Future HOFers on Your Team

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

I don't want to go too far down the rabbit hole on Cano because we don't have enough of a sample size on him yet to make any firm judgments either way, but those numbers you posted from other 2B only reconfirm that Cano isn't in their league. He's had one very good season fueled by a fluke batting average. Other than that, he looks like a .750 OPS type with bad defense, which doesn't even make him a top five ballplayer at his position. My prediction: The Yankees look to upgrade sometime before the 2010 season.

[LaParkaMarka 0]

Leafs:

 

Cujo has 450 wins, but it's the Hall of Fame, not the Hall of Very Good.

 

The Hockey HOF is a joke, Cujo will likely get in.

 

This. They basically let anyone in, and may as well call it the "Hall of Very Good".

[YourKock'sReallyGreat 0]

I don't want to go too far down the rabbit hole on Cano because we don't have enough of a sample size on him yet to make any firm judgments either way, but those numbers you posted from other 2B only reconfirm that Cano isn't in their league. He's had one very good season fueled by a fluke batting average. Other than that, he looks like a .750 OPS type with bad defense, which doesn't even make him a top five ballplayer at his position. My prediction: The Yankees look to upgrade sometime before the 2010 season.

 

 

 

You are kidding right? Cano has had a better start than Jeff Kent, Biggio and Joe Morgan. The #'s are right there. You have to be kidding? Joe Morgan hit .230 in his 4th year. Biggio was hitting 4 HR's and driving in 40 rbi's in his 3rd/4th year. CANO IS NOT IN THEIR LEAGUE WHEN COMPARING THEM ON THEIR FIRST 4 SEASONS? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Please!

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

Orioles

 

Nick Markakis - he is probably the best shot the Orioles have right now if he continues playing like he has.

Brian Roberts - he's got a slight shot but the steroid controversy will probably wipe out any marginal shot he has.

Matt Wieters (career projections based on his 2009 projections = BEST CATCHER EVER)

 

Ravens

 

Ray Lewis - guaranteed

Matt Stover - guaranteed

Ed Reed - almost guaranteed, needs to have 2-3 more great years

Derrick Mason - overall he's had a great career and with 10,000 reception yards he should be a lock but he's one of those types that seems to go his whole career without doing anything noteworthy enough to garner a lot of attention.

Todd Heap - He was on his way before 2007 when he got hurt and then he wasn't a factor at all in 2008, but he might be able to get back on track

Terrell Suggs - Id say he's probably borderline but I doubt it in the end.

Joe Flacco - just you wait!

 

 

 

 

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Certainly quick to mention that Sandberg was playing in a hitters' park, not as quick to mention that Joe Morgan was playing in hitting hell. Jeff Kent wasn't a particularly great player his first four seasons. Craig Biggio was a CATCHER for three of those four seasons. And Jackie Robinson's first season came when he was 28 years old. And most of those players were better baserunners and better defenders. Even when Cano had his best season he drew little MVP support. Guys without a top 20 MVP finish don't become Hall of Famers.

 

Regarding Jeter. The 2009 Bill James Handbook gives him a 93% chance of 3,000 hits, 3% at 4,000 and no chance at Rose's record. My gut feeling is that while Jeter could certainly hang on with his reputation, he will retire shortly after gathering 3,000 hits. At that point he'll be 38 years old and his bat won't carry him anywhere but short, where he's a defensive liability.

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

Leafs:

 

Cujo has 450 wins, but it's the Hall of Fame, not the Hall of Very Good.

 

The Hockey HOF is a joke, Cujo will likely get in.

 

This. They basically let anyone in, and may as well call it the "Hall of Very Good".

 

I'm surprised Tom Barrasso hasn't made yet, he's more deserving then alot of the players in there.

