Project: 2011

Ken Griffey Jr. – Centerfield 100.7
1989-2010
11304 PA, .284/.370/.538, 2781 H, 630 HR, 184 SB (+3)
1997 MVP, 10 Gold Gloves, 13 All-Star Games, 7 Silver Sluggers
Possibly the most disappointing Hall of Fame career of all time? From 1990-1999 he was a god. But his 30s were not kind to Griffey. It’s actually quite alarming to think he hit 630 HRs, while missing a huge portion of his games after 2000. Even more remarkable is that this was the highest offensive context in generations. I’m not sure it’s entirely crazy to think that a healthy Griffey could have hit 800 HRs. Anyway, better to think of him as the player he was (which was a great one) rather than the player he could have been. He may have been the closest we’ll see to Mickey Mantle.

Jim Edmonds – Centerfield 76.9
1993-2010
7980 PA, .284/.376/.527, 1949 H, 393 HR, 67 SB (+37)
8 Gold Gloves, 4 All-Star Games, 1 Silver Slugger
Any discussion of Edmonds inevitably gets bogged down in an assessment of his defence. Was he a great outfielder? Or just a flashy one? I lean towards good/great. Some guys make it look effortless…Jim Edmonds was not one of those guys. But that shouldn’t blind us to the fact that he turned a hell of a lot of flyballs into outs over his career. Of course, the thing that gets lost in that whole discussion is that he was a great hitter too. In fact, even if you make Edmonds a merely average centerfielder, I think he’s knocking on the door to Cooperstown, if not actually getting in. If he did have one weakness it was in-season durability. He didn’t always get to 150 games, but he played good baseball until he was 40, so I’ll cut him some slack there.

Jason Kendall – Catcher 62.5
1996-2010
8702 PA, .288/.366/.378, 2195 H, 75 HR, 189 SB (+16)
3 All-Star Games
It’s tough to even picture the early Jason Kendall. For years we’ve seen him dragging his near-lifeless body from team to team in one long, desperate, heart-breaking campaign to stay in baseball. But for the first six years of his career Kendall was a Hall of Famer in the making. It’s also hard to picture because he was such a singular player. He was an Ichiro that could catch, and draw walks. From 1996-2000 he hit .314/.402/.456 with 93 stolen bases. But then Pittsburgh screwed him around with his injuries, allowing him to play through them (though allowing a guy like Kendall to play through an injury is essentially forcing him to do so). Of all the crimes perpetrated by the Pirates in the past twenty years that one might have been the worst. Losing is bad enough, but depriving the rest of us of a talent like Jason Kendall is an unforgivable sin.

Carlos Delgado – First Base 58.8
1993-2009
8657 PA, .280/.383/.546, 2038 H, 473 HR (-65)
2 All-Star Games, 3 Silver Sluggers
Delgado was one of the finest hitters of his generation, but in the field he was a true DH. At his peak from 2000-2003 he batted .301 and averaged 40 HRs a year. Most importantly, he was the face of the Blue Jays franchise through their first real run of lean years since their initial foray into baseball. A class act who never really stopped hitting until a wonky back forced him from the game. No one ever put balls off the restaurant in center field at SkyDome quite like him. (Four times in one game once!)

Troy Glaus – Third Base 54.6
1998-2010
6355 PA, .254/.358/.489, 1375 H, 320 HR, 56 SB (+14)
2002 World Series MVP, 4 All-Star Games, 2 Silver Sluggers
Glaus was a great hulking beast of a man. He had this distinctive shoulder roll as he stepped out that sent a wave through his entire chest. It was like he needed to periodically move his pectoral muscles or else their sheer weight would cave in his chest. Unsurprisingly his main weapon was power, which he used to ruthless effect. But he also knew how to work a count, and was a surprisingly able glove man. He never looked particularly graceful charging a bunt, but he always seemed to turn them into outs. Glaus was also a post-season hero – he was the most reliable Angels hitter in their 2002 run and was a lifetime .321 post-season hitter with 9 HRs in 24 games. His impressive physique did not handle the aging process well though and he always had trouble staying in the lineup. By the time he turned 30 he wasn’t hitting all that much anymore either and he had to enter early retirement.

