This 12 months I had the honour of filling out a Corridor of Fame poll for the fifth time, and as was the case with the earlier 4, I‘m endeavoring to clarify my reasoning. That is one thing I really feel each voter ought to do. Casting a poll is a privilege that ought to demand not solely due diligence, but additionally transparency.
Let’s minimize to the chase.
Noteworthy amongst my 2025 alternatives is that the holdovers differ considerably from earlier ballots. My most up-to-date Sunday Notes column — I missed final week’s as a consequence of a well being subject — recommended a couple of of these adjustments. As I defined on December 22, my earlier ballots all included Manny Ramirez and Alex Rodriguez, however I used to be severely contemplating dropping them and as a substitute voting for 2 of Félix Hernández, Dustin Pedroia, and David Wright. I did simply that. Following no small quantity of deliberation, I adopted my colleague Jay Jaffe’s stance that Manny’s and A-Rod’s being suspended after PED guidelines have been put into place is a significant distinction. With neither erstwhile slugger having a sensible likelihood of ever being elected by the BBWAA — one other think about my choice — a strategic change appeared so as.
Extra on that in a second.
I’d truly made a strategic change in my voting on final 12 months’s poll, which from a big-Corridor perspective — and I’m an avowed big-Corridor voter — was stacked with worthy candidates (the 10-player restrict stays an impediment). Figuring out that he would safely stay on the poll, I quickly dropped Andruw Jones with plans to renew voting for him this 12 months.
The gamers who obtained checkmarks on my 2024 poll, and did so once more, are Bobby Abreu, Carlos Beltrán, Chase Utley, and Billy Wagner (I’ve shared my reasoning for every in earlier explanatory columns). Having re-added Jones, and with two first-year-eligibles being comparatively straightforward selections — CC Sabathia and Ichiro Suzuki — I used to be thus left with three accessible slots. One in every of them went to a pitcher I hadn’t discovered room for beforehand.
My colleague Jay voted for Andy Pettitte final 12 months, solely to drop him on this 12 months’s poll with the caveat that he’ll proceed to contemplate him sooner or later. I made a decision that he merited my current-ballot vote. Statistically just like Sabathia in a number of classes (WAR, wins, and ERA+ amongst them), Pettitte, as Jay has defined, additionally possesses a formidable post-season résumé. Included inside it are Pettitte’s having began three World Collection-clinching video games wherein he allowed simply three earned runs over 20 innings. Whereas extra a workmanlike performer than a bona fide star all through his profession, the southpaw’s numbers — meaningfully augmented by the Octobers — make him worthy.
Which brings us to the three gamers I most strongly thought-about for my two remaining votes (in contrast to Jay, I solely briefly thought-about Russell Martin and James McCann). With all due respect to Wright, I opted to go together with Hernández and Pedroia.
Hernández was the clearer of these selections. From 2009-2015, King Félix led American League starters in WAR, ERA, and innings pitched, whereas he was second in wins, and third in xFIP. Furthermore, he made 5 All-Star groups, gained a Cy Younger Award, twice completed second for that honor, and threw an ideal recreation. Whereas he falls quick in counting stats — in some ways his résumé is the polar reverse of Pettitte’s — he was really elite in his peak. Addie Joss isn’t a completely unreasonable comp.
As for Pedroia, I’ll circle again to what I wrote within the aforementioned December column. Previous to struggling his career-altering damage, the Purple Sox mighty-mite had a nine-year stretch the place he was price 45 WAR, made 4 All-Star groups, gained 4 Gold Gloves, earned each Rookie of the 12 months and MVP honors, and was an integral a part of two World Collection-winning groups. With the doable of exception of Bobby Doerr, he’s the most effective second baseman in franchise historical past. Was Pedroia’s profession extra Cooperstown-worthy than Wright’s, and even Hernández’s or Pettitte’s? That’s strictly a matter of opinion. What constitutes a Corridor of Famer is, and all the time might be, subjective.
To recap, listed below are my 10 alternatives:
Bobby Abreu, Carlos Beltrán, Felix Hernandez, Andruw Jones, Dustin Pedroia, Andy Pettitte, CC Sabathia, Ichiro Suzuki, Chase Utley, Billy Wagner.
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RANDOM HITTER-PITCHER MATCHUPS
Joe Carter went 19 for 74 towards Jimmy Key.
Gary Carter went 2 for 28 towards Dennis Martinez.
Ty Cobb went 3 for five towards Paul Carter.
Peanuts Lowrey went 13 for 26 towards Schoolboy Rowe.
Kyle Farmer is 8 for 15 towards Mitch Keller.
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The Boston Purple Sox will head into the 2025 season with a deep beginning rotation. Garrett Crochet and Walker Buehler be part of holdovers Tanner Houck, Brayan Bello, and Kutter Crawford, whereas Lucas Giolito is about to return from Tommy John surgical procedure. Richard Fitts and Quinn Priester present additional depth, as do swingmen Cooper Criswell and Josh Winckowski. Furthermore, Patrick Sandoval is anticipated to enter the combination as soon as he returns from TJ of his personal within the latter half of the marketing campaign.
