4 Ex-Twins Who Could Make the 2023 Hall of Fame Ballot

Except for Torii Hunter, there ain’t much to get excited about there.  I guess we wait a few more years for Joe Mauer to.appear on the ballot. 

Four more who will not make it.  But this raises the big question - Glen Perkins or Joe Nathan????

Torii has little or no shot to stay on the ballot but he has only a marginally lower career WAR (50.7 vs 55.3) than David Ortiz. Chew on that folks. 

1 hour ago, Johnny Ringo said:

Torii has little or no shot to stay on the ballot but he has only a marginally lower career WAR (50.7 vs 55.3) than David Ortiz. Chew on that folks. 

Excellent insight. It's a combo platter of Torii being underrated and Ortiz overrated. No defensive WAR for Ortiz. At least Torii made $171MM over his career and Ortiz $159.5MM. 

If Joe Nathan can't make the cut, not sure if Glen can. 

9 hours ago, Seth Stohs said:

Glen is cool, and was very good... But Joe Nathan should be in the Billy Wagner category. He should be in that 25-40% range. Glen may get a vote or two. 

I agree, I wondered if there would be a familiarity with Perkins among fans.  He seemed to connect with the fan base more than Nathan on a personal level.  But you are right Nathan was the bullpen ace.   Glen had 8.9 WAR and 120 saves,  Nathan had 26.7 WAR and 377 saves.   We could use both of them right now!

15 hours ago, mikelink45 said:

Four more who will not make it.  But this raises the big question - Glen Perkins or Joe Nathan????

Not that big of a question, really. I love Glen, he was terrific for us once he moved to the 'pen, but Nathan was significantly better and more dominant. Nathan deserved a longer look, I think he's Hall-worthy. He doesn't get the recognition because he overlapped with rivera, the best of all-time. (It's like Tim Raines, who was always great, but people forgot about him because he overlapped with ickey, who was the greatest leadoff man of all-time)

13 minutes ago, Karbo said:

Tori has a bit of a chance IMO. He did play on the coast for a while, and he was extremely popular with the writers. The HR robbing catch of Bonds in the Allstar game also gave him a very big star moment. Not that he actually gets in though I think he deserves too, he could stay on the ballet for a while.

Andruw Jones needs to get in first. Jones has more WAR in fewer seasons, more homers, was a better defender and a better hitter, but fell off a cliff after he left Atlanta. Torii had a unique career where he was an elite defender in the first half of his career but not a good hitter, and then a good/great hitter and average defender the second half of his career. 

In my eyes, Jones is more borderline but should be in, and Torii is not close to borderline. There are several CF'ers who have better candidacies than Torii who are not in, including Kenny Lofton, Jim Edmonds and even Bernie Williams.

I think for Torrii ti be a borderline HOF he wouldnneed to have more counting stats.  He needed around 800-1000 more AB to be able to hit them.  200-300 hits 40-50 HRs. And 150 RBI.  He gets those numbers added to his career totals he probably gets in.

4 hours ago, dex8425 said:

Andruw Jones needs to get in first. Jones has more WAR in fewer seasons, more homers, was a better defender and a better hitter, but fell off a cliff after he left Atlanta. Torii had a unique career where he was an elite defender in the first half of his career but not a good hitter, and then a good/great hitter and average defender the second half of his career. 

In my eyes, Jones is more borderline but should be in, and Torii is not close to borderline. There are several CF'ers who have better candidacies than Torii who are not in, including Kenny Lofton, Jim Edmonds and even Bernie Williams.

I am not a fan of either Andrew Jones or Torii Hunter getting in.  I would support Lofton but would put Edmunds and WIlliams into the not quite good enough category. 

7 minutes ago, mikelink45 said:

I am not a fan of either Andrew Jones or Torii Hunter getting in.  I would support Lofton but would put Edmunds and WIlliams into the not quite good enough category. 

Interesting. They are all noteworthy comparisons and all pretty similar: 

Lofton: 8120AB, 2428 hits, 130 HR's, .299 avg, 107 ops+, 68.4 WAR, 6x All star, 4 gold gloves and 1 season top 10 MVP votes. Value primarily came as a base stealer and solid defender, but not a great hitter.

Williams: 7869AB, 2336 hits, 287HR's, .297 avg., 125 ops+, 49.6 WAR, 4x AS, 4x GG, twice top ten in MVP voting. He raked, especially in the postseason, but was not a great defender. He was the best hitter on four WS champ teams.

Edmonds: 6858 AB, 1949 hits, 393 HR's, .284 avg., 132 ops+, 60.4WAR, 4x AS, 8xGG, twice top ten in MVP votes. Great complete hitter and great defender, but the shortest career of these guys. Didn't seem to have the HOF vibe during playing days.

Jones: 7599AB, 1933 hits, 434 HR's, .254 avg., 111 ops+, 62.7 WAR, 5x AS, 10x GG, twice top ten in MVP votes. The greatest defensive centerfielder ever, and also has 434 career homers. Will definitely be elected in 2024 or 2025.

Hunter:  8857 AB, 2452 hits, 353 HR's, .277 avg., 110 ops+, 50.7 WAR, 5x AS, 9 gold gloves, once top ten in MVP voting. Great defender the first half of his career, then a good hitter and solid defender his second half of career. Doesn't have a high enough peak for me. 

I'd definitely put Jones in among these five. Edmonds and Lofton are very borderline and probably will get in someday. Torii's peak wasn't high enough. Lofton was a victim of a crowded 2013 ballot and playing in the AL alongside Ken Griffey Jr.

2 hours ago, dex8425 said:

Interesting. They are all noteworthy comparisons and all pretty similar: 

Lofton: 8120AB, 2428 hits, 130 HR's, .299 avg, 107 ops+, 68.4 WAR, 6x All star, 4 gold gloves and 1 season top 10 MVP votes. Value primarily came as a base stealer and solid defender, but not a great hitter.

Williams: 7869AB, 2336 hits, 287HR's, .297 avg., 125 ops+, 49.6 WAR, 4x AS, 4x GG, twice top ten in MVP voting. He raked, especially in the postseason, but was not a great defender. He was the best hitter on four WS champ teams.

Edmonds: 6858 AB, 1949 hits, 393 HR's, .284 avg., 132 ops+, 60.4WAR, 4x AS, 8xGG, twice top ten in MVP votes. Great complete hitter and great defender, but the shortest career of these guys. Didn't seem to have the HOF vibe during playing days.

Jones: 7599AB, 1933 hits, 434 HR's, .254 avg., 111 ops+, 62.7 WAR, 5x AS, 10x GG, twice top ten in MVP votes. The greatest defensive centerfielder ever, and also has 434 career homers. Will definitely be elected in 2024 or 2025.

Hunter:  8857 AB, 2452 hits, 353 HR's, .277 avg., 110 ops+, 50.7 WAR, 5x AS, 9 gold gloves, once top ten in MVP voting. Great defender the first half of his career, then a good hitter and solid defender his second half of career. Doesn't have a high enough peak for me. 

I'd definitely put Jones in among these five. Edmonds and Lofton are very borderline and probably will get in someday. Torii's peak wasn't high enough. Lofton was a victim of a crowded 2013 ballot and playing in the AL alongside Ken Griffey Jr.

 

Note that Lofton has more WAR than Jones.  Most (except Hunter) are very close, but Lofton is the only one that rises enough for me.  I am not upset if none get in.