Colorado Rockies: Todd Helton makes progress in Hall of Fame Voting, but obstacles still remain

Some writers will never change their mind for one reason

There are currently three first basemen whose career is either arguably or undoubtedly better than Todd Helton’s: Albert Pujols, Miguel Cabrera, and Joey Votto.

Should someone’s bar be set on the idea that a player improves the quality of the average Hall of Famer at their position, then at least Cabrera and Pujols will fit this mold as their career bWARs, 100.7 and 69.6 respectively, are above that of the average Hall of Fame first baseman (66.9).

Joey Votto falls just short of that mark (62.1) and Helton is right beneath him (61.8). Pujols will be a no-brainer while Cabrera should wiggle his way in. But if a small Hall-type voter is viewing positions in this way, then that could be a cause of concern for Helton as he doesn’t raise the bar of what an average hall of fame 1st baseman should look like (though he’s certainly very, very close).

Now for the other part that’s going to hold Helton back that’s obvious and we all hate it: The Coors Factor.

Some writers will just NEVER get over the fact that Helton played his entire career for the Rockies and so half of his games will be discounted because of it.

It’s a terrible way to look at things, but many of the BBWAA voters will think this way. With Walker, there was the cop-out of not playing his entire career with the Rockies and only have a third of his total ABs coming at Coors Field. That’s not the case with Helton and it’s something that writers will need to look past, especially since Walker’s Hall of Fame case was actually more solid than Helton’s from an analytical perspective.