In kind of a follow up to last week’s story, I thought it might be fun to look at the five Mets who have the best chance of making the Hall of Fame.
Carlos Beltran played for the Mets from 2005 until 2010. He has also played for the Royals, Astros, Giants and Cardinals. He is 36 years old and still expects to play a few more years. Beltran is an interesting candidate for the Hall of Fame. Looking at his baseball reference stats he only has one piece of regular season black ink, and that was games played in 2002. He’s never finished in the top three for MVP voting. When you think best outfielder in the game during the 2000’s Beltran doesn’t pop right into mind. In 2006 with the Mets he had a very nice bWAR of 8.2, but that was the only year he had a bWAR over 7.0. The catch is his career bWAR is 67.5, which is higher than many current players in the Hall of Fame. Beltran’s Hall of Fame Monitor score is 104, which is usually good enough to get you into the Hall. He has also hit very well in the post season but not really sure how much that matters to Hall voters. A lot will ride on Beltran’s last few years in the game. If the voters are willing to give him props for being consistently very good while never being great, he has a chance to be the second person to wear a Mets cap in the Hall of Fame.
Tom Glavine played for the Mets from 2003 to 2007. The rest of his career was spent with Atlanta. This one is easy. Glavine compiled 305 wins, two Cy Young Awards and had a career bWAR of 74. Glavine is eligible and will be elected with his teammate Greg Maddux in 2014. While Glavine does kind of pale in comparison to Maddux who had 355 wins and four straight Cy Young awards, Glavine is still Hall of Fame first ballot material.
Jeff Kent played for the Mets from 1992 to 1996. Kent would also play for the Indians, Giants, Astros and Dodgers. He retired in 2008. His Hall of Fame credentials are pretty strong. He had a career bWAR of 55.2 better than many Hall of Famers. He also hit 377 home runs which is second all time for a second baseman. He won an MVP with the Giants in 2000. He had seven top 30 MVP finishes. From 1997 to 2005 he was one of the top second basemen in the NL. While never a gold glove winner he was constantly in the top five in Range Factor / Game and Fielding %. (Though he did make a lot of errors.) Kent becomes eligible in 2014. Will he get in? Yes, he will get in just most likely not on the first ballot. Kent was never the most out going guy with the media. Plus Greg Maddux, Frank Thomas, Mike Mussina and Tom Glavine all appear on the 2014 ballot for the first time. The voters most likely won’t vote in five new members. Kent is the weakest candidate of this strong group.
Pedro Martinez played for the Mets from 2005 to 2008. His career spanned from 1992 to 2009, pitching for the: Dodgers, Expos, Red Sox before the Mets and the Phillies after. He will be eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2015. He will be elected first round. Three Cy Young Awards from 1997 to 2000. In 2000 he had a bWAR of 11.7 which is amazing for a pitcher. His career bWAR was 86.0. His Hall of Fame Monitor score sits at 206 over twice what the average Hall of Famer has. His career numbers might not be quite as lofty as Maddux or for that matter Roger Clemens but Martinez is still in the argument for best pitcher of the late 90s and early 2000s.
David Wright has played for the Mets from 2004 until now. At the age of 30 he still has many productive years left. Stats wise Wright is very compatible with Beltran. He’s had six top 25 MVP finishes but never finished higher than forth. He has had only one year with a bWAR over 6.8, that was an 8.3 in 2007. Wright’s career bWAR is 46.6, which if his career was over would not get him into the Hall of Fame. The good news for Wright is he is certain to add to this. Wright also has the benefit of being a third baseman. When you talk of top third basemen in the NL Wright certainly is in the conversation. Wright is also very press and media friendly. If Wright stays healthy over the next five years he has a very good chance of wearing a Mets cap into the Hall of Fame some time in the 2020s. He could pretty much clinch Hall of Fame status with one MVP season. If the Mets could give him some lineup protection that could happen.
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What about Piazza?
I thought hard about including Piazza instead of Wright. I don’t think Piazza is as much of a lock as he could be since some question if you used “enhancements.” But I do feel Piazza should be in the Hall of Fame.
Gil Hodges should be in too, for a combo of his managerial work and his playing career.
The five you mentioned, Piazza and Hodges make 7.
Lets add Matlack and Keith Hernandez too
Leaving piazza out of this discussion destroys the credibility of this article …. Piazza should have been the first name on thel list.
Like I said, I think Piazza deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. He did get 54% of the vote his first year eligible which isn’t bad. But there is still a % of people who will not vote for him because of perceived PED use. If I could have added a sixth name it would have been Piazza but that would have meant dropping Beltran. I believe Beltran will end up just as worthy and is more “liked” by the voters.
I also considered Keith Hernandez he was a great player, I just don’t quite see him as a HOFer. As for Matlack, he was a solid pitcher. He was the starting pitcher at the first Mets game I saw live. Still 125-126 and a 39.something bWAR doesn’t get you into the HOF.
So much depends on Wright being able to stay healthy for the next 5-6 years. You know he’ll only be able to hit 25 home runs playing in cavernous Citifield. So he’ll finish say 375 home runs and about 1300 RBI’s BA .300, 450-500 doubles in a career that would span 15 years. Sorry but does are not HOF numbers. Similar to Keith Hernandez but Hernandez should be considered one of the best defensive first base man to ever play the game and won 10 GG in his career. Can’t say the same for Wright. I was wondering what about Carlos Delgado? With nearly 500 home runs and 500 doubles and over 1500 RBI’s?
Agreed on Wright. Hernandez is interesting. He never received more than 10% of the votes for HOF. I thought he would have been higher. Once again, drug use might have hurt him with voters.
While it was rumored that he used illegal drugs for recreational use. He didn’t use PED’s to enhance his game. I know it’s splitting hairs but the writers should be judging his play on the field not his private life. He was never arrested nor accused by any of the writers.
Piazza belongs on your list over Wright at this point in time. Wright has to still establish his career numbers to be considered . (A very good point that he has Beltran-like numbers.)
Piazza has established his career stats and even though there is very flimsy PED allegations, he should eventually get.
It would be interesting if I could do this same story and leave Wright off the list and see what people said. 🙂 I actually thought it was more of an interesting article with Wright instead of Piazza.
Billy Wagner is up for consideration in a couple of years. Relievers are disrespected by the Hall of Fame voters. How is it that John Franco 4th on the All-time saves list did not get enough votes for inclusion in a second year of consideration?
Look at Lee Smith 475 saves and never even 51% of the votes needed for HOF. Is it because relievers WAR is usually very low?
Relievers pitch so few innings that they’re value is limited. We have trained ourselves to think that the 9th inning is the most important, even though often times that is far from the truth (Pitching with 3 runs up in the 9th is not exactly a pressure situation yet it garners the closer a “Save”).
For comparison, Kershaw has only been in the league for under 6 years and is only 25, and yet has already pitched in more innings and WAR than Wagner/Franco/Smith/ (insert modern-day reliever name here).
Bench players don’t get their own class. They get compared with all other position players. We shouldn’t give relievers their own class either. They should be compared with ALL other pitchers, including starting pitchers.
How about Jose Reyes? He certainly became a household name on the Mets, and he seems to have Cooperstown potential. He has won a batting title, he steals bases like nobody else, and I believe he will end up with an MVP or two in his near future. And for being a Five Tool Player, he has speed, he is a great fielder, he has a little pop in his bat, he can certainly hit for contact, and he has a great arm for a SS.