Will Miguel Cabrera be a Hall of Famer?

orioles93 · September 19, 2012 1:28AM

I know he is still fairly young, but I looked at his stats and they are just crazy. 8 years with 30 or more homers, and 9 straight seasons with over 100 rbi's. He also has a .318 career batting average.

What does everybody think? Will he be a hall of famer at the end of his career? If his career ended now, is he a hall of famer?

ShootyBabitt · September 19, 2012 3:11AM

Unless he falls off a cliff like Juan Gonzalez or gets suspended for PEDs, he should be a lock for the Hall of Fame. If his career ended right now, it could be argued that he gets in on the Kirby Puckett clause.

JoeBanzai · September 19, 2012 3:18AM

If he continues to produce like this for a few more years he is a LOCK. He hardly ever misses games and his last three years look to be his best. Fantastic OPS. Nine years in a row over .500SLG and 300TB!

If he retired today I think there would be a big argument about his worthiness.

Joe

Dboneesq · September 19, 2012 5:42AM

Man is he hot. Now leading the league in Average and RBIs. His 4 HRs over the past 4 games now put him only TWO behind Josh Hamilton. I don't know how ANYBODY can say he is not right there for the MVP this year.

fiveniner · September 19, 2012 7:02AM

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tabe · September 19, 2012 8:33AM

When you have a run of 8 straight seasons where your worst year is .292/37/127, a year in which you led the league in homers, then, yeah, you're a HOF'er.

Albert Pujols 162-game averages: .325/42/125
Miguel Cabrera 162-game averages: .318/34/120

Yeah, he's a HOF'er.

At the time of the trade with Florida, I thought the Tigers had pulled off a tremendous deal - and that was based on the assumption that Dontrelle Willis would be at least pretty good with Detroit. Well, he ended up being horrible - and the trade was still a tremendous one for Detroit. Florida got 6 guys in return, only two of whom have done anything in the majors, neither being a star. The Tigers traded 6 dimes and got a silver dollar and plug nickel in return. Highway robbery.

Tabe

megatron · September 19, 2012 11:03AM

<< I know he is still fairly young, but I looked at his stats and they are just crazy. 8 years with 30 or more homers, and 9 straight seasons with over 100 rbi's. He also has a .318 career batting average.

What does everybody think? Will he be a hall of famer at the end of his career? If his career ended now, is he a hall of famer? >>

Yes. Even if he does not make the MLB HOF, he is a lock for the Hostess Twinkie HOF. Either way, he is a HOF'er.

NVbaseball · September 19, 2012 11:47AM

He's right at the Albert Belle level right now. Will Clark had a similar run, but playing in Candlestick in the 80s, the homerun totals weren't there. Larry Walker was another name that came immediately to mind with a similar peak. So he definitely isn't there yet and there is precedence for him falling off. But even Belle lasted until age 33, Cabrera doesn't even turn 30 until next season. So unlike someone like Beltran he doesn't even have to be at MVP level ever again to have a Hall-of-Fame career

ShootyBabitt · September 19, 2012 1:17PM

If he ends up with a Triple Crown he would be a lock. Or he would be Paul Hines, I suppose.

ShootyBabitt · September 19, 2012 1:47PM

Hopefully he's also closed the door on the MVP race for this year. Here's a good article putting his current season in historical context.

PowderedH2O · September 21, 2012 2:26AM

I am actually surprised about the little amount of Triple Crown conversation. Nobody has even come close in over 40 years. Cabrera is one homer from the lead in all three categories. That's pretty darn close. Has baseball become that irrelevant?

PeteZaria · September 21, 2012 2:46AM

<< I am actually surprised about the little amount of Triple Crown conversation. Nobody has even come close in over 40 years. Cabrera is one homer from the lead in all three categories. That's pretty darn close. Has baseball become that irrelevant? >>

It's not true that no one has come close. With 6 games left last year, Matt Kemp trailed by .004, 1 HR, and had the RBI lead by 5.

