Is Miguel Cabrera a Hall of Famer, today?

[danesei@yahoo.com]

David Schoenfield wrote a column positing a question of the number of 2014 All-Stars that would be HOFers. He named Miguel Cabrera and Derek Jeter as HOF locks. Given the general understanding of the term lock, that would imply that Jeter and Cabrera are destined for the HOF, barring some sort of scandal that would either ban them officially (ineligible list) or unofficially (BBWAA boycott).

Now, as of today, Cabrera has two MVPs, three top-2 finishes and seven top-5 finishes. He has the requisite 10 years in the league for eligibility, as well as 57.5 career WAR and 44.6 7yr-peak WAR values. Cabrera is a renaissance man rekindling images of Hank Aaron, Hack Wilson, Johnny Mize and Frank Robinson.

In an era where Mike Trout is Mantle, and Albert Pujols is Ruth, all we can say is Cabrera is Cabrera. He epitomizes hitting in a way that makes it hard for words to express. However, are his current statistics, two MVP awards, a Triple Crown and the eye test enough to solidify his place in Cooperstown?

If Cabrera's career ended in tragedy today, he would be in the HOF for sure. However, I'm wondering what would the voters say if he chose to simply walk away from the game? Is his peak value enough to off-set any second half slide in his career? If the injuries continue to impact his play (or get worse), will the .260/.320/.465 Cabrera play into voters' minds when looking at his career body of work?

Personally, I think Cabrera will make the HOF barring anything but a PED affiliation. He's gotten past the media drudgery of his alcoholism, and played the game like a child, full of passion and love. I do hope Cabrera gets into the HOF, as the only other player I liked as much as him was Larry Walker, and his HOF outlook gets dimmer by the year.

[cjclong]

Usually HOf voters usually look at the whole body of work. Mickey Mantle had poor seasons his last few years and yet easily made the HOF. Mantle wished he hadn't played the last year that dragged his average under .300. Almost every player who plays a long time lowers his batting average even if he accumulates more hits and home runs. Jeter's average will most likely be lower at the end of this year than if he had retired at the start of the year. The trade off will be he will have more hits and move up the charts in that category. If Cabrera makes the HOF it will be primarily what he had done the last few years and not at the tail end of his career unless it goes better than most players.

[Roady]

Cabrera is a HOFer if he ended his career today. 100%
2100 hits
379 HR's
1335 RBI
.320 BA
2 time MVP
Triple Crown winner

And he has done all this in just 12 years.

[STLHAMMER32]

Cabrera is a HOFer if he ended his career today. 100%
2100 hits
379 HR's
1335 RBI
.320 BA
2 time MVP
Triple Crown winner

And he has done all this in just 12 years.

Not necessarily disagreeing with you but check out these stats for comparison........

1726 hits
381 HRs
1239 RBI's
.295 Batting Average
Finished top 3 in mvp voting 3 consecutive years
Had the Most RBI's for the decade
9 consecutive years of over 100 RBI's
First player to have 50 hrs and 50 doubles in a season......
12 years and only 10 full seasons played

Never received more than 7% of votes with no PED claims.....Albert don't call him Joey Belle

[Roady]

Not necessarily disagreeing with you but check out these stats for comparison........

1726 hits
381 HRs
1239 RBI's
.295 Batting Average
Finished top 3 in mvp voting 3 consecutive years
Had the Most RBI's for the decade
9 consecutive years of over 100 RBI's
First player to have 50 hrs and 50 doubles in a season......
12 years and only 10 full seasons played

Never received more than 7% of votes with no PED claims.....Albert don't call him Joey Belle

But Belle was a jerk.

Good comparison though. Even though I have read several articles about his "alleged" PED use.

[danesei@yahoo.com]

Not necessarily disagreeing with you but check out these stats for comparison........

Finished top 3 in mvp voting 3 consecutive years
Had the Most RBI's for the decade
First player to have 50 hrs and 50 doubles in a season......
12 years and only 10 full seasons played

Never received more than 7% of votes with no PED claims.....Albert don't call him Joey Belle

Belle was also a DH who happened to get plugged into corner OF positions to get his bat in the lineup. Belle is somewhat the major argument against David Ortiz making the HOF. Then again, it's doubtful that Ortiz will get serious consideration outside of Boston/NY. He's basically Carlos Delgado, without the fielding ability... and detriment of playing in Toronto most of his career.

That somewhat leads to another question: With all the support Ortiz seems to have for a HOF bid among fanbase, do Delgado's HOF chances improve?

[Roady]

Speaking of Ortiz, did he ever give an explanation for why his name was leaked as among one of the 104 who tested positive for PED use. I remember him saying back then he would explain it but never heard him mention it again.
He did get mad recently, as is becoming a usual even for him, and claim he has never taken anything.
He sure convinced me.

[Roady]

...as is becoming a usual event for him.......
I meant

[STLHAMMER32]

Belle was also a DH who happened to get plugged into corner OF positions to get his bat in the lineup. Belle is somewhat the major argument against David Ortiz making the HOF. Then again, it's doubtful that Ortiz will get serious consideration outside of Boston/NY. He's basically Carlos Delgado, without the fielding ability... and detriment of playing in Toronto most of his career.

That somewhat leads to another question: With all the support Ortiz seems to have for a HOF bid among fanbase, do Delgado's HOF chances improve?

Ortiz tested positive for PED's in 2003 if I'm not mistaken so that hurts chances more than his numbers. Albert Belle played in the AL where there was a DH spot to "plug" him in...he was an outfielder and led the AL in assists in 1999.

[emann]

Ortiz tested positive for PED's in 2003 if I'm not mistaken so that hurts chances more than his numbers. Albert Belle played in the AL where there was a DH spot to "plug" him in...he was an outfielder and led the AL in assists in 1999.

MLB has supposedly never informed Ortiz what he took to place him on the list as recently as last year:

Ortiz told WEEI.com that despite numerous attempts to uncover what exactly he had been placed on the court-ordered sealed list for, there had been no cooperation from any of the parties involved.


“No. Nobody. Not MLB. Not the Players Association. Nobody,” said Ortiz when asked if anyone had revealed what he had reportedly tested positive for. “They just threw it out there that I tested positive on this one list and that was it. Nothing. So I have to deal with that, and your mind is all over the place. And I’ve lived with it.”


I do think Ortiz took something, but the handling of this entire situation is just another reason people should be tossing garbage on the field anytime that Selig steps onto it the rest of his tenure. He deserves zero respect.