Wednesday, March 16, 2011

More Hall of Fame

As before, these are one idiot's opinions...
Magglio Cela
Awards: 1 Silver Slugger, 5 All-Star appearances
Cela didn't have enough time to rack up huge career totals, but he did a lot in his career. His 1101 RC are the 7th most among 2B in Feller's history. Beyond that, his 8.09 RC/27 is the highest for 2B with at least 2310 PA. For more traditional numbers, his .324 career batting average currently ranks 6th all time among all batters, and his .403 OBP is 12th all time. That's some great offensive production for anyone, let alone a 2B. As for Cela's defense, well, check out those offensive numbers. Unfortunately his 155 errors at 2B are the most by anyone at that position, and his 15/57 +/- plays aren't very good. He did play the 3rd most innings at 2B, and his .978 Fld % isn't too far off the average for 2B (.981).
Cela may have missed out on a couple of productive years at the beginnning of his career, but in my opinion, his career reaches Hall of Fame level.

Jimmie Mateo
Awards: 4 All-Star appearances, 1 Championship
Mateo's 168 wins currently rank 19th in Feller history. His 3.79 career ERA is 30th among starting pitchers (at least 810 IP and 100 starts). His 188 quality starts out of 368 games started (51.1%) is 92nd among starters. Uh-oh, this is headed in a bad direction for Jimmie. Moving on, Jimmie's 1.27 WHIP is 31st among starters. Most of the rest of his numbers (e.g. strikeouts. K/BB, OAV, etc.) rank around 15 to 30 for starters, but I don't really want to go through anymore, I already feel bad for Mateo.
When I chose Mateo, I thought he would be automatic for the Hall of Fame. After looking at the numbers, I think I have to say that he doesn't belong.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Hall of Fame Discussion

This is meant to offer a few opinions on some of the higher profile candidates for the Hall of Fame. I recognize that there is a lot of room for discussion. These are just my opinions. One guy that will get my vote, one guy that won't get my vote. I might continue on to other candidates before the season begins.
Endy Ramsey
Awards: 2 time MVP, 11 Silver Sluggers, 9 All-Star appearances, 1 Gold Glove, 1 World Series Ring. No one has won more Silver Sluggers. His 9 All-Star appearances are bested by only 4 players, each of whom has 10. One of eight players that has multiple MVP awards. His closet is overflowing with awards. It takes a little while to scroll through his player card.

His 590 homers rank 6th, 1557 RBIs rank 8th (save your "isn't it 'RBI'" for English class), 1658 RC rank 4th, and 15091.2 Innings in LF rank 1st are all impressive. And Ramsey wasn't just a compiler of numbers, his 9.19 RC/27 is 8th in Feller history. He should be in the Hall of Fame.

Troy Brown

Awards: 1 Silver Slugger (DH) - end of the list (red flag for Troy)
Unfortunately for Brown, catcher has been a very deep position in Feller's first 12 seasons.

Brown caught 8129 innings for his career (22nd). The other 30% of his career was mostly spent as a DH. His 1068 RC currently rank 7th among players who spent at least 50% of their career behind the plate (50th among all batters). 7.56 RC/27 places 6th among the catchers.
As a catcher, it's troubling that Brown never made an All-Star game, and never won a Silver Slugger. I would place Brown just outside of the top 5 catchers in Feller's history. Brown was a very good player, not quite a HOFer for me.

Players Approaching "00" Milestones

700 Home Runs
This former MVP (Season 6) has 693 home runs. He is a free agent entering Season 16. His power is currently 75. If a team signs him to a contract for this season, it would seem that 7 homers is automatic.

600 Home Runs

Millwood currently has 563 home runs. Like Becker, he is also a free agent entering Season 16. At age he still brings 90 power. He hit 31 homers last season. Over the next two seasons, he's likely to get at least 37 homers to join the 600 club.

500 Home Runs
Chad Beckett with 485 homers
Rabbit Lilly with 474 homers
Dingo Banks with 471 homers
Frank Barrett with 470 homers

At 36, Beckett has 63 power. If he gets enough PAs, Beckett should join the 500 club this season.

How far past 500 will Lilly be at the end of this season? And when will he be looking at the 600 club?

Banks had a major injury last season. He is currently a free agent. 500 might be tough for Dingo (make your own "baby" joke).

Barrett hit 30 homers last season. At 37, his skills seem to be eroding. 500 - it better be this season.