Unlike most sports Hall of Fame voting today, the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame voting process is the subject of analysis, scrutiny and often derided in recent years. No other major sport has so many elites that the greatest players of all time have not been given immortality through stowing. Regardless, the 2023 Hall of Fame rank is always considered Weak, and many believe it will be a miracle for anyone to get into Cooperstown after the likes of Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Curt Schilling were all dropped from the ballots last season. Alas, we have seen a new referrer.
Why was Scott Rolen elected?
The third veteran of the Philadelphia Phillies and St. Louis Cardinals Scott Rolen just became 18th third person was inducted into the Baseball Writers Guild of America (BBWAA) into the Hall of Fame. It is the least number for any position outside the designated hitter.
Rolen has won the All-Star award seven times and the Golden Glove award eight times; he was also part of the 2006 St. Louis Cardinals’ World Series. Rolen, in his sixth year of voting, has steadily risen in the rankings, from receiving just 10.2% of the vote in 2018 to 35.3% in 2020 and finally 76.3% in 2023.
Elected after six years on the ballot
But what about this season finally pushed voters to the brink? Why is this the year that Rolen was introduced? I think the answer is pretty obvious actually. See, BBWAA voters are only allowed to vote for up to 10 players per year. Although voters are not required to check 10 boxes – many have chosen to check only one this year – this restriction is in place to prevent voters from allowing everyone in. In recent years, the voting committee has been relatively divided over players with a checkered past. In the final years on the ballot, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa each received 260, 257 and 73 votes, respectively. While some of those voters may also have chosen Rolen’s name on their ballot, there is still a strong possibility that some voters were forced to remove Rolen to make room for these three, the finalists. did not receive enough votes for the Hall of Fame guide. Now, in 2023, with such a weak class around him, Rolen isn’t a mind for most of the BBWAA members, which is fine considering the strength of the 2024 class.
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The 2024 Class, led by Adrián Beltré, is loaded
Next year’s Hall of Fame class is absolutely loaded. You want a sure-fire first-ballot Hall of Fame player? BAM! Look no further than Adrián Beltré. He’s got 3,166 career hits, 477 career home runs, and a .286 career batting average during his 21-year career with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Seattle Mariners, Boston Red Sox, and Texas Rangers. Couple those offensive numbers with solid defense at third base, the third-highest WAR total for third basemen ever — behind only Mike Schmidt and Eddie Mathews — and zero controversies or scandals attached to his name, and you’ve got yourself potentially the first player to eclipse 80 percent of the Hall of Fame vote since Derek Jeter in 2020.
You want former MVPs? There’s former Minnesota Twins backstop Joe Mauer. World Series champions? There’s Chase Utley and Matt Holliday. Cy Young winners? There’s “Big Sexy” Bartolo Colon, although he does have PED suspension attached to his name. The reality of the situation is that, beyond Beltré, there are many newcomers who can guarantee continued voting for many years to come. I never even mentioned Adrián González, José Reyes, José Bautista, Victor Martinez or David Wright. These are all players who will probably never make it to the Hall of Fame, but all will shake the hearts of certain voters, taking away potential votes from players who are given is more worthy in the future. If Scott Rolen doesn’t make it this year, I would hesitate to think he’ll hit the 75% mark in 2024 as Beltré will be the third best player in the polls. Will Rolen get it later? Possibly, but his introduction could be delayed by two or three years if 2023 doesn’t come his way.
Jeff Kent Unelected, Blames “Statistics People”
2023 is the final shot for 2000 NL MVP Jeff Kent. Unfortunately, the five-time All-Star only accumulated 46.5% of the vote, falling short of the required 75%. To be fair, that’s the highest percentage Kent has ever received. In fact, it’s ten percent more than he received just a year earlier in 2022 (32.7 percent). Now, if you ask me, I believe Kent has flaunted his Hall of Fame credentials. A powerful second hitter is such a rare venue no matter what era you watch baseball. Kent is the all-time home run for this spot with 377, and anyone who eclipsed Barry Bonds in the early 2000s deserves a lot of credit. He’s a pretty poor defender, but like continuing, this man is a 0.290 scorer with 123 OPS-plus from second base. In a word, since Kent’s retirement after the 2008 season, there have only been 41 occasions where a second player has accumulated better OPS plus points in a season than Kent’s career mark. Kent’s career best OPS-plus was 162, when he was awarded the MVP Award in 2000. Since 2009, absolutely no second junior athlete has reached that mark. José Altuve finished in both 2017 and 2022, hitting 160 both times, but Kent reigned supreme.
Regardless of my thoughts on Kent’s Hall of Fame credentials, the BBWAA doesn’t consider Kent worthy of Cooperstown. Does Kent despise such disrespect? No. Kent used an old excuse to blame.”nerd“in baseball. “Voting over the years has caused so much confusion,” Kent said in a text to San Francisco Chronicles. “Baseball is losing several generations of some of the greatest greats of their time because some unpopular people keep comparing those players to players who have been elected from generations ago and is influencing votes. In my opinion, it’s not fair to the best players of their time and the people who were voted for.”
In my view, as a ‘statistician’, Kent’s concerns are only slightly wrong. Yes, some voters compare Hall of Fame prospects to players already in the Hall of Fame, but that doesn’t mean they don’t consider the impact of individual players. in their time. Stats such as OPS-plus, weighted-based average (wOBA), and weighted plus generated runs (wRC+) are all designed to determine how influential a player is in the game. their era. While my voice doesn’t mean anything to players looking to make their way into Cooperstown, I do know that these are the basic metrics some “statisticians” consider when determining viability. in a player’s Hall of Fame. Instead of blaming how advanced stats have become in baseball, perhaps Kent should take a look at his lousy defense. Despite all of his incredible strike numbers, Kent still ranks 19th in the WAR among all-time second-placers, well below the current Hall of Famer average, and that’s it. could be the main reason he was dropped from Cooperstown.
While Kent has many complaints, there are many players who have reason to be excited about their chance to move forward, notably Carlos Beltrán and Andruw Jones. I have been a huge supporter of Jones’ recommendation. Lately, more people have also jumped on board.
Andruw Jones deserves a spot at Cooperstown
With all this attention given to Jones’ case, Jones has skyrocketed from 41.4% of the vote in 2022 to 58.1% of the vote in 2023. Jones still has four years left on the vote and with At this rate, he’ll hit that coveted 75. percent in no time.
I’m a little less excited for Beltrán, who received 46.5% of the vote in just his first year of voting. I don’t deny his Hall of Fame credentials, but voters don’t want to look back Bonds and Clemens’ Fraud HistoryI find it disturbing that Beltrán earns such a high percentage though his involvement in the 2017 Astros cheating scandal. If Beltrán finally makes it to the Lobby, his introduction will signal to future players that you can cheat or even win a World Series through such illegal methods as long as you don’t. is that it has nothing to do with PED. It would set a terrible precedent and would be a prime example of hypocrisy. That said, I fully expect Beltrán to become a Hall of Famer by the end of his 10th year. year on the ballot.
Is it right? I don’t think so, but I think it doesn’t matter, just what the voting committee thinks will come this time in 2024. This is a much more stable future for the Hall of Fame, even if it does. may never come.
