Hall of Fame Class of 2019: Colome, Chen, Riley, Beltran, Gonzalez, Grieve Enshrined

Jesus Colome, Hall of Famer

With a much smaller ballot that last season, the TWML welcomed a half dozen new inductees into the Hall of Fame. Four players were new faces while two holdovers finally got their day.

Jesus Colome and Chi-Feng Chen were elected unanimously. Colome’s late-career push and Chen’s multitude of league honors cemented their fates. Matt Riley, thought to be a controversial candidate, finished one vote shy of a unanimous selection.

Carlos Beltran recovered from a weak showing in 2018 (62.5%) to gain election with 86.7% (13 of 15 votes). Ben Grieve also experienced an uptick from his 2018 showing (56.3%). He was named on 12 of 15 ballots of 80% of the vote.

And finally, the TWML welcomed the very first product of the TWML Rookie Draft into the Hall of Fame. Jack Gonzalez, the third overall selection in the 2001 draft, was elected with 80% of the vote.

Matt Mantei finished two votes shy, getting 10 votes for 66.7%. Next season, he will make his sixth attempt at induction. This season, he broke Carl Everett’s record of four times on the ballot. Everett, of course, eventually gained induction. Mantei’s fate has yet to be decided.

Vernon Wells will fall off the ballot after dropping from 56.3% in 2018 to just 40.0% (6 votes). He tied with Nick Johnson, who becomes one of the better players in history to be “one and done”. After that, the write-ins start appearing with Sammy Sosa and John Rocker leading the way with 3 votes each (20.0%).

The remaining newcomers on the ballot were Rafael Soriano (2 votes, 13.3%), Jose Pannell (1 vote), Corey Patterson (1 vote), and Todd Boylan (0 votes).

Complete results are listed below. Congratulations to the inductees!

2019

Player Votes Percentage
Jesus Colome 15 100.0
Chi-Feng Chen 15 100.0
Matt Riley 14 93.3
Carlos Beltran 13 86.7
Jack Gonzalez 12 80.0
Ben Grieve 12 80.0
Matt Mantei 10 66.7
Nick Johnson 6 40.0
Vernon Wells 6 40.0
Sammy Sosa (write-in) 3 20.0
John Rocker (write-in) 3 20.0
Rafael Soriano 2 13.3
Edgar Martinez (write-in) 2 13.3
Kevin Tolar (write-in) 2 13.3
Mike Hampton (write-in) 2 13.3
Danny Kolb (write-in) 2 13.3
Jose Pannell 1 6.7
Corey Patterson 1 6.7
Ryan Klesko (write-in) 1 6.7
Curt Mullen (write-in) 1 6.7
Billy Koch (write-in) 1 6.7
Kevin McGlinchey (write-in) 1 6.7
Brent Abernathy (write-in) 1 6.7
Erubiel Durazo (write-in) 1 6.7
Johnny Damon (write-in) 1 6.7
Todd Boylan 0 0.0

2019 Hall of Fame Ballot

Returning Candiates

Four players landed over the 50% line (and short of the 75% line) last season to stay on the 2019 ballot. Those players are:

Carlos Beltran

2018: 62.5%

Hard to beleve 3200 hits, 450 homers, 350 steals, and 1500 RBI can only get you 62%. Sure his rate stats maybe aren’t the best (.790 OPS would be the worst OPS among HOF OFs by 27 points). Still, 3000 hits is 3000 hits.

Beltran

Ben Grieve

The opposite of Beltran, Grieve had the rate stats but not the counting stats. He finished with just under 2500 hits and 456 homers. But his .850 OPS puts him ahead of HOF OFs Carl Everett, Tony Gwynn, Josh Hamilton, Rickey Henderson, and Ruben Mateo.

2018: 56.3%

Grieve

Matt Mantei

2015: 70.0%
2016: 66.7%
2017: 59.1%
2018: 56.3%

Another year, another appearance on the ballot for Matt Mantei. This will be his fifth try. His percentage has gone down each season, which may not bode well. That sub-1000 inning total seems to be keeping him out. Anyone else with that kind of ERA and 1000+ innings is in. Perhaps it is his low save total as well, since he was a setup man. Can’t hold that against him, though. He excelled in his role.

Mantei

Vernon Wells

2017: 59.1%
2018: 56.3%

From the Beltran mold, Vernon Wells will try for the third time. Strangely, Wells quit three hits shy of 3000. With 419 homers, he lags behind both Beltran and Grieve on that front. He did have that incredible consecutive games streak, though. His .790 OPS is the same as Beltran, though, and if one of them is going to get in, it should be Beltran.

Wells

New Candidates

A far cry from ballots past, we have only nine new faces this year. There certainly are some good ones.

We’ll start with starting pitchers. Four of them are on the ballot and three have ties to the Rhode Island Rats. I see two very interesting cases off the bat, so let’s cover them first: Jesus Colome and Matt Riley.