Billy Wagner – Relief Pitcher 45.0
1995-2010
903 IP, 47-40, 2.31 ERA, 1196 K, 422 SV
1999 Reliever of the Year, 7 All-Star Games
Feels wrong putting Billy Wagner ahead of Hoffman, but the truth is he was much better at preventing runs from scoring. Hoffman threw almost 200 more innings, which narrows the gap to almost nothing, but I give Wagner the edge because when he was at his best, he was better than Hoffman. Plus it’s hard not to root for the little lefty.

Trevor Hoffman – Relief Pitcher 44.0
1993-2010
1089 IP, 61-75, 2.87 ERA, 1133 K, 601 SV
1998, 2006 Reliever of the Year, 7 All-Star Games
All-time saves leader, for now, Hoffman and his changeup enjoyed an unparalleled run of consistency over nearly twenty years. Or, it would be unparalleled if that Mariano Rivera guy hadn’t been around.

Luis Castillo – Second Base 41.6
1996-2010
7471 PA, .290/.368/.351, 1889 H, 28 HR, 370 SB (-13)
3 Gold Gloves, 3 All-Star Games
In a sense Castillo was a player of many flaws. The big one obviously is that he had absolutely no power (28 career home runs). But even his apparent strengths were negated upon closer inspection. He was very fast, but he didn’t translate his speed to the defensive side of the game – he was only ever an average 2B. However, what made him a solid player were his two unadulterated virtues – great contact skills and the ability to work a count. Despite not posing any threat to pitchers, he was able to eke out and impressive amount of free passes. He also almost never struck out…two skills which translated into a lifetime .368 OBP. A fine example of a player refining extremely specialized skills into a successful career.

Randy Winn – Centerfield 39.5
1998-2010
6878 PA, .284/.343/.416, 1759 H, 110 HR, 215 SB (+31)
1 All-Star Game
It’s probably a bit controversial to put Winn ahead of Garret Anderson, but events conspired to mask Winn’s value throughout his career. He’s probably one of the better players in recent memory to never play in the post-season as he spent most of his career toiling on poor teams. Even on those teams (mostly the Rays, Mariners, and Giants) he was always a supporting character, bouncing all around the outfield, playing wherever the team needed him that day. In fact, the field is where he was at his best – he was only ever a decent hitter. No one really noticed (I, for one, always confused him with Raul Ibanez) but Winn quietly put together a strong career.

Mike Sweeney – First Base 37.2
1995-2010
5848 PA, .297/.366/.486, 1540 H, 215 HR (-9)
5 All-Star Games
Sweeney was the best player on the team through Kansas City’s leanest years. There’s actually a fair comparison to be made between him and his protege, Billy Butler. Both are more hitters than baseball players, though neither is a true slugger. The main difference (hopefully) is durability. Sweeney was really only able to put in full seasons in 1999-2000. Other than that Sweeney was a fine bat that just couldn’t stay in the lineup.

Mike Lowell – Third Base 36.1
1998-2010
6500 PA, .279/.342/.464, 1619 H, 223 HR (+1)
2007 World Series MVP, 4 All-Star Games, 1 Gold Glove, 1 Silver Slugger
Lowell was a bit of a poor man’s Scott Rolen. Not as good a fielder (though still a good one), not as good a hitter (though still a good one), succumbed to injuries sooner…he was a key part of two World Series Championships and had a finely maintained beard. Can’t really ask for more out of a player. His best years were most likely in Florida, but he had an excellent renaissance in Boston after he was essentially tossed in as dead-weight in the Josh Beckett-Hanley Ramirez trade.

Mike Hampton – Starting Pitcher 33.4
1993-2010
2268 IP, 148-115, 4.06 ERA, 1387 K
2 All-Star Games, 1 Gold Glove, 5 Silver Sluggers
His $121 million contract remains one of the biggest ever (still 20th priciest in history). Unfortunately almost all of his career value came before he signed it. To be fair, he should be remembered for those excellent early years (85-53 with a 3.44 ERA in one of the biggest offensive eras in history before the Colorado deal), and for being one of the top two or three hitting pitchers of his generation, along with Livan Hernandez and Dontrelle Willis.

