or 500 HR to get in, but he’ll need to have many more productive seasons to be considered.
Felix Hernandez (161-114, 3.19 ERA, 2346 K’s)
Hernandez, much like Votto, has quietly but consistently performed at a high level for many years for a small market team. He has won a Cy Young Award, and is only 31 years old. Though he’ll need to have a few more productive years before he is considered, and has declined in recent years (4.36 ERA in an injury-shortened 2017 season). If he can bounce back from that, there’s a good shot he can get in.
Justin Verlander (189-114, 3.45, 2421 K’s)
Verlander’s case is similar to Sabathia’s, though he is a couple years younger and has a few less wins and strikeouts. He has a Cy Young Award and an MVP both won in 2011, as well as a World Championship in 2017 when he had a few big-time postseason performances to make that happen. If he can put up 4 or 5 more good seasons, he’d have a good case.
Yadier Molina (.284, 127 HR, 787 RBI)
Molina has a slightly different case. He has good-not-great offensive numbers. His value instead lies on the defensive side of the ball, where he has won 8 Gold Gloves at catcher. He has also won 4 Platinum Gloves, which denotes the best defensive player in each league. Depending on how highly the voters value his supreme defensive ability, he could get into Cooperstown.
Max Scherzer (142-75, 3.29 ERA, 2159 K’s)
Scherzer has been phenomenal in the last few years. He has led the NL in strikeouts the past two years while sporting a batting average against under .200 each year. He won the Cy Young both seasons, giving him 3 for his career. Scherzer also threw 2 no-hitters in 2015, and had a 20 strikeout game in 2016. Though he was a bit of a late bloomer, and is already 33 years old. He’ll have to perform for a few more years to get in, though his peak is definitely Hall of Fame worthy.
Joe Mauer (.308 AVG, 1987 Hits, 137 HR, 875 RBI)
Mauer has had a long and productive career. He started out as a catcher but was then moved to first base later in his career. He has an MVP, 3 Gold Gloves, and 6 silver sluggers, along with a career average currently above .300. Though with his lack of power numbers, he’ll essentially have to get 3000 Hits or close to it to be considered for the Hall. Though at age 34, he has some time to make it happen.
Stats current as of March 31, 2018. Source for stats and awards info: MLB.com
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