Requested lately if the membership is contemplating a six-man rotation, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow informed reporters that he has “batted round“ the concept with supervisor Alex Cora and pitching coach Andrew Bailey, including that they should see how issues unfold in spring coaching and decide from there.
I requested the pitcher-turned-executive the place he stands philosophically, provided that arm well being is a major consideration when choosing a six-man rotation.
“Philosophically, I’m supportive of something we are able to do to maintain our greatest gamers on the sector, acting at a extremely excessive degree,” Breslow responded. “This might doubtlessly be one among them. It necessitates specific development of the bullpen, as effectively. We have to have relievers who’re able to throwing a number of innings. I believe we’ve got that when you consider guys like Winchowski, guys like (Garrett) Whitlock, who has completed this up to now. Criswell can bounce forwards and backwards between the rotation and the bullpen. I believe we’re well-positioned to implement a six-man rotation if that’s the best way we wish to go.”
In different phrases, keep tuned.
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After I put collectively a chunk titled Tigers and Twins Winter Conferences Notes a couple of weeks in the past, one of many topics lined was platooning. Sharing their ideas have been the groups’ respective presidents of baseball operations, Detroit’s Scott Harris and Minnesota Derek Falvey.
Mariners supervisor Dan Wilson had an attention-grabbing take of his personal throughout the Dallas get-together.
“The extra you are able to do to stabilize a lineup, the higher,” mentioned Wilson, who took over the helm in Seattle after Scott Servais was given his strolling papers in late August. “However I believe there are alternatives when platoons might be type of a steady factor, and it type of labored that means for us in direction of the top of the 12 months. If there are platoons once more as we go ahead, I hope to make them as steady as doable.”
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A quiz:
Who has probably the most hits in Philadelphia Phillies franchise historical past?
The reply might be discovered under.
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NEWS NOTES
The Colorado Rockies are hiring Scott Oberg as a minor league pitching coordinator (per The Denver Put up). The 34-year-old College of Connecticut product pitched for the Rockies from 2015-2019 and has spent the previous two seasons as a part-time pitching advisor with the membership.
Gary Sutherland, an infielder for seven groups throughout a big-league profession that spanned the 1966-1978 seasons, died on December 16 at age 80 (per Baseball Participant Passings). Primarily a second baseman, “Sudsy” stroked a personal-best 157 hits with the Detroit Tigers in 1974. He was recognized extra for his glove than his bat.
Charlie Maxwell, an outfielder whose profession spanned the 1950-1964 seasons, died on December 27 at age 97. A left-handed hitter who grew up in Paw Paw, Michigan, Maxwell was at his greatest from 1956-1960 when he mashed 120 house runs whereas enjoying for the Detroit Tigers. He had 5 extra-inning homers in 1960.
Lenny Randle, an infielder/outfielder who logged 1.016 hits whereas enjoying for 5 groups from 1971-1982, died on December 29 at age 75. The Arizona State College product is probably greatest recognized for punching supervisor Frank Lucchesi whereas with the Texas Rangers, and for attempting to blow a slow-rolling floor ball foul whereas with the Seattle Mariners. In 1983, Randle later turned the primary MLB participant to play professionally in Italy,
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The reply to the quiz is Jimmy Rollins, with 2,306. Mike Schmidt and Richie Ashburn rank second and third, with 2,217 and a pair of,214 hits respectively.
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Which of Albert Pujols and Frank Thomas was the higher hitter? I requested that query in a Twitter ballot a couple of days in the past, and the outcomes strongly favored the previous. Pujols, who will change into Corridor-eligible in 2028, garnered 66.7% of the votes forged. Thomas, who in 2014 was elected in his first 12 months on the poll, obtained simply 33.3%.
Pujols logged 13,041 plate appearances, whereas Thomas had simply 10,075, so the erstwhile St. Louis Cardinal and Los Angeles Angel predictably has the sting in counting stats. Most notable are his benefit in hits (3,384 to 2,468), house runs (703 to 521), and RBIs (2,218 to 1,704). However was he truly the higher hitter?
Over their careers, Pujols slashed .296/.374/.544 with a 141 wRC+ and a .385 wOBA. Thomas slashed .301/.419/.555 with a 154 wRC+ and a .416 wOBA.
Over their greatest 10-year stretches, Pujols slashed .331/.426/.624 with a 169 wRC+ and a .435 wOBA. Thomas slashed .320/.439/.581 with a 165 wRC+ and a .434 wOBA.
Pjujols was clearly an awesome hitter. That mentioned, the Huge Harm was objectively higher.
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FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Nick Nelson has signed with NPB’s Hanshin Tigers. The 29-year-old right-hander has appeared in 74 MLB video games over the previous 5 seasons, 47 of them with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2022.
The Nippon-Ham Fighters have re-signed Drew VerHagen to a one 12 months contract. The 34-year-old former Detroit Tigers and St. Louis Cardinals right-hander pitched for the NPB membership in 2020-2021, and once more this previous season.
Makoto Kyomoto has a 2.06 ERA to go together with 43 strikeouts and simply 4 walks allowed over 35 innings with the Australian Baseball League’s Adelaide Giants. The 20-year-old right-hander pitched in 4 video games for NPB’s Yomiuri Giants this 12 months, and in 30 extra for his or her high farm membership.