[Guest]

Matt Stover is not getting in the Hall of Fame. At no point in his career has he been an All-Pro player, and with only one kicker in, rest assured there is no chance in hell. Ed Reed is an ironclad lock. He would be in anyone's Hall of Fame, and if someone was asked to compile two all-time teams to face one another, I believe Ed Reed would be on one of them.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

PHILLIES

 

Chase Utley- One of the five best players in baseball. Some of his skills are greatly undervalued such as his defense, but he has now strung together four consecutive years of 100+ RBIs. That will make HOF voters take notice.

 

Ryan Howard- He now has three top five MVP finishes in a row, and has a shot at 500 home runs. An outside shot of 600 and maybe 700 home runs. He needs to keep it going for several years though.

 

Jimmy Rollins- If he strung together a few years like 2007, certainly. If voters can't recognize how damn great a player Alan Trammell was though, what kind of shot does he have?

 

Cole Hamels- Yeah, we all know the warnings about young pitchers. Still, you get a group of 20 together, and a couple are going to survive through. Hamels is already a Philly postseason legend.

 

Brad Lidge- Ridiculous? Lidge is already 3rd all time in postseason saves. If the Phillies keep going deep and Lidge stays effective, he could build his legend.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

I think the automatic # for Pitchers from this generation is going to be 250 Wins. This is due to pitchers being babied/natured while being brought up, injuries, high priced contracts. Look at the best pitchers who came up earlier this decade, Oswalt, Sabathia, Hudson, Santana, Halladay and Sabathia. They are all around the age of 30 and their win totals are all in the low 100's. Hudson is at almost 150. 300 is going to be very exclusive.

 

250 wins was virtually automatic until the 1970s when the John/Blyleven/Kaat group kind of skewed things a bit. Bob Gibson, Juan Marichal, Bob Feller, Whitey Ford, Carl Hubbell, Jim Palmer all had less than 300 wins, no one questions their credentials. We came off a generation of several 300 game winners, but that was an anomaly. Virtually no one from 1920-60 won 300 games.

 

I think we will have at least two 300 game winners in our midst. I drew up a list of pitching win leaders from 1940-present, up to the age of 28. Of the top ten pitchers in wins, only ONE of them went on to win 300 wins. Hal Newhouser, Don Drysdale, Robin Roberts, Catfish Hunter, Bert Blyleven, Dwight Gooden, Vida Blue, Milt Pappas and Dave McNally all had 135+ wins at the age of 28. The pitchers who win 300 are the ones who pitch into their 40s, and no one can predict that. It's unlikely for any individual pitcher but again, get a group together and a few sneak through.

[MFer 0]

Lions:

 

Jason Hanson-Still going strong at age 38, Hanson tied the record for most 50+ yard FG’s in a season and he broke the record for most 50+ FG’s in a career. But he’s gonna have a hard time getting in for a number of reasons. 1. He’s played in Detroit, which is basically football purgatory, his entire career. 2. He doesn’t have many (if any) signature kicks in his career. 3. As mentioned, only one true kicker is in the HOF. 4. Even if more kickers get in eventually, Hanson’s gonna fall in line behind Anderson & Andersen, Vinatieri, and he's gonna be competing with guys such as Elam, Stover, and Carney. 5. Only 2 Pro Bowls, no All-Pro honors.

 

Pistons:

 

Rasheed Wallace-Very talented, but unfortunately, he never fully lived up to all that potential. He did have great stretches at times, but he couldn't sustain that level of play. I don't believe he ever made an All-NBA team.

 

Richard Hamilton-Very good player, but he isn’t getting in. The 2004 Pistons may end up being the only championship team in NBA history (as far as I know) to win without having at least one HOF player.

 

Tigers:

 

Miguel Cabrera-As long as he stays on track (and on weight), he should get there.

 

Gary Sheffield-Getting to 500 HR’s would help (only needs one more), but the steroid cloud plus him being unlikable in general is a bad combination. Also has over 450 doubles, 250 stolen bases, and a .900 OPS.

 

Red Wings:

 

Nick Lidstrom-Obviously.

 

Chris Chelios-3 Norris Trophies, 3 Stanley Cups, longevity, don’t see why he wouldn’t get in.

