Friday night, the MLB Network had a show on discussing what current players are future Hall of Famers. That got me to thinking of what Cardinals could be Hall of Famers, or at least have their number retired by the Cardinals.
For the record, the Cardinal Hall of Famers include, but not limited to, Stan Musial, Lou Brock, Bruce Sutter, Whitey Herzog, Dizzy Dean, and Red Schoendienst. For complete list, visit the Cardinals’ web site.
As far as the Hall of Fame is concerned, Yadier Molina and Albert Pujols (like it or not, a Cardinal hat would most likely be on his bust) will add to the list of Cardinals in Cooperstown.
Yadi is one of the best defensive catchers of all time. We also know that he has made himself into an offense threat. For his career he has thrown out 44.5% of would-be base stealers. This past season, he threw out 43.5%. In addition, he led the National League in 2010, 2009, 2006, 2005, and 2004. 2004 was his first full season as the regular catcher for the Cardinals when he had an all-world percentage of 64.1%. Finally, he has been in the top 5 for his entire career except for 2007. In 2007, he did not have enough qualifying attempts, despite playing 107 games behind the plate. There could be a reason why he did not have enough qualifying attempts.
Offensively, we know what he has done over the past few years. He has hit over .300 four times. In 2013 he hit 44 doubles, which was 4th best in all of baseball, and he hit .319 with 80 RBI. In 2012, he topped 20 homeruns with 22. This is all while catching on a daily basis.
Finally, has there been anyone better at handling a pitching staff? Molina’s best performance of that may have come this past season, considering all the young pitching the Cardinals had. It’s hard to put stats on something like that, but if you’re into sabermetrics, he has a career Catcher ERA (CERA) of 3.74. He led the league in that category in 2010 with a 3.24 CERA.
It doesn’t hurt that he has two rings to wear! And my wife says he’s easy on the eyes, for what it’s worth.
While we still might feel bitter, or not, about the departure of Pujols, most feel as if he will make it to the Hall of Fame. While his decline in Anaheim has been well documented (his numbers are actually not as bad as you think, but they are not what they were), he is still a .321 lifetime hitter, and he will pass 500 homeruns next season—if he can hobble out there to play enough. Let’s face it, he did his best work while wearing the Birds on the Bat.
If you’re thinking Chris Carpenter, he certainly had a solid career, but injuries affected his overall numbers—144 wins and 1,697 strikeouts. He was a big game pitcher as his 10 postseason wins are tied for 7th best all time. His signature post-season win was the epic Game 5 performance in the NLDS against the Phillies in 2011. In addition, he won the 2005 National League Cy Young and finished as runner-up twice. He may get some votes, but unfortunately, he just doesn’t have the numbers to get in. Don’t feel sorry for him. According to baseball-reference.com, he made 98.5 million dollars throughout his 15-year career.
Chris Carpenter probably wont make the Hall.
While Adam Wainwright is the ace of the staff, and one of the best in the game right now, he has only 99 wins at the age of 32. I would think he doesn’t have enough career left to accumulate the numbers to warrant the Hall of Fame. Wouldn’t it be nice if I were wrong? But, he will probably fall into the Chris Carpenter category.
A long way to go, but…
The Cardinals are stocked with a lot of nice, young talent. Here are few players that could have a chance if their careers pan out:
Allen Craig
Matt Carpenter
Michael Wacha
Trevor Rosenthal
These four don’t have enough of a sample size, but it would be nice if they form the Cardinals’ nucleus for the next 15 years.
Thoughts?
