The only player I have not mentioned that is on the ballot is Omar Vizquel. Being from Northern Ohio and growing up a Cleveland Indians fan, he was actually my favorite player growing up. However, he played in 24 seasons in his MLB career and he only had an OPS+ above 100 in two of those 24 seasons. He won 11 Gold Gloves but his defense was overrated, in my opinion.
If he were to become a Hall of Famer, as Jay Jaffe of Sports Illustrated notes, he would be the worst offensive shortstop and below average in most defensive metrics among Hall of Fame shortstops. With that, I would not vote for him.
More from Rox Pile
- A Colorado Rockies Thanksgiving
- Colorado Rockies: What if Todd Helton had played football instead?
- Colorado Rockies: Charlie Blackmon out for the season
- Colorado Rockies: Injuries shift look of roster ahead of Dodgers series
- Colorado Rockies: Has Sean Bouchard earned a second look in 2023?
Final Thoughts
This time of the year is always interesting to see who the Hall of Fame will be enshrining in July. The Veterans Committee already voted in Jack Morris and Alan Trammell at the Winter Meetings in December so there will definitely be two.
In addition, with the numbers that Guerrero, Thome, and Chipper Jones are getting (all over 93.3% as of Tuesday night, according to Thibodaux), they are locks to get in. Trevor Hoffman and Edgar Martinez are both right on the bubble as they are between the 78 percent needed and a little over 80 percent. Usually, the numbers go down a little from the public ballots and non public ballots so I wouldn’t be shocked if both get in or if neither get in.
The main Rockie on the ballot, Larry Walker, has seen tremendous gains (as more than 25 voters added him to their ballot this year when they did not have him last year). However, he is only trending at about 39 percent. With that, Ryan Thibodaux has determined through his tracker that even if every voter were to vote for him for the rest of the way, it would not be enough to enshrine Walker this year.
Next: The greatest game in Rockies history, Game 163, from a fan's perspective
However, if Guerrero, Thome, Jones, Hoffman, and Martinez were to get in, the ballot will be less crowded and Walker will get a lot more votes next year.