Robbie Perkins is slashing .347/.430/.571 with six house runs in 114 plate appearances for the ABL’s Canberra Cavalry. The 30-year-old, Canberra-born catcher was within the Colorado Rockies system from 2013-2018.
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A random obscure former participant snapshot:
MLB historical past consists of 30 gamers born in England, 13 of whom performed solely previous to 1900. Of the seventeen to carry out within the fashionable period, Dave Mind had one of many more-curious careers. A local of Hereford who noticed motion for six groups over a seven-year span, he had his greatest season in 1907, bashing a Nationwide League-leading 10 house runs whereas logging a 127 wRC+ with the Boston Doves. Simply 28 years previous on the time, he would by no means once more go deep in a big-league uniform. Furthermore, he would file simply 9 extra hits. Mind reportedly requested an $800 increase in wage after his stellar marketing campaign, however was as a substitute despatched a contract at a lowered wage. He held out, then was offered by the Doves to the Cincinnati Reds the next spring. Twenty-seven video games and a .125 batting common later, Mind’s profession was over.
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When Nick Yorke was featured right here at FanGraphs again in November, the 22-year-old Pirates infielder defined how going again to his previous strategy helped propel him to Pittsburgh. Left on the chopping room ground from my end-of-the-season dialog with him was Yorke’s telling of the 412-foot blast he hit off of Cincinnati’s Fernando Cruz on September 22 for his first big-league house run.
“It was the primary pitch of the [fifth] inning,” recalled Yorke, who’d made his MLB debut six days earlier. “He has a extremely good secondary — his splitter is likely one of the greatest within the league — so my plan going into the at-bat was to attempt to hit a heater early, after which if I miss it, simply battle. He gave me a heater, I obtained a barrel to it, and it went. I knew that it was gone immediately.”
His expertise circling the bases was memorable.
“I had slightly hesitation,” mentioned Yorke. “We have been [in Cincinnati] and our bullpen there was down the correct area line. I regarded towards the left area line to level at our guys within the bullpen, so I type of had slightly hiccup. However yeah, it was an excellent cool second. There was [third base coach Mike] Rabelo’s massive previous smile once I’m coming towards third, after which there was everybody within the dugout. They have been all fairly joyful for me. The entire thing was a cool expertise.”
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LINKS YOU’LL LIKE
Mark Simon offered us with seven Sports activities Data Options 2024 year-end awards, together with Contact Minimizer and Corridor of Framer.
Baseball historian Adam Darowski wrote about how the Corridor of Fame remains to be failing with Negro Leagues inductees.
The Athletic’s Eno Sarris wrote about how a wholesome and expert Corbin Burnes is a serious coup for the Arizona Diamondbacks (subscription required).
The place did the bullpen cellphone come from? Michael Clair delved into that query at MLB.com.
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RANDOM FACTS AND STATS
José Ramírez recorded 180 whole bases with two strikes this previous season, probably the most by any participant over the previous twenty seasons (per MLBNetwork).
Over the previous 5 seasons, Cody Bellinger has performed in 555 video games, logged 499 hits, scored 309 runs, pushed in 309 runs, and logged a 100 wRC+.
Brian McCann performed in 1,755 video games, had 1,590 hits, a .262 BA, and a 110 wRC+. Invoice Freehan performed in 1,774 video games, had 1,591 hits, a .262 BA, and a 113 wRC+.
Chase Utley had 1,885 hits, 411 doubles, 58 triples, and 259 house runs.
Brian Giles had 1,897 hits, 411 doubles, 55 triples, and 287 house runs.
Dustin Pedroia had a .363/.411/.536 slash line in 325 profession plate appearances versus the Minnesota Twins. He had a .243/.325/.345 slash line in 321 profession plate appearances versus the Seattle Mariners.
On right now’s date in 1999, the BBWAA elected George Brett, Nolan Ryan, and Robin Yount, all of whom have been on the poll for the primary time, to the Corridor of Fame. Carlton Fisk, who was additionally first-time eligible, fell quick however was elected the next 12 months.
Gamers born on right now’s date embrace Ted Petoskey, an outfielder whose big-league profession comprised 10 video games — he went 2-for-12 on the plate — for the Cincinnati Reds between the 1934-1935 campaigns. A 3-sport star on the College of Michigan, Petoskey would later coach baseball and basketball on the College of South Carolina, and scout for the New York Yankees.
Additionally born on right now’s date was Zaza Harvey, a pitcher/outfielder who performed for the Chicago Orphans, Chicago White Sox, and Cleveland Blues throughout the 1900-1902 seasons. Harvey batted .332 over 283 plate appearances, logged a 3.47 ERA over 96 innings, then noticed his profession come to an finish at age 23 as a consequence of abdomen points.
The Solely Nolan (his given title was Edward Sylvester) was a two-way participant in 5 Main League seasons between 1878-1885. A local of Trenton, Ontario, Nolan additionally performed within the Jap League, going 19-5 with a 1.42 ERA for the Wilmington Quicksteps in 1884.