 

Chris Osgood-3 Stanley Cups (2 as a starter), 2 Jennings Trophies, 12th all-time in wins. He probably won’t get in though.

 

 

[migoli 0]

Joe Mauer. I'd like to think he'll be able to catch for many years to come but I don't trust him to stay that healthy. So a move to 3B will hopefully allow him to keep up the offensive numbers. He is a elite catcher now both defensively and offensively so for non pitchers on the Twins he's my bet for future HOF.

 

Justin Morneau. Great great player that I honestly get this weird cringe when I see a catcher move inside on him just waiting and praying for a pitch left up so he can drop it off in the right field seats. The MVP season obviously helps and was deserved no matter what bitchy Yankee fans will say. But he doesnt do one thing insanely well he's just very good at alot of things. If he keeps up a pace like this I'd like to think he'd be a boarderline guy.

 

Joe Nathan. Hes top 3 best closers in the game right now and has been pretty much since he got the job in Minnesota. Plus by the time he would be up I would like to think it will be common place for closers to get voted in. He's been amazingly healthy his entire Twins career, good ERA, the guy just has it all. A few more years like this and I would call him the closest thing for a lock on the Twins.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

Matt Stover is not getting in the Hall of Fame. At no point in his career has he been an All-Pro player, and with only one kicker in, rest assured there is no chance in hell. Ed Reed is an ironclad lock. He would be in anyone's Hall of Fame, and if someone was asked to compile two all-time teams to face one another, I believe Ed Reed would be on one of them.

Only other pk in the HOF is Jan Stenerud, who played 19 seasons in the NFL for the Chiefs, Packers, and Vikings. He finished his career with 1,699 points on 580 PATs and 373 FGs.

 

Right now Matt Stover has also played 19 seasons and compiled 462 FGs and 558 PATs for 1944 points. So he already has more Field Goals than Stenerud and will probably end next season with more PATs as well. Not to mention he has the streak for most consecutive PATs (and hes made 558/561 PATs).

 

Stover is still well behind Morten Anderson, Gary Anderson in points for pks and he could pass Blanda next year to be 3rd in all time points.

[Guest]

Stenerud also was an All-Pro 10 times, in addition to making the NFL's 75th Anniversary team. Stover has no accomplishments. No memorable kicks. Zero, zilch, nada.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh wait, he made the Pro Bowl twice. Once as an alternate. Some Hall of Famer.

[Guest Vitamin X]

shane lechler: a great punter. but how many punters are in the hall? I don't know, i'm seriously asking.

 

This was already discussed earlier in the thread when 909 brought up Lechler as well.

Jan Stenerud is the only pure placekicker to ever make it into the HOF. George Blanda and Sammy Baugh are the only other two I can think of that made it in as part-time kickers.

 

I guess I could be more specific and say Stenerud is the only non-skill position player or lineman to make it in. But yeah, no punters in the hall for now.

[alfdogg 0]

OOG covered the Colts pretty well. As you can tell from my other teams, I really don't have anything else to add at this point.

[Zetterberg is God 0]

Red Wings:

 

Nick Lidstrom-Obviously.

 

Chris Chelios-3 Norris Trophies, 3 Stanley Cups, longevity, don’t see why he wouldn’t get in.

 

Chris Osgood-3 Stanley Cups (2 as a starter), 2 Jennings Trophies, 12th all-time in wins. He probably won’t get in though.

 

The first two are locks. Ozzie is borderline but getting to 400 wins will definitely help his case.

[YourKock'sReallyGreat 0]

Certainly quick to mention that Sandberg was playing in a hitters' park, not as quick to mention that Joe Morgan was playing in hitting hell. Jeff Kent wasn't a particularly great player his first four seasons. Craig Biggio was a CATCHER for three of those four seasons. And Jackie Robinson's first season came when he was 28 years old. And most of those players were better baserunners and better defenders. Even when Cano had his best season he drew little MVP support. Guys without a top 20 MVP finish don't become Hall of Famers.