Jesus Colome

2016 SSL Cy Young
2017 SSL Cy Young

YEAR    ERA   W   L   S   G  CG SHO     IP   ER   BB    K  TEAMS
2000   4.22  16   9   0  30   2   0  204.2   96   60  172  RIR,TK
2001   4.65  16  12   0  36   5   1  243.2  126   66  221  RIR
2002   5.89   7   8   0  19   3   0  117.2   77   45  110  RIR
2003   4.14  13  13   0  28   6   0  191.1   88   53  178  RIR
2004   3.89  21  10   0  35   9   5  252.0  109   69  233  RIR,TK
2005   3.86  17  10   0  35  11   1  240.0  103   90  234  RIR,TK
2006   5.23  15  12   0  34   3   0  225.1  131   78  245  RIR
2007   4.25  11  14   0  34   6   2  228.2  108   93  259  RIR,FRB
2008   3.75  15  11   0  33   5   1  225.2   94   65  212  FRB
2009   4.05  14  10   0  31   4   1  209.0   94   63  228  FRB
2010   4.02  13   8   0  31   6   4  210.1   94   62  205  FRB
2011   2.86  15  10   0  35   7   2  257.2   82   58  284  FRB,SS
2012   3.42  12  10   0  28   5   1  213.1   81   63  216  FRB
2013   4.65   9   9   0  23   1   0  160.2   83   41  159  FRB
2014   3.00  19   3   0  29   5   1  215.2   72   51  247  FRB
2015   3.56  15   9   0  33   7   3  240.0   95   64  273  FRB,NAG
2016   2.45  16  15   1  42   9   1  308.1   84   74  329  NAG,SS
2017   2.03  18  13   0  43   5   4  311.0   70   79  341  NAG,SS
1.0    3.74 262 186   1 579  99  27 4055.0 1687 1174 4146
2018   5.93   2   1   0   6   0   0   27.1   18   11   19  NAG
TOTAL  3.76 264 187   1 585  99  27 4082.1 1705 1185 4165
Matt Riley

2009 TKLCS MVP
2015 TKLCS MVP

YEAR    ERA   W   L   S   G  CG SHO     IP   ER   BB    K  TEAMS
1999   7.36   0   0   0   3   0   0   11.0    9   13    6  BAL
2000   5.06  13   8   0  27   3   1  167.1   94   54  146  RIR
2001   3.98  19   9   0  36   6   0  232.2  103   85  221  RIR,TK
2002   4.51  12  14   0  32   4   1  201.2  101   77  176  RIR
2003   3.74  23   5   0  35   3   3  250.0  104   77  216  RIR,TK
2004   3.72  14  10   0  33   6   3  225.0   93   77  228  RIR
2005   5.36   7   4   0  23   0   0   97.1   58   34  110  RIR
2006   3.81  17   5   0  27   5   1  201.0   85   27  226  RIR
2007   3.47  20   8   0  35   8   2  264.2  102   38  323  RIR,TK
2008   3.59  20  13   0  37   7   0  273.1  109   46  318  RIR
2009   3.87  16  10   0  32   0   0  214.0   92   53  271  RIR
2010   5.81  11  12   0  33   3   1  184.1  119   34  228  RIR
2011   3.25  17   6   0  29   4   0  199.2   72   35  235  RIR
2012   2.80  20   4   0  33   2   1  231.2   72   50  264  RIR,TK
2013   3.31  17   6   0  34   7   4  228.1   84   44  279  RIR
2014   3.50  15   5   0  31   3   0  208.0   81   46  259  RIR
2015   2.87  12   6   0  28   4   2  194.2   62   36  255  RIR
2016   3.96  14  12   0  33   8   1  222.2   98   58  266  RIR
2017   5.85   8  18   0  35   2   0  190.2  124   58  208  RIR
1.0    3.94 275 155   0 576  75  20 3798.0 1662  942 4235
2018   5.36   7  13   0  34   1   0  171.1  102   57  122  RIR
TOTAL  4.00 282 168   0 610  76  20 3969.1 1764  999 4357

Colome is a two-time Cy Young Award winner. Riley is a two-time LCS MVP. Colome won 264 games while Riley won 282. Both fanned 4000 men with excellent control. Colome is the owner of a 20-win season and the league’s only two 300 IP seasons. Riley won 20 four times.

What’s the holdup? ERAs.

Colome, to his credit, drastically brought down his ERA to 3.76 towards the end of his career. That should really eliminate any doubt of his candidacy. While he would have the highest ERA in the Hall of Fame (Tom Glavine is the highest at 3.68), he’s not that far above and has the rest of the resume to get him in.

Riley’s 2018 season (7-13, 5.36) brought his career ERA to an even 4.00. I feel that might frighten voters. Will it scare this voter? Well, I also look at the post-season dominance and 999 BB-to-4357 K ratio and I’m in awe of Matt Riley. Last season, I put together a list of the lowest SP ERA’s not in the Hall (2000+ innings):

(Note: Tolar and Bell are from last year’s ballot.)

Are any of those guys more deserving of Colome? I’d say no, though I also supported Mike Hampton and Kevin Tolar. How about Riley? Again, ERA is a big deal. But none of these pitchers strikes me as having a better resume than Matt Riley.

Is Riley’s ERA deceiving?

Riley had a lot of rating fluctuation in his career. As a result, he had five seasons with an ERA above 5.00. Some of those were in the upper 5’s, too. They were spread out, too, so it’s not like you can choose one peak in his career to marvel at.

He’s an interesting case, what can I say? I’m dying to see what the voters think.

Rafael Soriano

2013 SSLCS MVP

Soriano’s late start and endurance issues are going to hurt him. When he was on the hill, he was a damn good pitcher. His ERA and winning percentage are what you’d look for in a Hall of Famer, but only if the counting stats were higher.

