On the Cusp

he’s a first balloter, IMO. He was the best defensive catcher in the bigs for a huge chunk of his career, all the while also being the second best hitting catcher to Mike Piazza. He’s been hurt by playing for some horrible teams, but he’s in the neigborhood of the likes of Bench and Fisk, I would argue.

Pudge is a 1st balloter, there’s no question about that. When you are the best at your position over an entire decade you’re probably going in on the first ballot.

Sheffield is a tough one to call because he has so many players with similar career numbers at the corner outfield spots that aren’t in or are on the cusp. I would say that if Jim Rice ends up getting in, Sheffield will probably get in at some point too. I’m not saying that they are the same player, just that people will lump them in together.

If Ozzie is in the Hall, I don’t see how you can keep Vizquel out, especially if he gets to 3000 hits. He’s been the best defensive SS in the big leagues for over a decade, and always has been an average player with the bat for most of his career. Had Vizquel played more of his career in the 1980’s he’d also probably have 500-600 steals as well, but he played on some of the more power laden lineups in the big leagues during his career (early 90’s Mariners with Griffey, Buhner, and Martinez, and the mid-90’s Indians with Thome, Belle, etc.), which undoubtedly hurt his numbers when running. His career OPS+ is 83, Ozzie’s is 87. My worry is that he’s going to compared to his contemporaries like Jeter, A-Rod, etc. and that will hurt his chances because of his lack of power numbers.

he’d have to play another 5 years, probably. but I had no idea he was that close; it might be enough.

Lots of competition in the next few years though; he’ll be better off if he plays another year or two, probably.