The All Time Non-Hall of Fame Team

I compiled my list of the best non-hall of fame players which I present below and in doing so was surprised that the best position player for each infield position is an active player or retired within the past five years and is not eligible. Also, the best catcher, outfielder and pitcher also played in the 21 st century. Is this a recency bias or did lesser players from the early days make the hall of fame, leaving less all-time greats from those eras? Another factor leaving all-time great players out of the hall of fame is the performance enhancing drug controversy. Players like Mark McGwire have been passed over by the writers and Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, many Ramirez, Rafael Palmeiro and Sammy Sosa have not received enough support for election. Will Alex Rodriguez, Robinson Cano and David Ortiz suffer the same fate?

First Base: Albert Pujols (377/546/924)

First base is loaded with hall of fame caliber players who are not eligible or have not been inducted and Albert Pujols is clearly the best of them. Pujols is one of only 21 position players to reach 100 WAR according to Baseball Reference. He as the most home runs (662) and most hits (3,236) of any player not born in the US. His home run total is 5th all-time and 2.100 RBI are 2nd all-time.

Best eligible player: Rafael Palmeiro (371/515/885 with 3,020 hits, 569 home runs and 1,835 RBI)
Palmeiro is one of only six players to hit 500 home runs and record 3,000 hits.

Honorable Mention: Mark McGwire (394/588/982 and 583 home runs), Miguel Cabrera (313/391/931with 2,866 hits, 487 home runs and 1,12 RBI through 2020, back-to-back AL MVPs, a triple crown and four batting titles) and Gil Hodges (359/487/846 with the 2nd most home runs in the 1950s).

Prediction: Albert Pujols and Miguel Cabrera will be first ballot hall of famers. Rafael Palmeiro will not be elected by the writers.

Second Base: Robinson Cano (352,492/844)

Statistically, Robinson Cano is by far the best non-hall of fame second baseman with 69.1 WAR, 2,624 hits and 334 home runs through 2020. Best eligible player: Bobby Grich (371/424/794). Grich’s statistics are not as impressive as Cano’s having career highs of 22 home runs and 101 RBI but his career spanned the 1970s and first half of the 1980s when offensive production was much lower, especially for middle infielders. Grich was a great defensive second baseman, earning 16.8 of his career WAR from his defense.

Honorable mention: Lou Whitaker who compiled 67.7 WAR. Chase Utley was a great defensive second baseman who compiled 64.4 WAR and had four consecutive 100 RBI seasons. Jeff Kent who hit 377 home runs, the most by any second baseman and was NL MVP in 2000.

Prediction: Two PED suspensions will keep Robinson Cano from being voted in by the writers. Utley and Kent will not be elected by the writers.

Shortstop: Alex Rodriguez (380/550/930)

Alex Rodriguez played started slightly more than half of his games played at shortstop but was such a great player that he is widely considered one of the two best shortstops of all-time along with Honus Wagner. Rodriguez has the16th highest all-time WAR total (117.5), is 4th all-time with 696 home runs and 3rd with 2,086 RBI and won one MVP as a shortstop and two as a third baseman and two more after a trade to the Yankees for whom he agreed to slide over to play third base.

Best eligible player: Bill Dahlen (358/382/740) Who is Bill Dahlen and why is a 270 hitter the best eligible shortstop not in the hall of fame? For starters, he played in the dead ball era and has the highest WAR (75.3) of any position player whose career started before 1900. For comparison, first ballot HoFs Ozzie Smith and Derek Jeter had 76.9 and 71.3 WAR, respectively.

Honorable mention: Jimmy Rollins

Prediction: Alex Rodriguez will eventually be elected to the hall of fame but it will take a few years. Jimmy Rollins will not be elected by the writers.

Third Base: Adrian Beltre (339/480/819)

Adrian Beltre was a brilliant defensive third baseman and power hitting third baseman. He finished his career with 93.6 WAR, including 27.2 dWAR for his defense. His WAR total puts him behind only HoFs Mike Schmidt and Eddie Mathews at third base. Beltre finished his career with 3,166 hits, 477 home runs and 1,707 RBI and five gold gloves.

Best eligible player: Scott Rolen (364/490/899) Like Beltre, Rolen was a great two-way third baseman, hitting for power and playing great defense. Rolen finished his career with 70.1 WAR, 517 doubles and 316 homeruns and won eight gold gloves.

Honorable mention: Ken Boyer (1964 NL MVP) and Richie Allen (1972 AL MVP).

Prediction: Adrian Beltre will be elected to the hall of fame by the writers but Scott Rolen will not.

Catcher: Joe Mauer (388/439/827)

It remains to be seen if Joe Mauer will make the hall of fame. He was the best catcher in baseball while he was a full-time catcher, winning three AL batting titles, the most by a catcher, and 2009 AL MVP. Mauer finished his career with a 306 lifetime batting average after spending the last five years of his career as a league average first baseman.