YEAR    ERA   W   L   S   G  CG SHO     IP   ER   BB    K  TEAMS
2000   9.00   0   0   0   1   0   0    1.0    1    1    1  CSS
2001   1.29   0   0   0   1   0   0    7.0    1    3    4  CSS
2002   4.43   4   6   1  16   2   0   91.1   45   33   72  CSS
2003   5.04   1   2   0  23   0   0   44.2   25   16   40  CSS
2004   5.19   0   1   0   9   1   0   17.1   10    4   14  CSS
2005   4.83   2   2   1  13   0   0   31.2   17   19   28  CSS
2006   2.35   2   0   1  19   0   0   46.0   12   15   51  DAK
2007   4.36   7  16   0  28   0   0  177.2   86   85  168  DAK
2008   2.57  15   3   0  26   0   0  164.1   47   56  148  DAK
2009   3.64  13  13   0  32   0   0  205.0   83   88  173  DAK
2010   2.69  11  11   0  34   4   0  244.0   73  105  209  DAK
2011   3.25  17  11   0  33   4   1  224.1   81   98  190  DAK
2012   2.49  12   5   0  25   2   0  159.1   44   41  141  DAK,SS
2013   3.15  19   6   0  34   0   0  237.1   83   94  186  DAK,SS
2014   3.32  10  14   0  34   5   0  249.1   92   90  204  DAK
2015   3.86  16  10   0  31   6   0  212.1   91   61  182  DAK,RIR,TK
2016   4.33  11  10   0  30   6   1  174.2   84   62  114  RIR
2017   4.77  13   7   0  34   4   1  194.1  103   79  119  RIR
1.0    3.55 153 117   3 423  34   3 2481.2  978  950 2044
2018  10.13   0   1   0   2   0   0    5.1    6    1    8  RIR
TOTAL  3.56 153 118   3 425  34   3 2487.0  984  951 2052
Todd Boylan

2003 SSL Rookie of the Year

It’s hard to believe Boylan ended up finishing his career under .500. He makes the ballot mostly as a hat tip to a guy who could dominate at times and put together a very solid, if unspectacular, career.

YEAR    ERA   W   L   S   G  CG SHO     IP   ER   BB    K  TEAMS
2003   3.87  11  10   0  35   0   0  200.0   86   60  112  LII
2004   3.95  12  10   0  41   1   0  234.2  103   56  161  LII
2005   5.27   7  17   0  35   0   0  184.1  108   58  114  LII
2006   3.46  12  10   0  33   1   0  205.2   79   60  146  LII
2007   4.67   6  14   0  35   0   0  198.2  103   74  122  LII
2008   3.83  15   8   0  39   0   0  223.1   95   74  137  LII
2009   3.22  10  19   0  41   2   2  263.0   94   57  145  LII
2010   4.33   9  12   0  31   0   0  141.1   68   45   79  LII,VAN,LII,VAN
2011   3.62   8  10   0  33   0   0  146.2   59   36   83  VAN
2012   3.99  12   9   0  33   0   0  182.2   81   50   98  VAN,SPR
2013   3.63  16  10   0  36   1   1  213.1   86   64  133  SPR
2014   3.27  19   7   0  33   1   1  214.2   78   64  130  SPR,TK
2015   4.24  10  11   0  34   0   0  201.2   95   58  118  SPR
2016   3.91  12   9   0  31   1   0  179.1   78   62  106  SPR,LVA
2017   5.74  10  14   0  47   0   0  147.1   94   68   76  LVA
1.0    4.01 169 170   0 537   7   4 2936.2 1307  886 1760
2018   5.28   0   2   0   8   0   0   15.1    9    4   13  LVA
TOTAL  4.01 169 172   0 545   7   4 2952.0 1316  890 1773

And then come the hitters. Again, there are some interesting cases here, starting with the “no-brainer”.

Chi-Feng Chen

2005 SSL Most Valuable Player
2014 TKL Most Valuable Player
2014 TKL Manny Ramirez Award
2015 TKL Most Valuable Player
2015 TKL Manny Ramirez Award

Thassa lotta MVP Awards. This guy not only won the MVP in both leagues, but also put together back-to-back seasons in which he took BOTH the MVP and MRA awards. Remarkable. Add in a couple 40/40 seasons and you have a Hall of Famer. While his rate stats aren’t as good as his counting numbers, I don’t see any way Chen misses a unanimous election.

YEAR   AVG  HR  RBI    G    AB    H  2B  3B    R  SB  CS   BB    K   OBP   SLG   TEAMS
2000  .133   1    1   20    30    4   1   0    5   2   0    5    8  .257  .267   CSS
2001  .245  23   72  143   552  135  22   2   74  32  15   49  122  .306  .417   CSS
2002  .283  36  115  161   618  175  28   3   95  24  20   51  153  .338  .513   CSS
2003  .272  28  106  162   622  169  34   0   96  43  22   61  151  .337  .461   CSS
2004  .268  28   94  162   596  160  30   2   96  36  22   48  160  .323  .466   CSS
2005  .310  42  127  161   591  183  28   2  122  48  24   70  138  .383  .577   CSS,SS
2006  .290  21  114  154   599  174  26   3  103  44  34   66  141  .361  .449   DAK
2007  .250  28   91  140   552  138  24   1   71  21  16   40  147  .301  .449   DAK,LVA
2008  .292  31  113  162   650  190  25   4  101  45  23   50  160  .343  .486   LVA,TK
2009  .280  35   99  162   615  172  24   2  109  61  23   68  159  .351  .496   LVA
2010  .251  31  100  162   637  160  24   1  111  55  26   64  139  .320  .438   LVA
2011  .276  35  103  154   653  180  30   1  129  59  25   58  159  .335  .485   LVA,TK
2012  .257  30   94  162   686  176  27   3  124  73  22   62  162  .318  .436   LVA
2013  .283  37  116  162   650  184  36   5  134  64  19   72  133  .355  .525   LVA,TK
2014  .317  46  133  162   647  205  34   2  134  69  20   79  142  .391  .589   LVA,TK
2015  .282  52  140  162   667  188  25   1  124  38   8   64  136  .345  .556   LVA,TK
2016  .286  43  126  162   647  185  25   2  111  34  17   59  149  .346  .530   LVA,TK
2017  .278  25   80  162   683  190  18   1   89  40  21   42  172  .320  .417   LVA
1.0   .278 572 1824 2715 10695 2968 461  35 1828 788 357 1008 2531  .340  .488
2018  .261  12   48  109   395  103   5   0   54   9   8   18   95  .297  .365   LVA
TOTAL .276 584 1872 2824 11090 3071 466  35 1882 797 365 1026 2626  .338  .483
Jack Gonzalez