I think there's a bit of a lack of enthusiasm because batting average and RBIs have been pushed aside somewhat by stats like OPS and WAR.

Mickey71 · September 21, 2012 2:54AM

He is on pace for the HOF. If he stays healthy.......and stays away from the buffet table he should be good.

PeteZaria · September 21, 2012 2:54AM

<< Hopefully he's also closed the door on the MVP race for this year. Here's a good article putting his current season in historical context. >>

Over a dozen guys have won the Triple Crown, but ZERO players have hit 30 HR, batted .325, and stolen 45 bases like Mike Trout might do. And, his defense is just as good as his offense.

ShootyBabitt · September 21, 2012 3:22AM

The operative word there is might. His batting average has dropped 20 points in the past month and he hasn't hit a homer in his past ten games. I don't think he is going to hit both .325 and 30 home runs.

PeteZaria · September 21, 2012 3:53AM

<< The operative word there is might. His batting average has dropped 20 points in the past month and he hasn't hit a homer in his past ten games. I don't think he is going to hit both .325 and 30 home runs. >>

He's still going to put up numbers that only 1 or 2 players ever have, even if he continues to slump.

ShootyBabitt · September 21, 2012 4:09AM

I agree that Trout is doing something that is absolutely amazing at any age, let alone 21.

As I was looking through some comparable stats, I thought A-Rod's 1998 season was pretty similar. At age 22, he put up 42 HR, 46 SB, .310 BA and he finished ninth (ninth!) in the MVP race. Ahhh, the good ol' juice-years.

Justacommeman · September 21, 2012 10:37AM

Yes he will be a HOFer.

Ask every AL manager who they fear most and it will be Miquel Cabera in a landslide. Only Cabera gets himself out.

He is a beast

MJ

1neatstuff · September 26, 2012 2:09PM

hes a lock in my book this guy is amazing

ShootyBabitt · October 2, 2012 1:28AM

Why weren't the WAR guys clamoring for Ben Zobrist to win the MVP two out of the previous three years?

Tabe · October 3, 2012 6:24AM

<< Why weren't the WAR guys clamoring for Ben Zobrist to win the MVP two out of the previous three years? >>

Exactly. Kinda points out the flaw in WAR when a guy can put up .269/20/91 and ends up leading the league in WAR.

Tabe

Objectivity · October 3, 2012 10:35AM

<< Why weren't the WAR guys clamoring for Ben Zobrist to win the MVP two out of the previous three years? >>

Zobrist was NOT in the top 10 in the following in 2011

Not OPS+
Not Win Probability Added
Not in Adjusted Batter Runs
Or in pretty much any other precise offensive measure. These measurements are very accurate and valid in judging a player.

Trout was at the top or near the very top in all those offensive measurements and more, and was on par with Cabrerra in all the key precise hitting measurements, and that has NOTHING to do with a position adjustment like WAR does. Trout also dwarfed Cabrerra in base running ability, which made Trout an overall better offensive player than Cabrerra.

Exactly how much Trout's defense was worth is debatable, but it is obvious that it was worth more than Cabrerra's especially being a CF.

Trout doesnt need a position adjustment to show he was a better offensive player. The position adjustment in WAR just makes the gap a Grand Canyon gap, instead of just a gap.

In totality Trout was the better offensive player over Cabrerra and the better defensive player...which equal the better player for the year.

Zobrist's offensive war in 2011 was 5.5, which was not league leading. The leader was 8.0

Where WAR does have its problems is in its defensive measurement, and in nailing down the position adjusment and exactly how much beating out the replacements at your position is worth, relative to the overall game, and that is what put Zobrist at the top of the league.

In other words, he got the biggest boost in the most imprecise part of the measurements. That is why you have to look at all the key precise hitting measurements, and not rely on WAR as a stand alone.

So that would be why guys who know what they are talking about wouldn't automatically take Zobrists WAR as meaning it is that conclusive that he was better than the league. He wasn't.

Will Miguel Cabrera be a Hall of Famer?

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