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
PITTSBURGH, PA – APRIL 28: Yadier Molina #4 of the St. Louis Cardinals in action during the game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park on April 28, 2018 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Joe Sargent/Getty Images) /

St. Louis Cardinals: Yadier Molina

This will certainly ruffle some Cardinal fan feathers, but Molina was a tough choice here. He’s not the sure-fire Hall of Fame lock that some of those in the “best fans in baseball” community seem to think he is, in spite of an incredibly impressive career.

Molina broke through to the major leagues in 2004, joining his two older brothers, Bengie and Jose, in the major leagues as catchers. Much like Bengie and Jose, however, the initial path for Molina was rough to get regular playing time because half of his game was not exactly starting caliber. For Yadi, his bat was rough enough that while he was known as an elite-level defender for years in the minor leagues, he was given more time down on the farm to attempt to refine his hitting skills.

His first 2+ seasons in the majors didn’t show a lot of that work, as Molina hit .238/.291/.342, averaging a paltry 36 extra base hits per 162 games played. Many don’t like to remember this in St. Louis but combined over his first 2+ seasons, Molina totaled 1.6 bWAR. For context, Darrell Porter’s 1984 season was worth 1.6 bWAR – the season he hit .232/.331/.363 and led the Cardinals to essentially platooning Porter with no-bat Tom Nieto in the 1985 season.

All that said, in 2012-2013, Molina had a pair of seasons among the best in recent history for catchers, with 7.2 bWAR and 6.1 bWAR those two seasons. Outside of that, he’s been a fairly consistent hitter with excellent defense that has taken a noticed step back in his last couple of seasons. He’s still a great catcher, but he’s not the catcher he was at 27-30 (basically no one was in the history of the game, so this isn’t a big thing).

Molina blows up the Hall of Fame Monitor metric, with a 140 score, while the average MLB Hall of Fame member registers a 100. He does not have any black ink on his resume, however, and he falls well short in Hall of Fame Standards and JAWS averages for MLB Hall of Fame catchers.

What Molina has going for him is a narrative – the narrative that he was among the best catchers behind the plate ever – 8 Gold Gloves to show for it, along with 4 Platinum Gloves, has played in 89 postseason games while hitting .286, was the backstop on two World Series teams, and has been the appointed team leader of a team that has seen one sub-.500 season in his time in that role and even that was a 78-win year.

All that narrative will likely be enough to push him over the top to Cooperstown wearing a Cardinals logo on his cap.

Next: Cubs

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