Garret Anderson – Leftfield 33.4
1994-2010
9177 PA, .293/.324/.461, 2529 H, 287 HR, 80 SB (+24)
3 All-Star Games, 2 Silver Sluggers
Mr. Angel. Anderson played for the California, Anaheim, and Los Angeles Angels. His career was a long, wide prairie of mediocrity punctuated by a brief peak that coincided with the Angels rise to championship glory. In 2002-2003 Anderson had 396 hits, 105 doubles and 58 home runs and was a key part of the Angels shocking dispatching of the Yankees in the 2002 ALDS.

David Eckstein – Shortstop 32.7
2001-2010
5705 PA, .280/.345/.355, 1414 H, 35 HR, 123 SB (-12)
2006 World Series MVP, 2 All-Star Games
One of the more improbable shortstops to ever play in the major leagues, Eckstein had to roll his whole body over like a gymnast just to get the ball to first base. I don’t know how he did it, but he managed to play a good shortstop for many years with that arm. Unsurprisingly he didn’t have any power either, but he knew how to get on base, and what to do once he got there. Like Eric Byrnes he was an energy player, but a different kind of energy. Byrnes would fly around the field and throw his body at things, Eckstein just looked like a twitchy teenager that couldn’t stay still for five seconds. Eckstein was also a post-season hero, dominating the 2005 NLDS and the 2006 World Series.

Mark Grudzielanek – Second Base 32.3
1995-2010
7603 PA, .289/.332/.393, 2040 H, 90 HR, 133 SB (+32)
1 Gold Glove, 1 All-Star Game
Remarkable for his consistency, longevity, glove, and uncanny resemblance to Saskatchewan geographical engineer Jordon Utke. He rarely strayed from his career .289 average. Even in his last year as a starter, at age 38, he hit .299. One of the rare 2B who was able to continue playing the position until the age of 40 without having his knees fall apart.

Brad Ausmus – Catcher 29.6
1993-2010
7012 PA, .251/.325/.344, 1579 H, 80 HR, 102 SB (+80)
3 Gold Gloves, 1 All-Star Game
Detroit traded him to Houston, Houston traded him to Detroit, then Detroit traded him to Houston. He never did hit very much, but picked up two gold gloves and had a sterling reputation for handling pitchers. His glory years were certainly his time as the A to the Killer Bs of the Berkman-Biggio-Bagwell Astros.

Gil Meche – Starting Pitcher 28.0
1999-2010
1432 IP, 84-83, 4.49 ERA, 1050 K
1 All-Star Game
Meche was a bit of a wild-card. A live arm, beset by injuries from the get-go in Seattle, Kansas City rolled the dice and signed him before the 2007 season. He surprised everyone by putting together two very good, healthy seasons back-to-back before succumbing to the inevitable injury. To make an odd deal even odder, he stepped out of the remaining contract rather than collect his salary while recuperating.

Gregg Zaun – Catcher 27.4
1995-2010
4042 PA, .252/.344/.388, 878 H, 88 HR (-1)
Didn’t get his first time job until he was 33 years old, but proceeded to put up five solid years in Toronto at an age when most catchers are soaking their knees in a hot tub all summer. Must be the all-time leader in thrown bats. It happened at least once a week.

Hank Blalock – Third Base 26.6
2002-2010
3928 PA, .269/.329/.463, 959 H, 153 HR (+4)
2 All-Star Games
Blalock entered baseball with mighty fanfare, grabbing two All-Star nods by the age of 23. He did his mostly by hitting 60 HRs over those two years and batting .290. Even accounting for the fact that he did this in 2003-2004 Texas, it should have been the beginning of a great career. Unfortunately he never really built on his early success, and after a few years of frustration and ineffectiveness the injuries started to come. The once promising Blalock was done before he hit 30. I’m not sure how many players have reached 100 HRs as fast as he did (before his 25th birthday), but on that list he’s got to be near the bottom on eventual home runs in his career…which is sad.

