Are There Any Current MLB Players Hall Of Fame Worthy?
If you have followed our podcast for any amount of time you know what my cohost and I are always debating if players are hall of fame worthy or not. This is a touchy subject because on one hand you have folks like my cohost who think most hall of fames are now halls of very good and on the other hand, like me, who think that most players who are in are well deserved. That discussion is for a whole other article…LOL! But, I do think there are some players that if they retired tomorrow would or should walk right into the hall without any issues. There are some players that I think might fall into the hall of very good discussion so let’s take a look at a few players.
Every team has their face of the franchise type player. But is that player hall of fame worthy? Some may be on their way and some might need to continue to put up numbers for a few more seasons but here are my absolute no-doubt players that should walk into the hall. Albert Pujols, Mike Trout, Miguel Cabrera, Clayton Kershaw, Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, and Yadier Molina. These guys should already have busts made and their speeches written. With this group I don’t think there is any argument that they have all been the best players of their generation. Even with Mike Trout still being extremely young I think his resume is good enough to get him in even with the absence of post season appearances. Also too, you could argue that Pujols, Trout, and Miggy are the best hitters from the right side of the plate in MLB history. With Kershaw finally getting the post season jinx off of his back the last couple of years has helped bolster his resume but I think he was getting in regardless.
So with the slam dunks out of the way we enter into the deep end of the pool. These are dudes that might not have the numbers or experience that the above have but if they continue their paces would and in my opinion should be considered after everything is all said and done. Jacob deGrom leads my list. He has turned in some of the most impressive pitching seasons of all the last couple of seasons but with injuries and the lack of doing it for a longer period of time keep him off my slam dunk list. Nolan Arenado is another guy that I think with some more seasons of consistent numbers should get him in. He has been arguably the best third baseman in the league for the last handful of years so keep doing what you are doing and you will get my nod. Aroldis Chapman, even though he is a Yankee, you cant argue his resume. His performance in the 2016 post season really solidified his stake and he has not let up since. I know closers don’t get much love in the hall but he has been dominate ever since being called up.
Finally, you will notice that there are some names left off of here just because they are so young. All of these guys took the league by storm and have not let up since. Players like Ronald Acuna, Fernando Tatis Jr, and Juan Soto all need to show me some more years to be considered but are well on their way. I know this is a tantalizing topic so I would love to hear your lists and let me know who I missed or may have over looked.