 

Regarding Jeter. The 2009 Bill James Handbook gives him a 93% chance of 3,000 hits, 3% at 4,000 and no chance at Rose's record. My gut feeling is that while Jeter could certainly hang on with his reputation, he will retire shortly after gathering 3,000 hits. At that point he'll be 38 years old and his bat won't carry him anywhere but short, where he's a defensive liability.

 

 

Very good points about the 2b. Biggio was a catcher his first 4 years, He didn't become a 2b until 1992. Cano was just as good if not better than Biggio during their first 4 years at 2b in terms of Offense. Joe Morgan might have been hitting in hell but Jimmy Wynn was able to figure it out at the Astrodome. You would be suprised if you looked up Jeff Kent's #s while he was with the Mets. He was offensively one of the better 2b in the National League and was All Star Caliber while playing for the Mets. The 1993 NL Roster had Sandberg and Jay Bell. Kent's #'s were just as good if not better. The 1994 NL Roster had Mariano Duncan, Biggio and Carlos Garcia. You can make a strong argument that Kent should have been the starter that year for the NL Roster. The 1995 NL Roster had Biggio and Mickey Morandini as the backup. With all due respect to your Phillie, Kent was better that year and should have been the backup.

 

The reason why Cano drew little support during his best season is because everybody was going crazy over Jeter in 2006. Arod also put up an above average season. I agree with you that Jeter isn't going to break the record for most hits. I do picture him getting 3500. Derek has 2 more years left on his contract and is 3 seasons away from 3000 hits. I do not picture him signing only a one year deal just so he can come back to get 3000. By then the Yankees might move him to corner of or dh if Jeter realizes that it's time to move on past ss.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Joe Mauer. I'd like to think he'll be able to catch for many years to come but I don't trust him to stay that healthy. So a move to 3B will hopefully allow him to keep up the offensive numbers. He is a elite catcher now both defensively and offensively so for non pitchers on the Twins he's my bet for future HOF.

 

Justin Morneau. Great great player that I honestly get this weird cringe when I see a catcher move inside on him just waiting and praying for a pitch left up so he can drop it off in the right field seats. The MVP season obviously helps and was deserved no matter what bitchy Yankee fans will say. But he doesnt do one thing insanely well he's just very good at alot of things. If he keeps up a pace like this I'd like to think he'd be a boarderline guy.

 

I'm not a Yankees fan, but I'll bitch. Joe Mauer deserved both those MVP awards. I think Mauer is on a Hall of Fame path right now. Mauer right now has a .399 OBP. That doesn't sound superficially impressive, but let's steal the concept of an above poster. If we compare Mauer to other catchers in their first five seasons, Mauer rates third in OBP, fourth in batting average, fifth in OPS+. And he just won a Gold Glove. That's pretty impressive.

 

I used a 400 game standard, catchers from 1901-present.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Very good points about the 2b. Biggio was a catcher his first 4 years, He didn't become a 2b until 1992. Cano was just as good if not better than Biggio during their first 4 years at 2b in terms of Offense. Joe Morgan might have been hitting in hell but Jimmy Wynn was able to figure it out at the Astrodome. You would be suprised if you looked up Jeff Kent's #s while he was with the Mets. He was offensively one of the better 2b in the National League and was All Star Caliber while playing for the Mets. The 1993 NL Roster had Sandberg and Jay Bell. Kent's #'s were just as good if not better. The 1994 NL Roster had Mariano Duncan, Biggio and Carlos Garcia. You can make a strong argument that Kent should have been the starter that year for the NL Roster. The 1995 NL Roster had Biggio and Mickey Morandini as the backup. With all due respect to your Phillie, Kent was better that year and should have been the backup.

 

I can't buy Cano over Biggio. The Astrodome in the mid-90s was still the toughest hitters' park in baseball. Biggio was regularly producing OBPs over .400, hitting more extra base hits, stealing more bases, rarely grounding into double plays and winning gold gloves. Joe Morgan was producing quite well, it's just that no one realized it due to the extreme environment. Morgan's OBPs in his first three seasons though are better than Cano's best. That's before we even look at context. And the point about Kent is that it wasn't a Hall of Fame start to a career by any means. His candidacy snuck up on people.

