Will Todd Helton make the HOF?

mcadams

This should be the Hall of Fame's first chance to really judge what Coors fields means in terms of someone's Stats and Hall worthiness.

Justacommeman

No possible way does he make it. MJ

JustinsShoebox

I'm a big Helton fan having lived in CO for a spell, but sadly I say no.

Justin

orioles93

I say yes. I dont care where you played, if you hit over .300 12 times in your career and have a .320 career batting average, you belong in.

To go along with that, he could also hit for power and extra bases, and was a great fielder.

MajorDanby

Baseball references compares him to larry walker, edgar martinez, johnny mize, will clark, bagwell, cepeda, moises alou, olerud, guerrero, and bernie williams. mize and cepeda are HOF'ers. take out martinez because he's a DH and is thus a special case. walker and bagwell are fringy candidates. wouldnt put olerud, clark or williams in. not sure about guerrero, but my gut says yes on him.

so, helton to me is a fringe candidate. at his peak, you would consider him one of the best players in the game. but that peak was short. plus, he has the typical rockie home/road split. and his position is a disadvantage...fielding isnt really valued there so much, but power is.

grote15

so, helton to me is a fringe candidate. at his peak, you would consider him one of the best players in the game. but that peak was short. plus, he has the typical rockie home/road split. and his position is a disadvantage...fielding isnt really valued there so much, but power is

+1

If he had compiled those same numbers in the 70s or 80s, I'd say he would probably get in, but in the PED era of the long ball, expansion and Coors Field and shorter fences? Doubtful.

TheCARDKid

I don't see anything that jumps out at me as HOF worthy.

Only 354 homeruns (at coors too), and 2,415 hits. Plenty of guys with those numbers not in the Hall. Only 5x all star. Only 1 batting championship. It took 15 years for Jim Rice to get in. And that was barely, in a different era. I think a guy like Helton would have to win more batting titles or world series rings to get in.

Edgar Martinez hit over .300 ten times. I don't know if he gets in. Helton may have a lot of waiting.

perkdog

I say no but what the heck the BB HOF is watered down enough so might as well throw this guy in there too

Mickey71

Here's the problem........the PED era ruined everything. Let's say this guy is 100% clean........how to you speak negatively with a .320 average and over .400 on base %.

MajorDanby

<< <i>Here's the problem........the PED era ruined everything. Let's say this guy is 100% clean........how to you speak negatively with a .320 average and over .400 on base %. >>



Player: YRS/BA/OBP/SLG/BWAR
Helton: 16/.320/.419/.545/58.6
Grace: 16/.303/.383/.442/43.0
Olerud: 17/.295/.398/.465/53.7
Clark: 15/.303/.384/.497/53.2

These are first basemen who played in the steroid era, not suspected to have used PEDs, who have played similar number of years, are all above average fielding at first, with similar BA and OBP numbers.

I do think Helton stands out, especially if he plays a few more years to get his WAR much higher. However, what do you think about when you see the names Grace, Olerud, and Clark? Above average fielders, good hitters, not a whole lot of power, likely not hall of famers. Helton may stand out amongst this group, but by how much? Enough to put him in the HOF? Probably not. Enough to make him a fringe candidate? Sure. If he does get in, it will be after a long wait....after there's enough time to evaluate Helton as a player in the context of the era he played in.

Playing in Coors will hurt him as he has HUGE home/road splits. Playing on one team his entire career (if he does in fact do so) will likely give him some plus points with the voters (as I suspect it did with Larkin).

mcadams

I think he falls short, but I think he comes very close. He's been a fan favorite and a media favorite for quite a while now and his popularity will give him a legit shot. Other than the inevitable "Coors deduction" that he faces, he also lacks real accolades.