Saturday 12/3/22
There is none, really. There is only one if you don't understand baseball, how to evaluate a career, what statistics mean, and utilize a form of tunnel vision to be able to get to say what it is you want to say, which is usually far different than what is intelligent and correct.
Hall of Fame ballots are being mailed in now, so you see what people who shouldn't have a vote are thinking when they make their latest grab for attention on something like Twitter. I saw where someone posted ten years of Andruw Jones vs. ten years of Mike Trout. The latter is perhaps the most overrated player in the history of the sport, but he's a definite Hall of Famer and need not do anything else to make the Hall of Fame. Jones had more home runs, more RBI. He also played 300 odd more games, but yes, staying healthy matters. It's a great skill. There isn't one more important.
But it's so easy to show why Andruw Jones is not close to being a Hall of Fame player. If you can't do this and it's not easy for you, I'd say that you have absolutely no knowledge at the most basic level about baseball. I'll do it quickly.
Andruw Jones had a career OPS+ of 111. That is lower than catchers who are in the Hall of Fame. Jones was an outfielder. An outfielder is counted on to hit. A Hall of Fame outfielder cannot have a lower OPS+ than a Gary Carter, a Carlton Fisk. Again, those are catchers--guys who get beat up, where offense is a bonus. Where should Jones's OPS+ be? 130 or above. Not 111.
He hit .254 for his career. He had less than 2000 career hits. It's tough to get in with less than 2000 career hits unless you were a total stud when you did play or you were in a war. Jones finished in the top ten for MVP only twice. But it gets worse. You might think that 2007 was his last good year, because he hit 26 home runs and had 94 RBI. Pretty good power counting stats, right? But you know what his OPS+ was? 87. That means that Andruw Jones was 13% worse than the average hitter in the National League in 2007.
You know what else that means? Andruw Jones's last good year was the season prior, in 2006, which was his age twenty-nine season. That means he was not good again and he hadn't even turned thirty.
Should a Hall of Famer really be all done in his twenties? Or done as a star, I mean. That's pretty weak, right? Put it another way: He was a below average player when he was still technically in his prime. Andruw Jones gave you virtually nothing for the rest of his career.
After 2007, you know what his highest RBI today was? 48. His highest home run total: 19. He was out of baseball at thirty-five.
Okay, his defense. Overrated. I didn't think he was in the best shape. And I'm sorry, but the defense of an outfielder just doesn't mean as much as people want it to despite the highlight reel catches people like to post. It's not like a shortstop or a catcher. It can be important, yes. It can win games. It can cost you games. But it can also only be so influential.
Jones's highest OPS+ in a season? 136. His career mark should be up around there. Carlton Fisk, a catcher, had a season where he was over 160. It's just not good enough. It's not close to good enough. There are so many more guys who are far more deserving.
Andruw Jones had a good career and was a good player. But there's no way he belongs in Cooperstown.
I saw on Twitter that Jon Heyman was bragging about voting for him. People are so bad at their jobs. How do you explain away anything I've just said? You can't, right? There is it, plain as can be for anyone to see. 111. Done in his twenties. .254 average. Top ten in MVP twice. Andruw Jones for the Hall. Stop it.
Also: tomorrow should see Fred McGriff with his 134 OPS+ getting the call from Cooperstown and a wrong righted with the most deserving candidate on the outside coming on in. He definitely deserves it.