 

The reason why Cano drew little support during his best season is because everybody was going crazy over Jeter in 2006. Arod also put up an above average season. I agree with you that Jeter isn't going to break the record for most hits. I do picture him getting 3500. Derek has 2 more years left on his contract and is 3 seasons away from 3000 hits. I do not picture him signing only a one year deal just so he can come back to get 3000. By then the Yankees might move him to corner of or dh if Jeter realizes that it's time to move on past ss.

 

The problem is that by then Jeter is likely to be a .280/.350/.390 type of hitter. His slugging percentage barely cleared .400 last season. How enthusiastic will the Yankees be to carry a hitter like that at a premium offensive position, and then proclaim it's "World Series or bust?"

[YourKock'sReallyGreat 0]

The MVP season obviously helps and was deserved no matter what bitchy Yankee fans will say.

 

 

I didn't mind that a Twins Player won the MVP in 2006. I think it should have been Mauer or Santanta. My problem was that it was the third best player on the team winning the award. My other problem was the writer from Chicago who voted Jeter behind Arod in the voting because "American league catchers told him that Arod was more "clutch" bullshit".

[YourKock'sReallyGreat 0]

Very good points about the 2b. Biggio was a catcher his first 4 years, He didn't become a 2b until 1992. Cano was just as good if not better than Biggio during their first 4 years at 2b in terms of Offense. Joe Morgan might have been hitting in hell but Jimmy Wynn was able to figure it out at the Astrodome. You would be suprised if you looked up Jeff Kent's #s while he was with the Mets. He was offensively one of the better 2b in the National League and was All Star Caliber while playing for the Mets. The 1993 NL Roster had Sandberg and Jay Bell. Kent's #'s were just as good if not better. The 1994 NL Roster had Mariano Duncan, Biggio and Carlos Garcia. You can make a strong argument that Kent should have been the starter that year for the NL Roster. The 1995 NL Roster had Biggio and Mickey Morandini as the backup. With all due respect to your Phillie, Kent was better that year and should have been the backup.

 

I can't buy Cano over Biggio. The Astrodome in the mid-90s was still the toughest hitters' park in baseball. Biggio was regularly producing OBPs over .400, hitting more extra base hits, stealing more bases, rarely grounding into double plays and winning gold gloves. Joe Morgan was producing quite well, it's just that no one realized it due to the extreme environment. Morgan's OBPs in his first three seasons though are better than Cano's best. That's before we even look at context. And the point about Kent is that it wasn't a Hall of Fame start to a career by any means. His candidacy snuck up on people.

 

The reason why Cano drew little support during his best season is because everybody was going crazy over Jeter in 2006. Arod also put up an above average season. I agree with you that Jeter isn't going to break the record for most hits. I do picture him getting 3500. Derek has 2 more years left on his contract and is 3 seasons away from 3000 hits. I do not picture him signing only a one year deal just so he can come back to get 3000. By then the Yankees might move him to corner of or dh if Jeter realizes that it's time to move on past ss.

 

The problem is that by then Jeter is likely to be a .280/.350/.390 type of hitter. His slugging percentage barely cleared .400 last season. How enthusiastic will the Yankees be to carry a hitter like that at a premium offensive position, and then proclaim it's "World Series or bust?"

 

I can give you the arguments about Cano but I still think that his first 4 years are comparable and baseball writers only look at a couple of stats.

 

What are the Yankees supposed to do with Derek during the 2010 offseason going into 2011? Offer him a one year deal like they did to Joe Torre? Jeter is the most popular player on the team, the fans love him, the Front Office loves him, he makes money for the team. Torre wasn't brought back because he was blamed for the teams failures and he didn't have good relationships with alot of people in the Front Office. Jeter is going to play as long as he wants to play. The team is his.