2012 SSL Most Valuable Player

I’ll say it. I’m biased. I know the batting average was weak. Jack’s OPS is just .003 behind Luis Castillo. What’s Castillo in for? Speed at a tough position (2B). Well, Jack played a tougher position (catcher) and crushed 500 homers. Only Piazza and Pudge did that from behind the plate. He also had a 50-homer campaign and a Most Valuable Player award. Then there’s the streak of 1366 consecutive games caught behind the plate. Oh, and in his first full season as manager, he led his team to a 20-win swing.

You know what to do.

YEAR   AVG  HR  RBI    G   AB    H  2B  3B    R  SB  CS   BB    K   OBP   SLG   TEAMS
2003  .230  24   87  147  544  125  20   0   70  11   7   38  112  .280  .399   FRB
2004  .193  20   62  154  456   88  22   0   46   4   2   31   99  .244  .373   FRB
2005  .234  25   71  153  487  114  23   1   60   8   5   46  115  .300  .439   FRB,SS
2006  .259  34   82  140  471  122  26   1   64   5   2   32  113  .306  .535   FRB
2007  .224  20   53  156  460  103  17   1   53   3   2   37   99  .282  .396   FRB
2008  .214  25   67  160  571  122  26   1   67   9   6   53  134  .280  .394   FRB
2009  .255  25   74  151  466  119  16   2   60   5   4   30  112  .300  .459   FRB,SS
2010  .230  35  103  162  578  133  16   3   74   2   3   46  128  .287  .450   FRB
2011  .234  34  100  162  581  136  22   3   76   2   0   50  138  .295  .458   FRB
2012  .275  50  141  162  608  167  34   4   97   1   0   53  120  .333  .590   FRB,SS
2013  .212  29   96  162  590  125  24   0   64   1   2   47  138  .270  .400   FRB
2014  .248  45  118  162  581  144  30   6   93   1   0   47  109  .304  .552   FRB
2015  .224  40  106  162  620  139  26   6   85   3   2   49  145  .281  .479   FRB
2016  .245  47  111  162  637  156  33   0   95   0   1   45  153  .295  .518   FRB
2017  .210  36  104  162  605  127  23   0   66   0   0   58  148  .279  .426   FRB
1.0   .233 489 1375 2357 8255 1920 358  28 1070  55  36  662 1863  .290  .460
2018  .117  11   31  104  273   32   5   0   21   0   0   14   80  .167  .256   FRB
TOTAL .229 500 1406 2461 8528 1952 363  28 1091  55  36  676 1943  .286  .454
Jose Pannell

Drafted immediately before Jack (and after Junior Johnson), Pannell always struggled to reach his potential. He had a breakout 2010 season and followed with a decent 2011, but then an injury on Opening Day in 2012 derailed that momentum. 2014 and 2015 were again great seasons, but his .241 average and 392 homers aren’t the career totals many of us predicted for Pannell.

YEAR   AVG  HR  RBI    G   AB    H  2B  3B    R  SB  CS   BB    K   OBP   SLG   TEAMS
2003  .223  12   43  106  318   71  14   0   41   0   0   33   76  .296  .381   PRO
2004  .227  19   79  132  490  111  27   0   51   1   1   44  108  .290  .398   PRO
2005  .214  23   85  156  603  129  28   1   84   2   1   84  160  .310  .378   PRO
2006  .289  30   93  155  547  158  23   2   82   1   2   67  122  .366  .503   JQR
2007  .228  31   93  162  626  143  27   0   90   4   0   78  140  .314  .420   JQR
2008  .197  22   77  162  595  117  31   2   65   0   0   77  163  .289  .366   JQR
2009  .248  33   91  162  596  148  27   2   92   2   0   70  153  .327  .466   PWC
2010  .270  40  107  160  625  169  27   2  101   3   1   80  177  .353  .512   PWC,TK
2011  .254  28   84  160  570  145  28   2   82   3   1  101  147  .367  .458   PWC
2012  .000   0    0    1    2    0   0   0    1   0   0    1    2  .333  .000   PWC
2013  .216  34   81  162  603  130  26   0   81   1   0  107  167  .334  .428   PWC
2014  .260  30  101  158  554  144  34   2   79   3   1   91  139  .364  .491   PWC,SPR
2015  .287  33   96  161  610  175  50   2  105   4   4   78  170  .368  .538   SPR,FRB,SS,DAK
2016  .225  32   92  144  559  126  26   0   71   0   0   74  153  .316  .444   DAK,PWC
2017  .241  24   70  151  522  126  19   2   76   3   2   76  122  .338  .423   PWC
1.0   .242 391 1192 2132 7820 1892 387  17 1101  27  13 1061 1999  .333  .446
2018  .171   1   10   27   70   12   1   0    6   0   0    5   19  .221  .229   PWC
TOTAL .241 392 1202 2159 7890 1904 388  17 1107  27  13 1066 2018  .332  .443
Nick Johnson

Johnson’s .853 OPS puts him in line with guys like Carlos Delgado (.855) and Derek Jeter (.857). But those guys also had the milestones. Johnson’s 2697 hits and 308 home runs don’t give him enough credit for the player he was. His great plate presence allowed him to hit .303 and get on base at a .399 clip. Voters tend to like more power from first base, so I don’t see Johnson’s chances at overwhelmingly good. He was a steady, underrated player though.