Honorable mention: Thurman Munson was building a hall of fame resume until his fatal airplane crash. Munson won the 1976 AL MVP, three gold gloves and 46.0 WAR in his 10 full seasons.

Prediction: Joe Mauer will not be elected to the hall of fame by the writers but will eventually be elected by the Veterans Committee.

Outfield: Barry Bonds (298/444/607); Mike Trout (418/582/1000); and Manny Ramirez (411/585/996)

Barry Bonds is the all-time home run leader (762) and walk leader (2558), third in WAR with 146.3, 4th in OPS at 1.051, 5th in slugging at 607 and 6th with 1996 RBI and 444 OBP. He ha won seven NL MVPS. Bonds also holds single season records with 73 home runs and 232 walks. Throw in 514 stolen bases and eight gold gloves and Bonds is arguably one of the five or ten greatest players of all-time.

Mike Trout was the best player of the 2010s. In his nine full seasons, he has won three AL MVP awards, was runner up four times and had a 4th and 5th place finish. He has an incredible 74.6 WAR to go along with 302 home runs, 201 stolen bases and 1,380 hits at the age of 28. He is currently 8th and 9th all-time in OBP and slugging percentage.

Manny Ramirez was one of the greatest right-handed hitters of all-time and had 69.3 WAR. He won was a prodigious slugger, finishing with 585 home runs and 1,831 RBI and is 8th in slugging percentage and 9th in OPS all-time. His 165 RBI in 1999 was the most in season since 1935.

Honorable mention: Pete Rose is the all-time hit leader with 4,256 hits. He also is the all-time leader in games played, at bats and plate appearances, so his achievements can also be viewed as a compiler. Rose had 200 hits or more in 10 seasons and led the NL in batting three times. Rose’s War was 79.7. Rose was also extremely versatile, having played more than 400 games at six different positions. Sammy Sosa who hit 609 home runs, including more than 60 home runs three times and the NL MVP in 1998. PED suspicion has kept Sosa from receiving serious hall of fame consideration.

Prediction: Mike Trout will be a first ballot hall of famer. Barry Bonds will be elected by the writers despite suspicion about his use of PEDs but Manny Ramirez will not due to PED suspicion.

Designated Hitter: David Ortiz (380/552/931)

David Ortiz hit 541 career homeruns in his 20-year career but only became a star in Boston after being released by Minnesota. Ortiz hit 30 home runs in ten of his 14 seasons with the RedSox and was a post-season hero, including back-to back walk off hits against the Yankees in the 2004 AL divisional series.

Honorable mention: Hal McRae and Don Baylor

Prediction: David Ortiz will be elected by the writers but not on the first ballot.

Starting Pitchers; Roger Clemens (354W/3.12 ERA/4,672Ks); Clayton Kershaw 175/2.43/2,526 through age 32); Justin Verlander226/3.33/3,013 through age 37); Max Scherzer (175/3.12/2,357)

Roger Clemens’ 138.7 WAR is 3rd all-time for pitchers and ranks 4th in strikeouts and 9th in wins. Clemens won seven Cy Young awards, the 1986 AL MVP, seven ERA titles and led the league in wins four times and strikeouts three times. His ERA + is 143. Clemens is one three pitchers to strike out 20 batters in a game, having done it twice.

Clayton Kershaw won an MVP (2014), one MLB pitching triple crown, and three NL Cy Young awards by the age of 26. He has 67.0 WAR, five ERA titles and has led the league in wins and strikeouts three times. Most incredibly, his career ERA is the best of any starter since the end of the dead ball era. His career ERA+ is 158 and WHIP is 1.003.

Justin Verlander has collected one AL MVP (2011), two CY Youngs, one AL pitching triple crown and has led the AL in strikeouts five times and wins three times. Verlander is one of six pitchers to throw three no-hitters.

Max Scherzer has a career WAR of 60.6 and is averaging 10.6 strikeouts per nine innings. He has led the league in wins four times and strikeouts three times.

Honorable mention – David Cone won 194 games and struck out 2,668 strikeouts and won the AL Cy Young award in 1994. Zack Greinke has won 208 games and struck out 2,689 batters through age 37, won the CY Young award in 2009 and had a 1.66 era in 2015. Curt Schilling won 216 games and struck out 3,116 batters. Kevin Brown won 211 games, with a 3.28 ERA and 2,397 strikeouts. Dave Stieb was arguably the best pitcher of the 1980’s and threw a no-hitter and had a perfect game and two other no-hitters broken up with two outs in the ninth inning. Tony Mullane was a 19th century pitcher who won 284 games in his 13-season career, winning 30 games or more for five consecutive seasons, throwing complete games in almost 93% of his starts.

Prediction: Kershaw, Verlander and Scherzer will be first ballot hall of famers. Greinke will be elected by the writers to the hall of fame. Roger Clemens will be elected by the writers despite suspicion about his use of PEDs.

You can feel free to email us your suggestions/nominees at js9innings@gmail.com for further discussion.