Is MLB facing another Hall of Fame shutout this month?

A year after washing the hands of Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Kurt Schilling, the Baseball Writers Association faces one of the weakest Hall of Fame votes in recent memory. Shut out.

If so, it would be the fourth time since 1970 that the BBWAA has failed to elect someone to Cooperstown, the most recent being 2021, when Schilling was 71.1% and closest to the required 75%.

Last year, the writers elected only David Ortiz, barely at 77.9%, but sent Bonds, Clemens, and Schilling to the Modern Veterans Commission, leaving Scott Rolen at 63.2%, topping this year’s polls. We got the vote. Can Lauren make the leap to the election? It’s been done before, but it’s unlikely. 2020 marked Larry Walker’s 10th and final voting year, jumping from 54.6% to her 76.6%.

Steadily increasing voter turnout from 17.2% in the first year of 2019 to 52.9% in 2021 and 63.2% last year, Lauren makes an interesting case as arguably one of the greatest defensive third basemen in history. am. In that regard, he’s an analysis enthusiast, citing his 114 defensive runs he saved from 2003 to the end of his career in 2012, or his WAR his monger (I think they and He was a darling of ). A pretty fair (if not dominant) hitter as he is one of 35 players in history to have 2,000 hits, 300 home runs and 500 doubles throughout his career.

What hurts Lauren is how much he’s been hurt in his career. In his 17 years in the big leagues, it was only his 5th time he played more than his 150 games. This explains why his lifetime totals pale in comparison to other great Hall of Fame third basemen Mike Schmidt, George Brett, Eddie his Matthews, Chipper his Jones. Adrian Beltre making his debut in next year’s ballot. Voters also like “hardware,” but aside from the 1997 Rookie of the Year, Lauren has only won MVP in the top 10 once. In 2004 he was the fourth.

Of the 14 new entrants to this year’s ballot, only Carlos Beltran, who has 435 homers, 2,725 hits and 312 stolen bases, is a legitimate Hall of Famer. A player named by Major League Baseball. As the years go by and the cheating scandal continues to fade from memory, Beltran may eventually be elected, but that won’t be the case this year.

When determining if a player is in the Hall of Fame, I have always asked a simple question first and foremost. Did this player dominate the game in his position?In that respect, in my opinion, he is the only player who meets that criteria in this poll. Despite this, Jeff Kent has been surprisingly little loved by baseball reporters, with only 129 votes or 32.7% for him just a year ago. I don’t understand why. Kent’s 377 home runs are the most for a second baseman in history, and his 1,518 RBI are his third behind Rodgers, Hornsby, and Napoleon LaJoie. In total, he had his eight 100 RBI seasons and four top 10 MVP finishes with the Giants, including his 2000 win where he hit 33 home runs and he batted . Achieved.

[ Bill Madden: Veterans committee can take a stand for character in Hall of Fame vote ]

A knock from Kent’s analysis group, especially WAR Monger, was his defense. But while he never won a Gold Glove, he was more than enough and worthy of attention during his 17 years in the big leagues, with managers including Cito Gaston, Bruce Bochy and Joe Torre Rather, he led the team to the postseason seven times, batting . 276 with nine homers and 23 RBIs in 49 games.

This year marks Kent’s tenth and final year of voting, so perhaps his fate will rest with the Modern Age Committee, which elected Fred McGriff in December. Todd Helton (52%), Billy Wagner (51%), Andrew Jones (41.1%) and Gary Sheffield (40.6%), who had the highest percentage of votes after Lauren last year, could all claim, but either. also has serious shortcomings. It probably won’t be picked by the writer.

Helton was plagued with Coorsfield Syndrome and had mysteriously lost power over the last nine years of his career. Jones’ career likewise fell off a cliff in his final six years of his career after appearing to head to Cooperstown as one of the most defensive elite center fielders of all time. . Wagner was a consistently effective closer over his 16 his season, but his 10.03 earned run average in his 14 games in the postseason ruined his chances. And while he was one of the most feared hitters in the game, batting . , was often seen as a divisive force in the clubhouse.

This year’s vote may ominously portend a shutout, but the good news for the Hall of Fame is that there are plenty of attractive candidates on the near horizon. – Includes Mauer and Matt Holliday, with Ichiro and CC Sabathia debuting in 2025.

it was definitely a masterstroke Brian Cashmanpart of the Hall of Fame Brian Sabian As an executive advisor, hiring only makes the Yankees better, especially when it comes to scouting and player evaluation. Those are the strengths that have allowed Sabian to win three world championships with the Giants. Steve Cohen I didn’t speak to Sabean last spring when he was unsuccessful in finding a president of baseball operations (he hasn’t taken the job yet). Sybian was exhausted in his office front of the Giants, relegated to the upper floors with the analytical revolution that took place there (15 coaching how does his staff work?), he I had a strong interest in working for the Mets.But Sandy Alderson He, who was leading the search effort at the time, didn’t even call him. So from 1986 until 1992 he returned to his Yankee roots as a scout director and vice president of player development, where he was largely responsible for the core of locally grown players. Derek Jeter, Andy Pettit, Bernie Williams, Jorge Posada —that formed the nucleus of the 90s dynasty. We can only assume that Cashman hired Sabian. Omar Minayaother “scout scouts” Jacob deGrom For the Mets, as senior adviser, he may be tacitly acknowledging that the Yankees need to do a better job of drafting and developing talent. We only develop impact players from Japan. Aaron Judge — and they haven’t drafted and developed a rotation starter since Pettit. …

Under great pressure, the Red Sox stepped up to the plate and signed their biggest hometown star. Rafael Deverssigned an 11-year, $331 million contract on Thursday. Scott BorasThere’s no way Boras would agree to a deal, even if it’s the highest the Red Sox have ever paid a player for a 26-year-old third baseman before taking him out on the open market. It’s actually a good deal for the Red Sox in that they’ll pay off Devers when he turns 37. in contrast, xander bogaertsThe Red Sox let the Padres walk The Red Sox may have been shocked by Bogaerts’ 11-year, $280 million deal from the Padres, but Fenway’s turmoil has kept them from running since. I was outraged at the small market’s way of doing things. chime bloom I was brought in as GM from Tampa Bay. It’s entirely possible they wanted to keep the equally locally grown Bogaerts if they hadn’t insulted him with a token one-year extension offer when he approached free agency last spring. There is. At the time, they probably could have signed Bogaerts to a five- or six-year deal, but once he went free agency, the market exploded.