Gary Matthews Jr. – Centerfield 25.8
1999-2010
4617 PA, .257/.332/.405, 1056 H, 108 HR, 95 SB (+19)
1 All-Star Game
Had a nice legacy going for him as the son of a former star player, and a pretty good reputation as a gloveman himself. Unfortunately a well-timed career year landed him a ridiculous contract with the Angels and he will go down in history as one of the most over-paid players of all time.

Scot Shields – Relief Pitcher 25.4
2001-2010
697 IP, 46-44, 3.18 ERA, 631 K, 21 SV
Shields may be one of the better relief pitchers to have never been given a shot at the closer’s job. On the one hand he was stuck behind Troy Percival, and later Francisco Rodriguez, and on the other he was always too good for the Angels to be willing to give him up to another club. He’s one of the very few relief pitchers to throw all his innings for one club. Shields was a key fixture in the most successful era of Angels baseball, not least of all because Scioscia would often go with a no lefty pen, forcing Shields to face more lefties than a normal reliever would.

Jeff Weaver – Starting Pitcher 24.3
1999-2010
1838 IP, 104-119, 4.71 ERA, 1214 K
Now overshadowed by his younger brother, there was a time when Jeff was cutting quite a figure in the game himself. He started out well enough in Detroit, and parlayed a breakout season in 2002 into a trip to the Bronx…where he imploded on a grand scale. While he soon returned to what he always had been, a thoroughly mediocre innings eater, the memory of his massive, nationally covered failure, and the disappointment that he never really improved on his early success, lingered. Weaver led the league in HBP three times.

Kris Benson – Starting Pitcher 24.3
1999-2010
1243 IP, 70-75, 4.42 ERA, 806 K
Perhaps best known for his colourful wife, Benson was actually a very promising pitcher in his own right in the early days. After breaking into the league with back-to-back quality seasons with the Pirates Benson missed all of 2001 on the DL and never quite got back to that initial promise. He still carved out a few years as a reliable #3 or 4 pitcher but he was always on the margins. When he slipped a bit in his early 30s he quickly entered the revolving minor league carousel to which all once-useful arms are destined.

Jay Payton – Centerfield 24.1
1998-2010
4490 PA, .279/.323/.425, 1157 H, 119 HR, 47 SB (+49)
Won some rookie of the year votes with the Mets then proceeded to slowly fade away over 13 years. Never quite good enough to crack the lineup of a good team he became the quintessential traveling centrefielder of his generation.

Frank Catalanatto – Leftfield 23.4
1997-2010
4292 PA, .291/.357/.445, 1113 H, 84 HR, 45 SB (-24)
The Cat never did find a position he looked natural in, and he wasn’t much of a runner, nor did he have very remarkable power. But he could hit a ball. The epitome of a professional hitter (ie. Through incredible dedication and hard work he narrowly focused his modest natural skills into a single activity which allowed him to be a professional athlete.)

Cristian Guzman – Shortstop 23.3
1999-2010
5785 PA, .271/.307/.383, 1459 H, 62 HR, 125 SB (-35)
2 All-Star Games
A member of the small town over-achieving Twins before they sold out and starting throwing money around their fancy new outdoor stadium. Guzman led the AL in triples 3 times. Had a brief resurgence with the Nationals after laser eye surgery dramatically improved his hitting.

Brian Moehler – Starting Pitcher 21.4
1996-2010
1567 IP, 84-107, 4.81 ERA, 859 K
One of the more forgettable faces of the past fifteen years, I can’t say what jersey I always picture him in, as I find it exceedingly difficult to picture him at all. He had one good season, as a sophomore in Detroit, but other than that he plodded along in obscurity, helping teams cycle through their rotations with an acceptable amount of damage.

Eric Byrnes – Leftfield 21.2
2000-2010
3532 PA, .258/.320/.439, 827 H, 109 HR, 129 SB (+24)
Though I’ve never heard his two nicknames used before (Crash Test Dummy and Pigpen) they are both well-suited. I don’t think any other player of his generation enjoyed flopping around on the field quite as much as him. Byrnes wasn’t always the best player on the field, but was damned sure he was going to be the most determined. I recall sitting in the rightfield stands at the SkyDome and listening to some fans getting on Alex Rios for dogging it on some flyballs. Later in the game Byrnes made a wall-slamming, diving effort in left which got everyone excited. Rios was a much better player…but it sure is fun to have a guy like Byrnes on your team.

