In Season 24, three KML legends took their places in the Hall of Fame. A season later, there's some new faces that are going to make the votes even more challenging. Let's break down some of the top candidates for Season 25. For this post, I am only going to post on some of the new candidates and refer you back to my blog posts from the last couple of seasons for candidates I have previously written about.
Should Be A Lock
Kirk Michaels - In his first year of eligibility, Kirk Michaels should be a no-brainer Hall of Famer. His 2,960 hits rank 3rd all time, his 620 HRs rank 4th all time, and his 1,900 RBIs rank 2nd all time. He was no slouch on the basepaths either as he stole 257 bases in his career. Michaels is a 7x All Star, 9x Silver Slugger at 2B, a former Rookie of the Year and perhaps most impressively, a 6x MVP. This is as easy as it gets for a HOF decision.
Jose Terrero - see the Season 23 blog post for more on the 3x Cy Young winner. His vote count increased from 8 to 13 last season, so he has gotten closer, but hasn't gotten enough support. This is surprising to me, as I think he should be in the HOF easily with his 232 wins, 2,854 strikeouts and career ERA of 3.17
Should Makes It, In My Opinion
Chadd Kendrick - I have written about Kendrick before, but I am going to go to bat for him here. I think despite not having as many innings or strikeouts as some other pitchers, he deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. He was a 10x All Star and a 4x Fireman of the Year winner (not an easy award to win). He has the lowest ERA in KML history at 2.19, the 4th lowest WHIP at 1.04, and 5th lowest batting average against at 0.205. I think he has done enough and had enough accolades to deserve to be in the Hall of Fame.
Could Go Either Way
Kirk Mercedes - Not to be confused with the other Kirk M, Mr. Mercedes was a defensive specialist who also had a good bat. His 109 plus plays in CF are the 5th most all time. That's a big reason why he was a 5x Gold Glove winner in CF and also why he was a 9x All Star. At the plate, Mercedes was good at getting on base, finishing his career with a 0.367 OBP (5th highest among the current HOF candidates), and 2,223 hits. He only has 281 HRs, but he stole 338 bases, something that won't show up in his OPS. He's in a tough spot, because he was one of the top 2 defensive CF in his prime, but I don't know if he has enough offense to get him in the HOF.
Ezequiel Tatis - A 6x All Star and a Cy Young winner in Season 16, Ezequiel Tatis was a consistently solid pitcher despite playing mostly in hitter friendly Yankee Stadium. He finished his career with 208 wins, 2,540 strikeouts, and a career ERA of 3.14. I think the most impressive part of Tatis' career is that he never had a season with an ERA above 4. His lack of all star appearances probably hurts him a little bit, but Tatis is certainly worthy of consideration for the HOF.
Dave Regan - An excellent pitcher in his prime, Dave Regan was a solid pitcher for the majority of his career. He was a 2x Cy Young Award winner, an 8x All Star, and even won one Silver Slugger award. He wasn't known for being a prolific strikeout pitcher, but still managed to punch out 2,000 hitters for his career. He finished his career with a 3.21 ERA, but won fewer than 200 games in his career (195). The fact that he made 8 all star teams without winning a lot more games is somewhat impressive. If he had more wins or strikeouts, he might be a lock, but he's firmly in the could go either way category.
See Season 23 blog post for some additional names:
Good Stats But Lacking Accolades
Cesar Quinones - If not for playing 5 seasons in Seattle, Cesar Quinones might have been a lock to make the HOF. His career started in Mexico City where he played mostly out of position at SS before he was traded to Seattle. In his first 8 seasons in the league he only had one silver slugger (SS) and one All Star appearance to his name. After joining Augusta, he was a 4x All Star and 4x Gold Glove winner at 2B in his 5 seasons there. His offensive numbers also rebounded from his Seattle days. Quinones finished his career with a solid 500 HRs, 2,253 hits and career OPS of 0.843. It's hard to say if he would have been a Hall of Famer if he played his whole career in Augusta, but I'm not sure he has enough right now.
Boone Saunders - Nominated for the HOF for the first time since Season 22, Boone Saunders is another one of these solid closers who had over 500 saves for his career (564, 5th all time). He was a 4x All Star and finished with a career ERA of 3.17. He was a solid pitcher but his resume falls short compared to other closers Chadd Kendrick and Del Matsumoto.
- Steve Bailey - See Season 24 blog post
- Peter Donald - See Season 23 blog post
- Del Matsumoto - See Season 23 blog post
Solid Career, Just Not Quite HOF Worthy
Juan Valbuena - A fantastic middle reliever, Juan Valbuena was a guy that teams would call on to get games to their closer in the 9th inning. He finished with a solid career ERA of 3.09 in just over 2,000 innings pitched and was a 6x All Star. He just doesn't really have much in longevity stats, finishing with fewer than 1,500 strikeouts and only 114 wins. If holds were a stat that was tracked, maybe that could have helped his case. Still a great career, but not enough for the HOF in my opinion.
My votes:
1. Kirk Michaels - 6x MVP and one of the best hitters in league history
2. Jose Terrero - Elite SP with 3x Cy Young Awards and career 3.17 ERA
3. Chadd Kendrick - Currently KML's best ERA (2.19)
4. Trey Munro - Cy Young winner with 3K strikeouts
5. Livan Guerrero - Most saves in KML history (691), 10x All Star and 6x Fireman