YEAR   AVG  HR  RBI    G   AB    H  2B  3B    R  SB  CS   BB    K   OBP   SLG   TEAMS
2000  .198   3    8  141  187   37   5   0   14   0   0    9   49  .235  .273   BRO
2001  .296   7   40  116  274   81   9   0   35   1   0   37   75  .379  .405   BRO
2002  .282  15   63  134  451  127  15   2   57   0   2   82  124  .392  .424   BRO
2003  .311  16   69  139  530  165  22   0   81   3   0   91  110  .412  .443   BRO
2004  .313  29  102  162  651  204  25   2  123   4   2   95  122  .401  .492   BRO,SS
2005  .290  19   78  160  589  171  16   4  100   6   1   97  137  .391  .428   BRO
2006  .293  15   67  159  557  163  24   1   90   1   1   89  122  .390  .420   BRO
2007  .303  10   64  158  567  172  38   3  111  10   1  106  125  .413  .434   BRO
2008  .299  10   64  155  569  170  24   2   92   6   0   96  104  .400  .401   BRO
2009  .284  16   62  161  589  167  33   2   95  10   1   92  125  .380  .428   BRO
2010  .326  18   67  162  638  208  32   2  102   7   2  103  139  .420  .467   VAN,FWS
2011  .305  21   82  162  633  193  33   6  103   4   1   91  143  .392  .476   FWS,SS
2012  .297  21   88  153  573  170  32   0   99   1   0   93  136  .395  .462   FWS
2013  .280  27   85  162  629  176  32   3   97   4   2  109  156  .386  .469   FWS,PHI,RRR
2014  .295  28  104  162  620  183  41   3  101   4   0   98  145  .391  .506   RRR,TK
2015  .336  16   94  162  646  217  37   5  110   4   1   90  146  .417  .483   RRR,TK
2016  .357  26   94  143  543  194  21   0  109   0   1   95  113  .453  .540   RRR
2017  .320  11   48  106  372  119  19   0   55   0   1   52  101  .403  .460   RRR,SPR
TOTAL .303 308 1279 2697 9618 2917 458  35 1574  65  16 1525 2172  .399  .454
Corey Patterson

Patterson was a solid major leaguer for a long time. He doesn’t have the milestones and he also doesn’t have the nice rates of Johnson. But he did hit 371 homers while collecting 2571 hits in the big leagues. Nothing to take lightly.

YEAR   AVG  HR  RBI    G   AB    H  2B  3B    R  SB  CS   BB    K   OBP   SLG   TEAMS
2001  .145   3   14   35  117   17   1   0   13   2   0   11    9  .219  .231   TTM
2002  .261   7   37  136  444  116  19   0   50  17   4   35   62  .315  .351   TTM
2003  .241  16   56  162  611  147  16   0   82  20   6   48  102  .296  .345   TTM
2004  .254  13   56  162  568  144  23   0   80  24  14   60   75  .325  .363   TTM
2005  .255  11   54  162  604  154  16   0   77  23  16   73   90  .335  .336   TTM
2006  .283  25   69  162  653  185  31   0   94  22  10   62   96  .345  .446   TTM
2007  .234  20   79  162  615  144  25   0   88  15   9   78   98  .320  .372   TTM,LVA
2008  .289  27   99  162  612  177  22   0   88  29  17   79   80  .370  .458   LVA,HOM,TK
2009  .286  19   85  149  573  164  25   0   79  22  13   65   88  .359  .429   HOM,BRO
2010  .300  32  108  161  560  168  26   0   87   9   6   44   68  .351  .518   VAN
2011  .294  28   99  153  605  178  28   0  109  12  11   69   85  .366  .479   VAN
2012  .283  23   71  141  538  152  26   0   78  10  12   61   71  .356  .459   VAN,SEA
2013  .304  34   99  162  624  190  35   0  115  27  18   75   86  .379  .524   SEA
2014  .284  34   80  153  588  167  32   0  107   9   5   63   89  .353  .512   SEA,SFH
2015  .279  27   85  152  560  156  38   0   82   7   6   54   66  .342  .491   SFH
2016  .260  18   49  103  373   97  21   0   56   3   8   44   50  .338  .461   SFH
2017  .237  25   83  162  651  154  26   0   71   9  10   43  105  .284  .392   SFH,PAT
1.0   .270 362 1223 2479 9296 2510 410   0 1356 260 165  964 1320  .339  .431
2018  .237   9   31   92  295   70   8   1   41   8   8   21   72  .291  .363   PAT
TOTAL .269 371 1254 2571 9591 2580 418   1 1397 268 173  985 1392  .337  .429

Vote wisely!

Final TWML 1.0 Hall Induction: 7 Stars Inducted, 5 Unanimously

Since this was the final Hall of Fame voting for TWML 1.0, we had an extraordinarily large ballot. Since the list included both players who retired and older veterans who were not given invitations to 2.0, the ballot totaled 30 names (27 new, 3 returning).

Because this ballot was supposed to put closure on the first phase of the league’s history, an interesting theme repeated itself on many ballots—the write-in vote. In fact, 18 players received at least one write-in vote. Combined with 25 of the 30 players on the regular ballot who received votes, and there were 43 players who received at least one nod for the Hall of Fame.