 

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

What are the Yankees supposed to do with Derek during the 2010 offseason going into 2011? Offer him a one year deal like they did to Joe Torre? Jeter is the most popular player on the team, the fans love him, the Front Office loves him, he makes money for the team. Torre wasn't brought back because he was blamed for the teams failures and he didn't have good relationships with alot of people in the Front Office. Jeter is going to play as long as he wants to play. The team is his.

 

That's the ultimate Yankee quandary. How they deal with Jeter is going to be very interesting the next couple seasons. Luckily for them they will have two years of performance before they need to make a decision.

[YourKock'sReallyGreat 0]

What are the Yankees supposed to do with Derek during the 2010 offseason going into 2011? Offer him a one year deal like they did to Joe Torre? Jeter is the most popular player on the team, the fans love him, the Front Office loves him, he makes money for the team. Torre wasn't brought back because he was blamed for the teams failures and he didn't have good relationships with alot of people in the Front Office. Jeter is going to play as long as he wants to play. The team is his.

 

That's the ultimate Yankee quandary. How they deal with Jeter is going to be very interesting the next couple seasons. Luckily for them they will have two years of performance before they need to make a decision.

 

 

Ok well they aren't going to offer him just a one year deal when he is on the verge of breaking 3000 and passing 10-20 HOFers on the hit record. Jeter sells tickets, merchandise and brings in cable ratings. The Yankees aren't going to lowball him or get rid of him if he turns into a .275 hitter.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Ok well they aren't going to offer him just a one year deal when he is on the verge of breaking 3000 and passing 10-20 HOFers on the hit record. Jeter sells tickets, merchandise and brings in cable ratings. The Yankees aren't going to lowball him or get rid of him if he turns into a .275 hitter.

 

Wouldn't the pressure be on Jeter though? He's the one seeking the milestone. If he wants to go to the Pirates and pursue 3,000, the Yankees might bid him adieu at that point.

[YourKock'sReallyGreat 0]

Ok well they aren't going to offer him just a one year deal when he is on the verge of breaking 3000 and passing 10-20 HOFers on the hit record. Jeter sells tickets, merchandise and brings in cable ratings. The Yankees aren't going to lowball him or get rid of him if he turns into a .275 hitter.

 

Wouldn't the pressure be on Jeter though? He's the one seeking the milestone. If he wants to go to the Pirates and pursue 3,000, the Yankees might bid him adieu at that point.

 

 

 

I hope you are Kidding. Jeter wouldn't have the talent pool of women to be fucking a different model, actress or singer everyday if he were in Pittsburgh. Plus Jeter is so into being a Yankee, I am sure he wants to go down in his mind as the Greatest Yankee ever. He isn't going to ruin his Yankee reputation going to another team.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

I hope you are Kidding.

 

I'm not. Maybe my meaning doesn't come across well. Look at this from the Yankees perspective. Jeter is a nice player, a popular player. This is not a team desperate to sell tickets though. They are going to sell out that stadium no matter who is playing shortstop. If Jeter is a subpar player, not reaching the postseason is going to kill their income far faster than selling #2 jerseys. And if Jeter says, "I'll go to Pittsburgh or someplace," the Yankees avert a PR problem. If Jeter wants to stay in NY and hit 3000, the Yankees can offer him a one year deal or whatever and get it done.

 

If Jeter wants to be a Yankee, the negotiation ball is in their court.

[YourKock'sReallyGreat 0]

I hope you are Kidding.

 

I'm not. Maybe my meaning doesn't come across well. Look at this from the Yankees perspective. Jeter is a nice player, a popular player. This is not a team desperate to sell tickets though. They are going to sell out that stadium no matter who is playing shortstop. If Jeter is a subpar player, not reaching the postseason is going to kill their income far faster than selling #2 jerseys. And if Jeter says, "I'll go to Pittsburgh or someplace," the Yankees avert a PR problem. If Jeter wants to stay in NY and hit 3000, the Yankees can offer him a one year deal or whatever and get it done.

 

If Jeter wants to be a Yankee, the negotiation ball is in their court.

