Fansided

MLB Hall of Fame 2017: 5 key takeaways from this year’s class

By Joshua Sadlock

Apr 1, 2016; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Former Montreal Expos player Vladimir Guerrero salutes the crowd next to Tim Raines during a ceremony before the game between teh Boston Red Sox and the Toronto Blue Jays at Olympic Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 1, 2016; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Former Montreal Expos player Vladimir Guerrero salutes the crowd next to Tim Raines during a ceremony before the game between teh Boston Red Sox and the Toronto Blue Jays at Olympic Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 5
Next

The 2017 Hall of Fame class was announced last night with three members. What else did we learn from the voting results?

Tim Raines, Jeff Bagwell, and Ivan Rodriguez are going into the baseball Hall of Fame after being named on over 75 percent of the official ballots of the BBWAA. All three are very deserving candidates. Raines had been gaining steadily for years after Canadian baseball writer Jonah Keri began championing his cause. Bagwell, too, overcame lingering (and unsubstantiated) rumors about his ties to PEDs. Rodriguez, the best combination of offense and defense ever seen in a catcher, also overcame his own PED ties to become a first-ballot inductee.

Outside of the top three, there are several others who came very close to reaching Cooperstown. Closer Trevor Hoffman fell five votes short, and outfielder Vladimir Guerrero fell 15 votes shy of the Hall of Fame. Both are sure to make it next year. There were also several key gainers and losers among the candidates.

We now have another year before the debate around the 2018 class, the voting process, steroids, and sabermetrics ramps up to full force. While we wait, here are five key takeaways from the 2017 voting for the Hall of Fame.

Aug 22, 2015; Bronx, NY, USA; New York Yankees former catcher Jorge Posada address the crowd during a ceremony for the retirement of his number before the game against the Cleveland Indians at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 22, 2015; Bronx, NY, USA; New York Yankees former catcher Jorge Posada address the crowd during a ceremony for the retirement of his number before the game against the Cleveland Indians at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports /

5. Jorge Posada was a victim of the Rule of 10

I doubt many baseball writers are losing sleep over the fact that Jorge Posada will never be a member of the Hall of Fame. He was, at best, a fringe candidate to begin with. Still, his career certainly warranted more than one year on the ballot. The backstop for the prime years of the Yankee dynasty received only 17 votes, failing to top the minimum five percent required to stay on the ballot.

Posada is without a doubt a shade below the catchers who have been inducted in recent years — Gary Carter, Mike Piazza, and Ivan Rodriguez — but not so far off that he should be a one-and-done candidate. Over 17 years, Posada hit 275 home runs, reached base 2,674 times, made five All-Star teams, and caught for four World Series winners.

Catcher has historically been one of the hardest positions for players to reach the Hall of Fame. Only nine of the 14 catchers in the Hall have been voted in by the writers. The remaining five got in from the Veterans Committee. There are quite a few great catchers from years gone by who missed out on induction, and Posada is among them. He is in or around the top ten in most offensive categories among catchers in league history, but was never a great defender. Without the Rule of 10 and a backlog caused by hesitancy to vote for anyone from the Steroid Era, Posada would have had a few more years on the ballot, which he does deserve.

Home/MLB