Bob Howry – Relief Pitcher 20.4
1998-2010
787 IP, 45-52, 3.84 ERA, 653 K, 66 SV
Howry had a peculiar career. As a sophomore the White Sox handed him the closer’s job, and he did quite well with it. But the Sox also had a young Keith Foulke and so Howry was pushed out of a job. He was never given another chance to close for the rest of his long career. After some mid-career struggles Howry fulfilled his early promise with some strong years in Cleveland and the other Chicago club.

Ryan Church – Rightfield 20.2
2004-2010
2128 PA, .264/.336/.431, 500 H, 56 HR, 21 SB (+32)
Sort of a poor man’s Nick Johnson, though a more well-rounded player. Church wasn’t the hitter Johnson was, but was pretty good at everything. He could have turned into a Nick Swisher type player, but after his late breakout in Montreal, injuries sunk his career. He’s still only 33, but his last relevant season was five years ago.

Russ Ortiz – Starting Pitcher 18.9
1998-2010
1661 IP, 113-89, 4.51 ERA, 1192 K
1 All-Star Game
From 1999-2004 Ortiz went 99-56, with a respectable 3.96 ERA. How he did these things I have absolutely no idea as he never looked like a particularly good pitcher. He led the league in walks twice during this period, and average over 100 walks a year, but still managed to win a ton of games (and prevent a shocking amount of runs from scoring considering). Once he left Atlanta in 2005 the magic abandoned him and he became what he should have been all along…a terrible pitcher.

Jose Guillen – Rightfield 18.9
1997-2010
6418 PA, .270/.321/.440, 1591 H, 214 HR, 31 SB (-58)
He wasn’t very good at baseball, was nearly universally considered a jerk, and yet played 14 seasons in the majors.

Bengie Molina – Catcher 18.7
1998-2010
5159 PA, .274/.307/.411, 1317 H, 144 HR (+15)
2 Gold Gloves
The oldest Molina brother, and the first to capture the imagination of the masses. He was a pretty good catcher despite his yak-like mobility. However in the Molina family “pretty good” defence is nowhere near good enough. His Molina superpower (oddly enough) was power, and post-season heroics, especially against the Yankees. His teams played New York three times in the playoffs and he went 17 for 50 with 4 homeruns in 14 games.

Mike Redmond – Catcher 15.5
1998-2010
2503 PA, .287/.342/.358, 649 H, 13 HR (+4)
Redmond was a career backup (his career high in games played was 89 for the 2002 Marlins squad). However, Redmond was probably good enough to be an everyday catcher at some point in his career, but was never really given the chance. His arm was merely average, but on the whole he was a very good catcher and an intelligent player. Like so many others in his profession he appears poised to enter the managing game.

Gabe Kapler – Centerfield 14.4
1998-2010
3315 PA, .268/.329/.420, 799 H, 82 HR, 77 SB (+2)
A career 4th outfielder Kapler was there for Boston’s long-awaited triumph, the resurgence of the Brewers as a competitive force, and the birth of the first Rays dynasty. He truly witnessed some history. Should have a future in the game as he briefly retired and managed in the minors before returning for some of his more productive seasons at the tail end of his career.

Bobby Crosby – Shortstop 13.6
2003-2010
2846 PA, .236/.304/.372, 605 H, 62 HR, 34 SB (-12)
2004 Rookie of the Year
Poster boy for both the Rookie of the Year curse, and the poor training staff of the ought A’s. Crosby followed up his solid rookie of the year campaign with an even better season in 2005. However, that was cut short by injury, and by the time the Oakland staff had stopped dicking around and got him back to 100% health it was 2008 and he had nothing left. I’ll always associate him with Khalil Greene as two what-might-have-been California shortstops.

Fernando Tatis – Third Base 12.9
1997-2010
3468 PA, .265/.344/.442, 807 H, 113 HR, 50 SB (-42)
Tatis was unable to build on his impressive start in St. Louis and was banished by degrees from professional baseball (first to Montreal, then to Japan). He had a triumphant return with the Mets and has since receded once more into the night.