Seven were inducted. Five unanimously.

Eric Chavez and Andruw Jones were the two hitters selected unanimously. Both posted gaudy career totals and were unquestionable first ballot choices. Same goes for starting pitchers Brad Penny and Kerry Wood. Doug Nickle became the third relief pitcher (behind Armando Benitez and Billy Wagner) to be selected unanimously.

Larry Musgraves, another reliever, fell a single vote shy of induction, finishing with 95.8%. Gil Meche rounds out the Class of 2018. Meche was named on 13 of 16 ballots for 81.3% of the vote.

Four players will remain on the ballot next season. Carlos Beltran showed that 3000 hits does not make you a slam dunk. He finished two votes shy, getting 10 for 62.5%. He was followed by Ben Grieve and holdovers Vernon Wells and Matt Mantei. All three had 9 votes for 56.3% of the vote. In 2017, Wells and Mantei finished with 59.1% of the vote. Mantei was also on the ballot in and 2016 (66.7%) and 2015 (70.0%).

Among players dropping off the ballot, Rafael Furcal (7 votes, 43.8%) and Kevin Tolar (6 votes, 37.5%) had the best showing. They are followed by Curt Mullen, Ben Davis, and write-in John Rocker. All had 5 votes for 31.3% of the vote. Ben Davis is the shocking name from that group, as just last season he fell ONE vote shy of election and had 72.7% of the vote. I’m not sure what caused the incredible drop. Travis Dawkins and Mike Short had 4 votes apiece, finishing off the list of players with 25% of the vote or more.

Congratulations to the Class of 2018. Complete voting results are below:

2018

Player Votes Percentage
Eric Chavez 16 100.0
Andruw Jones 16 100.0
Doug Nickle 16 100.0
Brad Penny 16 100.0
Kerry Wood 16 100.0
Larry Musgraves 15 95.8
Gil Meche 13 81.3
Carlos Beltran 10 62.5
Ben Grieve 9 56.3
Matt Mantei 9 56.3
Vernon Wells 9 56.3
Rafael Furcal 7 43.8
Kevin Tolar 6 37.5
Curt Mullen 5 31.3
Ben Davis 5 31.3
John Rocker (write-in) 5 31.3
Travis Dawkins 4 25.0
Mike Short 4 25.0
Danys Baez 3 18.8
Alfonso Soriano 3 18.8
Aramis Ramirez 2 12.5
Rob Bell 2 12.5
Alex Escobar 2 12.5
Eric Munson 2 12.5
Johnny Damon (write-in) 2 12.5
Mike Hampton (write-in) 2 12.5
Billy Koch (write-in) 2 12.5
Danny Kolb (write-in) 2 12.5
Edgar Martínez (write-in) 2 12.5
Sammy Sosa (write-in) 2 12.5
Francisco Cordero 1 6.3
Antonio Alvarez 1 6.3
Jason Kendall (write-in) 1 6.3
Ryan Klesko (write-in) 1 6.3
Kevin McGlinchey (write-in) 1 6.3
Erubiel Durazo (write-in) 1 6.3
Brent Abernathy (write-in) 1 6.3
Scott Elarton (write-in) 1 6.3
Eric Karros (write-in) 1 6.3
Pat Burrell (write-in) 1 6.3
Geoff Jenkins (write-in) 1 6.3
Cliff Floyd (write-in) 1 6.3
J.D. Drew (write-in) 1 6.3
Milton Bradley 0 0.0
Alex Clintron 0 0.0
Drew Hensen 0 0.0
Ntema Ndungidi 0 0.0
Pablo Ozuna 0 0.0

Trade-A-Palooza ’18 – The Year We Were All Sort Of Guessing

Guest Post By Adam Kearns

Editor’s Note: Mike Wilson is working on the coverage of Mr. Kearns’ trades. Will post when that’s ready.

The first year since the OOTPv6 conversion was one of the busiest trading seasons in TWML history. Some very interesting Wild Card races along with uncertainty about what the draft will bring have made a lot of teams itchy to pull the trigger, while some trades seemed to be made directly in response to trades opponents made.

The following analysis was done for entertainment and informative purposes only. It is not meant to offend, slight, or piss anyone off. Further, these are one man’s opinions. This man has been wrong before. Don’t take it as the gospel.

In the interest of fairness, I’ve asked Mike Wilson to evaluate the trades that I personally made. Wilson and I have made no deals thus far this season, so I felt like he was a good choice. He’ll be adding that information in later.

With all that being said, let’s get into the first deal for the month of July, when the deadline really started to loom…

To FRB:
SP Manuel Vazquez
RP Gary Blackmer

To LBL:
2019 NYM #1
2019 LBL #2
2021 NYM #1

This trade works for FRB if…those NYM picks aren’t too high.

This trade works for LBL if…those NYM picks are too high.

The Kearns Breakdown: Vazquez is a stud. It’s hard to know what NYM will be doing two years from now, but with their pitching base, I doubt a player like Vazquez comes as a result. We really won’t know about this deal until that pick is drafted. Right now, edge to FRB by a good margin, but that could change if the NYM pick in 2021 is as high as it historically is.

Philly Trades:
PHI 2019 #2
2B Pete Scheer

Dakota Trades:
SP Vida Williams

This trade works for PHI if…Vida continues to produce like the baller that he is.

This trade works for DAK if…the replacements for Vida don’t hurt them in the playoffs.

The Kearns Breakdown: DAK didn’t really NEED Williams, and PHI kinda did. If Philly makes the playoffs, this was the first step in that direction. PHI didn’t give up anything huge here. Is that really all that was out there for Vida? He is old…so I guess overall, this is about as even as they come. Nice work on the part of Wilson and Landis.

