Fansided

Each MLB team’s current Hall of Famer

By Benjamin Chase

ANAHEIM, CA - APRIL 27: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim first baseman Albert Pujols (5) and center fielder Mike Trout (27) head for the dugout after both scored on an Angels hit in the seventh inning of a game against the New York Yankees played on April 27, 2018 at Angel Stadium of Anaheim in Anaheim, CA. (Photo by John Cordes/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
ANAHEIM, CA - APRIL 27: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim first baseman Albert Pujols (5) and center fielder Mike Trout (27) head for the dugout after both scored on an Angels hit in the seventh inning of a game against the New York Yankees played on April 27, 2018 at Angel Stadium of Anaheim in Anaheim, CA. (Photo by John Cordes/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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MLB Hall of Fame
CLEVELAND, OH – MAY 03: Cleveland Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor points to the Indians dugout as he rounds the bases after hitting a 3-run home run during the fourth inning of the Major League Baseball game between the Toronto Blue Jays and Cleveland Indians on May 3, 2018, at Progressive Field in Cleveland, OH. All players were wearing the number 42 for Jackie Robinson Day. (Photo by Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Cleveland Indians: Francisco Lindor

While catching is having a renaissance right now, you’d have to be blind to miss the significant influx of impressive young shortstops into the game in the last 3-5 seasons. On Opening Day 2018, 27 of 30 teams had a shortstop under 30 years old, and even the 3 teams with a shortstop over 30 all had a 31-year-old shortstop, so the position is definitely being served by youth currently. Lindor very well may be at the absolute front of that class.

He’s only in his fourth professional season and only his third full season, but already, Lindor has established himself defensively and offensively as one of the top players in the entire game. He finished 2nd in the Rookie of the Year voting in 2015 in spite of playing just 99 games, has been to two All-Star games, finished in the top 10 in MVP voting the past two seasons, won a Gold Glove, and won a Silver Slugger award. All of this was done before he turned 24 years old.

Obviously, a shortstop at 24 could see plenty of issues happen physically that alter his career path. Perhaps he puts on significant muscle and forces a move to another position, where his bat is still a quality asset. There’s always the scary thought of an injury that alters where he can play defensively or even ends his career outright.

We won’t even consider that right now, though, as Lindor’s pure joy for the game and bright smile is something the game needs badly right now to help reach out to a whole new generation of fans. He’s very feasibly on an MLB Hall of Fame track right now.

It’s hard to project on Lindor’s offensive path, but either route he’s gone in his first two seasons would put him on an MLB Hall of Fame track, with a future batting champ path of 2016 or a power-hitting path with good strikeout control that we saw in 2017 that might sacrifice some batting average but bring abnormally impressive power to the plate.

Whichever version of Lindor we see going forward, we should enjoy every minute of it, because you know he will!

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