Garret Atkins – Third Base 11.6
2003-2010
3273 PA, .285/.350/.449, 835 H, 99 HR (-45)
During the Rockies’ miracle run of 2007 Atkins looked like an important member of a rising group of talent. He, along with Troy Tulowitzki, Ubaldo Jimenez, Matt Holliday, Jeff Francis, and Aaron Cook seemed to form the nucleus of a new contender in the NL West. All at the top of their games, all under 27. It’s interesting to note how that group has been whittled down by injury, deteriorating skills, and trades. Atkins’ undoing proved to be the middle one as Atkins almost immediately fell off a cliff after his 2006-2007 peak. Much like Blalock, he was done by 30.

Kevin Mench – Leftfield 11.5
2002-2010
2597 PA, .268/.324/.456, 632 H, 89 HR (-3)
Mench was a born lefty-masher, and never really figured out the other aspects of baseball. A fan favourite, Mench is best remembered in Texas for his massive shoes and resemblance to Shrek. In Toronto he is less fondly remembered as part of the Brad Wilkerson/Shannon Stewart/Kevin Mench outfield experiment of 2008, and for being the guy that broke Roy Halladay’s leg with a line drive. I imagine he’s spending his retirement in Texas.

Michael Barrett – Catcher 10.5
1998-2009
3873 PA, .263/.320/.422, 925 H, 98 HR (-71)
1 Silver Slugger
Looked like he was on the brink of becoming a star in 2006. At 29 years old he batted over .300 and slugged over .500 and looked poised to be one of the better catchers in the NL for the foreseeable future. But then Carlos Zambrano punched him out (while they were on the same team) and his career just tanked. He probably didn’t have the defensive tools to ever be a great catcher, but at the plate he more that fit the bill for a while.

Russ Springer – Relief Pitcher 7.9
1992-2010
856 IP, 36-45, 4.52 ERA, 775 K, 9 SV
One of those guys that just hung around forever for no discernible reason. But at age 38-39 in St. Louis he finally turned in a solid run. Some things are worth waiting for I guess.

Scott Schoeneweis – Relief Pitcher 5.3
1999-2010
972 IP, 47-57, 5.01 ERA, 568 K, 9 SV
I thought I under-rated Schoeneweis because I mostly remember him from his frustrating time in Toronto. But on reflection his 2005 with the Jays was his best season. The ever-valuable lefty specialist who can’t get lefties out.

2011 BALLOT
Ryne Sandberg 97 (9)
Paul Molitor 97 (9)
Jeff Bagwell 96 (16)
Tim Raines 92 (10)
Lou Whitaker 90 (8)
Pee Wee Reese 90 (3)
Mark McGwire 88 (8)
Ted Simmons 84 (4)
Juan Marichal 84 (1)
Barry Bonds 80 (20)
Bill Freehan 80 (3)
Roger Clemens 72 (18)
Eddie Murray 71 (3)
Bobby Wallace 70 (2)
Larry Walker 61 (11)
Mike Piazza 60 (15)
Sal Bando 58 (1)
Buddy Bell 48 (3)
Tony Gwynn 47 (6)
Kenny Lofton 46 (10)
Greg Maddux 45 (15)
Edgar Martinez 45 (7)
Rafael Palmeiro 44 (7)
Chet Lemon 42 (1)
Frank Thomas 39 (13)
Curt Schilling 38 (9)
Roberto Alomar 33 (6)
Andre Dawson 33 (3)
Randy Johnson 32 (16)
Willie Randolph 32 (2)
Pedro Martinez 26 (13)
Barry Larkin 22 (5)
Mike Mussina 19 (6)
Reggie Smith 19 (2)
Craig Biggio 17 (5)
Ken Griffey 14 (14)
Kevin Brown 14 (1)
Gene Tenace 13 (1)
Jim Edmonds 8 (8)
Hughie Jennings 7 (1)
John Olerud 5 (1)
Bobby Bonds 3 (1)
Jeff Kent 1 (1)

INDUCTEES
Graig Nettles
Alan Trammell
Nolan Ryan