To FRB:
CF William Seeger

To RIR:
2019 NYM #4

This trade works for FRB if…Seeger is better than the NYM #4 prospect.

This trade works for RIR if…the NYM #4 prospect is better than Seeger.

The Kearns Breakdown: And no one cared…

To FRB:
SS Antonio Palacios

To PAT:
CF Jesse Scott
2019 FRB #4

This trade works for FRB if…Palacios doesn’t get a talent hit.

This trade works for PAT if…Jesse Scott gets one of those “takes his game to the next level” increases.

The Kearns Breakdown: Did PAT need a CF? Yes. Does that mean PAT had to go and do something like this? No. Here’s what you do…you find a bad team with a veteran CF, and you look at the cost. Why not go get Curt Vanatta in CHI for what would’ve probably been a much lower price? It’s not even limited to bad teams; Philly has been trying to move Clint Finney for a couple of seasons now. I’m sorry but I just don’t get this one at all. It seems lazy on PAT’s part.

To RRR:
SP Roger Dietrich

To DUB:
CF Oscar Melendy
RRR’s 2019 #1

This trade works for RRR if…Dietrich doesn’t tank.

This trade works for DUB if…Melendy can put up big, big numbers.

The Kearns Breakdown: Melendy is good. Deitrich could be great. We’re talking potential best pitcher in the league at some point great. Melendy is young, sure and I certainly wasn’t the one seeing the offers on Dietrich, but man…I gotta think DUB could’ve gotten more here. If Melendy powers DUB into the playoffs this year, it might be temporarily worth it. With two players this young, I need to look at the long term ramifications too…in that sense, I feel like DUB put up a big goose egg here.

SFH acquires:
SP German Padilla
3B Gus Bishop
LF Frederick Reddick
2020 PAT #1

PHI acquires:
SP Rod Perez
SS Marty Ryan
LF Ben Prosperie

This trade works for SFH if…Padilla and Bishop develop into the players they could be.

This trade works for PHI if…they make the playoffs.

The Kearns Breakdown: At first glance, I like this deal a lot for PHI. Looking closer, it’s really a smart deal for both teams given their position, but I still feel like PHI gets the edge. In that respect, both teams got the better deal because they got what helps their team more. I will say this…this is the most drastic move any of the playoff contenders made the week before the deadline, and for that, Wilson wins in the “ballsiness” category. That said, the team really needs to wake itself up and realize NYM and DEN are real threats. Edge to PHI right now, but if Bishop and Padilla (and even Reddick) got nuts on their development and PHI can’t pull it off, that could flip the script on this one when we look back in three, four, or five years.

DUB gets:
SS Andy Johnston

NYM gets:
MR Stan Fowler

This trade works for DUB if…they make the playoffs.

This trade works for NYM if…their offense can find a lift.

The Kearns Breakdown: It’s all about trying to make the playoffs for both of these teams, but Dublin more specifically has made that point very clear. As of this writing, DUB leads the TKL Wild Card and NYM has clawed their way back to within 4 games of the SSL Wild Card. DUB was looking for an offensive bat, and while I feel they may have “overpaid” in terms of straight value, they dealt a moveable piece to fill a need. On the NYM side, Fowler is a starter trapped in a reliever’s role. With Julio Wicks (29), Rondell Sullivan (33) and one of the best arms in the game in Mick Jones (30), the 31 year old Stan Fowler will be valuable for NYM this year and beyond, so while they’re trying to win they should be in a similar position next year. My only concern is that to date, they have two players with more than 15 HR and one of them is batting .176 to do it. In the playoffs, if your pitchers gives up 3 runs you have to find a way to win…I don’t know that the NYM offense can against the league’s best pitching. We shall see.

RRR deals:
RRR 2020 #1
RRR 2020 #3

CHI deals:
1B Billy Marty

This trade works for RRR if…they continue to stay in the playoff hunt and are a winning team next season.

This trade works for CHI if…RRR goes into an unexpected rebuild, or draft classes in OOTP6 are better than the standard class in OOTP2.

The Kearns Breakdown: I’ll be very honest…If I knew Billy Marty would go that cheap, I would have pursued him. I think perhaps Chicago slightly overpricing some other players led others to believe offering on Marty wouldn’t be worth their time. I have trouble believing this offer came from a “bidding war” so to speak. I also have trouble believing CHI gets enough value in return from those picks to make it worth the move.

2018 Hall of Fame Ballot: Outfielders

We’re almost there! All that’s left is the outfielders. First, the Hall of Famers:

Name Pos G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K SB AVG OBP SLG OPS
Ramirez RF 2722 10212 3334 621 41 838 2469 2209 2665 1652 39 .326 .420 .642 1.062
Giles CF 2212 7993 2486 439 23 585 1743 1692 1455 1499 206 .311 .417 .591 1.008
Bonds LF 2479 8558 2424 495 70 552 1572 1746 1422 1765 557 .283 .406 .551 .957
Griffey CF 3040 11274 3211 546 42 795 2147 2048 1984 1433 275 .285 .365 .552 .917
Abreu RF 2422 8751 2664 510 101 308 1210 1641 1493 2060 587 .304 .406 .491 .897
Belle RF 2517 9260 2578 538 20 577 1815 1531 1670 1178 204 .278 .360 .528 .888
Sheffield LF 2638 9389 2665 412 17 515 1606 1594 1310 1588 226 .284 .387 .496 .883
Green RF 2599 9310 2661 613 15 540 1674 1552 2235 969 426 .286 .353 .529 .882
Guerrero RF 2949 11550 3421 549 54 702 2107 1874 847 1520 359 .296 .344 .535 .879
Gonzalez RF 2768 9968 2795 560 19 644 1905 1557 2121 766 62 .280 .332 .534 .866
Everett CF 2358 8915 2607 507 56 391 1396 1513 791 2062 385 .292 .350 .493 .843
Gwynn RF 2459 9537 3204 539 84 142 1152 1422 455 787 322 .336 .387 .455 .842
Hamilton CF 2548 9306 2540 460 35 520 1614 1454 922 2190 234 .273 .338 .498 .836
Henderson LF 2739 9911 2816 472 50 278 1020 2104 1472 1972 1337 .284 .403 .428 .831
Mateo CF 2736 11203 3135 548 1 602 1762 1882 787 1985 507 .280 .327 .490 .817

