It is incredibly hard to be objective when assessing Altuve. He has authored so many signature moments and he is the ultimate teammate. But we need to recognize two things. He sucks as a base runner, and he has committed glaring errors in the postseason spotlight. It can be convincingly argued that he cost us the TB series last year. In both areas, particularly baserunning, Bagwell was superior, vastly superior. But we can’t be entirely objective when it comes to Altuve. His brightest moments are literally blinding. Supernova. Roll the tape on the biggest moments in Astros history and he is all over it … at the age of 31. And it’s not like a random guy gets hot in the postseason but is a bag of nuthin in regular season. Correa is the vocal leader of this team and brings the swag. Arguably it was Bregs before with his swag. But Altuve is the heart and soul of this team. If I had to choose between erasing Altuve’s or Bagwells career from Astros history, it’s not close. Bye bye Bags … And I love that guy.
Thomas helped keep Bagwell out of the hall for a few years when he accused him of roiding up. Just thinking about it makes me want to call him things that will get me banned from clutchfans.
Collectively, each of the core 4 (Tuve, Springer, Correa, and Bregman) complemented each other so well to make the ultimate team in terms of playing style and personalities unlike the Yankees who essentially went all-in with the same type of attitudes and skill sets... Bagwell would have benefited immensely if Caminiti stayed for the long haul to provide edge to complement Bagwell's professionalism and Biggio's grittiness... or if Jeter was drafted (I dislike Phil Nevin as a pick in hindsight more than the Appel, Aiken decisions) to provide the chill factor. Bagwell admittedly though has less epic moments even in the regular season but is more consistent with less WTF plays.
Think so? They usually don't consider guys who didn't play a game in the post-season on the roster. And he didn't play regular season either. You give JV a ring you may as well give Forrest Whitley a ring.
Everyone on the Astros payroll gets a ring, though its nothing compared to the active roster, Coaches, and GM.
Vince Young wouldn't have worked out..... because his work ethic was incredibly inconsistent and it mirrored the problem he had in his personal life and his mental health. When he was with the Titans he would be the first guy at practice and stay the latest for 3-4 weeks and do very well and then would just stop trying hard or working. I love VY..... my dad worked with him at Madison high school..... but VY was not the same man once he found fame.
You might want to check your stats on Cano. He has 68% more career WAR than Altuve (69.6 to 41.4) and a higher 7 year peak than Altuve (49.4 to 38.4). So Cano’s peak 7 years were more valuable than Altuve’ entire career to this point. Cano has the steroids thing, but he is not way behind Altuve in terms of performance on the field. The opposite if anything.
But being a DH for many seasons should have counted against him. Bagwell played over 2100 games at 1B, Thomas around 970.
It did, its why Bagwell still beats him in WAR despite playing 4 fewer seasons with similar statistical output. There's no decent reason Bagwell waited years while Thomas went 1st ballot. Didn't help that Thomas used Bagwell's class as evidence for Bonds' and McGuire's HoF cases, stating that "This year we already let in guys we know did PEDs".
Also, being a lousy 1B and a horrible base runner should have counted against him. Frank Thomas had two tools; Bagwell had five. Their numbers are only similar on offense; if one asks who the better player is the answer is clearly Jeff Bagwell, head and shoulders the better player.
Frank Thomas years 2 through 8 were unbelievable. Then his year 11 was maybe his best. That is 8 seasons. Most of his remaining 10-11 years were very forgettable. (i know he had a couple of good HR years outside of those but his other numbers had slipped considerably)
so proud of Altuve, can’t even believe that he was envisioning this level of success. Crazy testament to what hard work can do for you
Seems like he’s not regressing just yet, these next few seasons will be crucial to his hall of fame resume
