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MLB: Top 5 Hall of Fame candidates for 2017

By Dave Stevenson

Jul 27, 2014; Cooperstown, NY, USA; Plaques all installed in the museum for viewing after the class of 2014 national baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony at National Baseball Hall of Fame. Mandatory Credit: Gregory J. Fisher-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 27, 2014; Cooperstown, NY, USA; Plaques all installed in the museum for viewing after the class of 2014 national baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony at National Baseball Hall of Fame. Mandatory Credit: Gregory J. Fisher-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mandatory Credit: Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images
Mandatory Credit: Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images /

5. Tim Raines

Tim Raines has finally gotten respect on the Hall of Fame ballots, getting 69.2 percent of the vote in 2016. With many media members pushing for Raines’ enshrinement in Cooperstown, 2017 could be the year that arguably the most underrated player of all-time ceases to be underrated.

Raines had the terrible misfortune of playing during an era that did not fully appreciate what he brought to the table. He played in a time before on base percentage was considered extremely important. His career on base percentage and slugging percentage compare favorably to Rickey Henderson. Raines was not quite as good as Henderson, but he was pretty darn close.

He was an extremely efficient base stealer. His success rate of 84.6 percent is the best of all-time among those with at least 500 stolen base attempts. Raines’ 69.1 career WAR puts him above four left fielders who are in the Hall of Fame.

For a while, Raines suffered because his best years were played in Montreal. American baseball fans (and writers) didn’t get to see him play that much because of that. However, thanks to a lot of effort from the analytics community and from popular MLB beat writers, Raines finally might get enshrined in Cooperstown where he belongs.

Next: 4. Trevor Hoffman

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