Now, who’s on the ballot?

Here they are (OPS, AVG/OBP/SLG, H, HR):

OF Andruw Jones .883 (.284/.364/.519), 3215 H, 632 HR
OF Ben Grieve .850 (.279/.369/.481), 2478 H, 456 HR
OF Carlos Beltran .790 (.284/.335/.455), 3196 H, 458 HR
OF Vernon Wells .790 (.288/.352/.438), 2997 H, 419 HR
OF Milton Bradley .788 (.296/.351/.437), 2449 H, 244 HR
OF Ntema Ndungidi .786 (.271/.334/.452), 2346 H, 315 HR
OF Alex Escobar .755 (.265/.317/.438), 2540 H, 373 HR

And who’s NOT in?

Highest OPS, non-HOF first basemen, 2000+ H
.899 (.299/.369/.530) RF Larry Walker, 2295 H, 409 HR
.873 (.288/.365/.508) CF Jim Edmonds, 2061 H, 369 HR
.858 (.279/.376/.482) RF Tim Salmon, 2182 H, 364 HR
.848 (.282/.357/.491) RF Ellis Burks, 2024 H, 334 HR
.847 (.291/.382/.465) CF Bernie Williams, 2253 H, 275 HR
.845 (.283/.339/.506) LF Geoff Jenkins, 2592 H, 429 HR
.841 (.285/.347/.494) LF Cliff Floyd, 2619 H, 413 HR
.823 (.277/.341/.482) CF Preston Wilson, 2304 H, 415 HR
.820 (.279/.365/.455) RF J.D. Drew, 2529 H, 366 HR
.819 (.280/.362/.457) LF Ray Lankford, 2017 H, 258 HR
.813 (.288/.352/.461) LF Luis Gonzalez, 2131 H, 227 HR
.801 (.247/.303/.498) RF Sammy Sosa, 2366 H, 643 HR

Wait! Where’s Johnny Damon!?!? After quite a few other guys, here he is…

.751 (.285/.339/.412) LF Johnny Damon, 2931 H, 180 HR

The Easy “In”s

Obviously, Andruw Jones is in. That’s pretty clear. But is anyone surprised that Larry Walker had a better career OPS? Granted he was in Colorado for a good chunk. But still. And Jim Edmonds was damn close.

The Easy “Out”s

Ndungidi and Escobar had very solid careers. They were great all around players (power, speed, production… everything). They’re just not Hall of Famers.

The Great Debates

Wow, Ben Grieve was good, huh? And then Vernon Wells, Carlos Beltran, and Milton Bradley had just about the exact same OPS. Let’s start with Grieve first.

His only leaderboard appearance is ranking 24th all time in walks. He drove in 100 runs only once. He never scored 100. He never hit 40 homers, passing 30 four times. He was an All Star once. But his career numbers are right there with most Hall of Famers. So, what gives?

Grieve had a lot of seasons with the 400-500 at bat range. Why? Well, he didn’t hit lefties that well. He wasn’t a strict platoon player like Ryan Klesko was, but he did get some help. That brings down his career totals. I think even if he played against lefties, we’d see more milestone-type numbers from him, but still the OPS to keep him on Hall of Fame level. So, what does that mean?

I’m not sure. Grieve is a really tough candidate. I’m not convinced either way yet.

Now, the other three. An OPS of .788-.790 isn’t really Hall of Fame caliber. Cal Ripken posted a .791 OPS. The only player with less than .791 is Luis Castillo, the #2 second baseman in the Hall. Why is Ripken in? Things like “The Streak” and the fact that he passed 3000 hits. So, who do we have that’s in that range?

Milton Bradley just won’t get in. With less than 2500 hits and less than 250 homers, he just doesn’t stack up. Nice career though.

Vernon Wells had “The Streak.”

Carlos Beltran had “The Milestones.”

Ripken had both.

In only three seasons of Wells’ career did he miss any games at all. He played in about 1500 straight games at one point. Strangely, he quit with 2997 hits, though he did pass the 400 homer (419) and 400 steal (460) milestones. If he got that 3000th hit, it would be tough to keep him out. But he didn’t get in last year. This will be his second try. SInce he was a Battle Cat, I’ll vote for him. If he wasn’t, I probably wouldn’t.

Beltran was slightly better than Wells. But that slight edge might be enough to get him in. He had 3196 hits (11th all time), 458 home runs, 1561 RBI, 1651 runs, and 364 steals. He has the same OPS as Wells, but I think the slight difference gets him in. Ripken played a tough position (SS), but Wells and Beltran are also center fielders. Wells happened to be a bad one. Beltran was a good one.

The (Former) Commish’s Prediction: Jones is in unanimously. Beltran gets around 85%. Wells hangs around on the ballot even further, as does Grieve.

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