Boras has played the same game his entire career, and the front office knew it. If the Astros had some way to drag out a signing for better terms they would have done the exact same thing. That was 100% on Drayton, he didn't want to spend the money and that gave him a convenient excuse. The alternative was that he was a complete idiot. Competent owners don't wait all offseason for one guy. We were in the exact same situation this offseason and Crane/Brown didn't wait around like a dumbass for Bregman to make his choice. Yes with a better owner/GM we very well might has won a WS that season, but we didn't have one. Beltran and Boras had nothing to do with Astros front office incompetence.
Did the voters punish McCann for being on the 2017 team or was he never going to clear the 5% threshold?
Altuve is getting in regardless: 9× All-Star 2× World Series champion 7× Silver Slugger Award 3× AL batting champion 2× AL stolen base leader AL MVP (2017) Gold Glove Award (2015) Pretty insane resume
don’t know but Beltran is close to getting in: “Beltrán appeared on 70.3 percent of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America ballots released Tuesday, falling just shy of the 75 percent needed for induction.”
Man those navy and gold unis/hats will always have a spot for me. So damn clean. i was also a kid in the 90s, so it could be the nostalgia.
Jesus... when you lineup his accolades it would be criminal for him not to be. If you were to do that blind "this is player x and y who's a HOFer?" To any casual fan Tuve i bet wins by a landslide. Especially if he gets to 3k hits. Even the scandal argument, his numbers have stayed consistent before and after. Obviously barring age.
The COVID year was down... but that's such an aberration. Bellinger's numbers after a sign stealing crackdown on the other hand... his WAR went into the negatives... 2017 NL 3.9 2018 NL 4.2 2019 NL 8.6 2020 NL 1.5 2021 NL -1.7 2022 NL 1.4 2023 NL 4.4 2024 NL 2.2
Once you're putting "closers" in the HOF, Wagner has to be in there Rivera Hoffman .... Eckersly (won 149 games as a starter, saved 390 games as a reliever) Goose Gossage Elroy Face Hoyt Wilhelm Rollie Fingers .... Billy Wagner Sutter Lee Smith Franco? Whoever?
I agree with Wagner being there if closers belong (though Rivera is so far ahead of any other closer to ever live because he was so dominant for so long that I think he is a HOFer no matter what). I think Kenley Jansen & Craig Kimbrel are the next 2 closers that get in (Chapman has a chance, but needs to get back into a closer's role and start having a better media relationship to overcome being an abuser). Sutter is a travesty to be in and I hope we don't repeat it (Franco & KRod both are better than Sutter, IMO, but both are just short in my mind).
Great closers are paid like they are an important piece. They are obviously a key component in winning games. Therefore, they shouldn’t be discriminated against when it comes to HOF voting. Wags was top tier. He was great for a long time. He saved 37 games his final season with a 1.43 ERA at 38 yrs old. Maybe he wasn’t as good as Rivera, but he was as good or better than all the rest that could be considered. Had he pitched his entire career with the Yankees, he’d have the rings too. The Yankees were absolutely dominant during his young prime.
Baseball evolves, for the better or worse? Imagine if Mickey Mantle could have just "played" DH for his last decade or so as his knees were giving out?
Wagner barely cleared 900 innings. That was his one real weakness compared to other closers. He's 2nd all time in ERA+ (behind Rivera) for pitchers getting to 900IP, 3rd in WHIP behind Addie Joss (deadball era) and Jacob deGrom, and 1st in K/9. Jansen may pass him for WHIP & K/9 this season, and Kimbrel will pass him in K/9 should he play 2 more years to get to 900IP.
Eckersley was a crappy starting pitcher for a number of seasons and those innings count towards his total. That’s the case with a few other closers as well. Also, before the early 80’s, managers still hadn’t figured out how to use closers correctly (if the term “closer” even existed) and would throw them out there under a lot of different scenarios before the usage became streamlined to what you see in Wagner’s day. Grading closers on innings pitched is about the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. Look at his total games that he pitched instead. He is a closer, he isn't supposed to pitch a lot of innings. And there is no question that he was better than guys like Jansen.
Eckersley was a very good starting pitcher. He made 2 all-star teams as a starter. He was just an elite reliever when moved into that role. Innings pitched absolutely should matter. The more you are out there, the more you are helping your team win games. He pitched fewer innings then anybody else in the HOF. Probably played the fewest games as well.