 

 

 

The Yankees would face PR Nightmare Shitstorm for months if they let Derek walk to another team. NYC has 3-4 major newspapers covering the team, 2 24 hour sports talk radio stations, other radio stations, local media from southern Conn, Westchester, North NJ all covering the team. The front office is not going to put themselves in the posistion of being constantly bitched at by the media, fans etc for treating him like Shit. If the Yankees miss the playoffs because Derek has become a liability than the Yankees have alot bigger problems other than Jeter. The Yankees wouldn't avert a PR nightmare if Jeter says he wants to play somewhere else. The Media and Fans would blame the Front Office for making him feel that way. The only option is that Jeter plays as long as he wants and retires when wants. He didn't switch posistions when Arod came, he is still ss 6 seasons later and there isn't any talk of moving him.

[Grenouille 0]

Red Sox

 

Locks

 

John Smoltz - Already brought the numbers from his career with the Braves.

 

Long Road Ahead

 

Pedroia - The first two years have been great, hopefully he never loses the chip on his shoulder and continues to produce.

 

Papelbon - Has been a dominant closer for a couple of seasons now. If continues down the path he's gone and adds a few more rings I could see him being a possibility someday.

 

Beckett - Still young at 28 (29 in May) is at 89-62 for his career. If he can find something similar to what he did in '07 for a few seasons I could see him becoming something like what Curt Schilling will be for voters. He had good numbers in the regular season, but was great in the playoffs which he will hopefully be a part of more in coming years.

 

Sentimental

 

Ortiz - Late bloomer. Probably won't end up with the numbers voters look for and he's most likely already on the decline. Even with the numbers he may not get in because of the bias against the DH.

 

New England Patriots

 

Locks

 

Brady - Was probably in even before his record breaking '07 season.

 

Moss - Past character issues aside he'll get in.

 

On the fence

 

Bruschi - He just strikes me as a guy that may get in based on being on the wave of Pats Dynasty. His numbers don't really warrant it, but I could see it happening.

 

Seymour - 5x Pro Bowler, 4x All Pro He'll probably get in, but I could see it taking a while like Andre Tippett.

[migoli 0]

Joe Mauer. I'd like to think he'll be able to catch for many years to come but I don't trust him to stay that healthy. So a move to 3B will hopefully allow him to keep up the offensive numbers. He is a elite catcher now both defensively and offensively so for non pitchers on the Twins he's my bet for future HOF.

 

Justin Morneau. Great great player that I honestly get this weird cringe when I see a catcher move inside on him just waiting and praying for a pitch left up so he can drop it off in the right field seats. The MVP season obviously helps and was deserved no matter what bitchy Yankee fans will say. But he doesnt do one thing insanely well he's just very good at alot of things. If he keeps up a pace like this I'd like to think he'd be a boarderline guy.

 

I'm not a Yankees fan, but I'll bitch. Joe Mauer deserved both those MVP awards. I think Mauer is on a Hall of Fame path right now. Mauer right now has a .399 OBP. That doesn't sound superficially impressive, but let's steal the concept of an above poster. If we compare Mauer to other catchers in their first five seasons, Mauer rates third in OBP, fourth in batting average, fifth in OPS+. And he just won a Gold Glove. That's pretty impressive.

 

I used a 400 game standard, catchers from 1901-present.

 

Well I was thinking more of the Jeter/Morneau bickering that was going around at the time. But Mauer would have been legit. I personally believe no pitcher should EVER win a MVP.

[Boon 0]

Celtics: Garnett is in, Pierce and Allen probably need another ring or two.

Patriots: Brady, Moss, Seymour all should be in. If Wes Welker has a few more seasons like the last two, he could be borderline.

Red Sox: Smoltz and Beckett should be in. Pedroia and Papelbon are borderline. If Youkilis was younger and had a few more seasons like last year, he'd have an outside shot.

Bruins: Chara is borderline, and Kessel has enough scoring potential to put up impressive numbers over his career.