Jeff Kent

[CTaka]

Only watched Kent regularly during his days as a Giant, but I think his defense is under-rated. He had a strong arm for a 2B, which added to his value as a cutoff man. His range factor during his years in SF was 12% above league average (and is nearly 11% better than league average for his career) and he was solid in turning the double play.

Offensively, I think he's already done enough to qualify. His career OPS+ of 126 is higher than other 2B HOFers such as Gehringer (124), Frisch (111), Schoendienst (93), Evers (106), McPhee (106), Sandberg (114), Fox (94), Lazzeri (121), Doerr (115), and Herman (112). I may have missed someone, but at first glance, the only 2B's in the Hall that have a higher career OPS+ than Kent is Hornsby (175), Lajoie (150), Collins (141) and Morgan (132); and those four (in some order) are generally considered to be the four best of all time. Granted, his career number will likely further decline as he continues to play as he is in the twilight of his career, but he'd also have an LQ advantage over all the others named (to various degrees) in any head-to-head comparison.

Kent may not be a first ballot guy, but I certainly see him getting inducted at some point and I think he would deserve that honor.

[DoubleX]

Jeff Kent

What are peoples' thoughts on Jeff Kents chances? He already has the record for most career homeruns by a 2B, and he'll likely finish his career in the 350-400 homerun range; he has an MVP award; and 7 100+ RBI seasons, tied for the most by a 2B.

He obviously is one of the most productive 2B in history, but how much of that has been a product of the Juiced Era? I kind of think that in any era, 350 homeruns by a secondbasemen is impressive.

[dgarza]

He has a good chance, but he'll probably have to have 2-3 more good years to be safe.

Yes, he does have 300+ HRs, but playing in his era hurts what that looks like. He was only in the top 10 in his league for HRs once, and never in the top 5. His RBI numbers actually look better than his HR numbers.

[julusnc]

I agee that he has a shot.The next 3-5 years of stats are what shall seal the deal of his hall induction.

[DoubleX]

Yes, he does have 300+ HRs, but playing in his era hurts what that looks like. He was only in the top 10 in his league for HRs once, and never in the top 5. His RBI numbers actually look better than his HR numbers.

How many 2B in history have regularly appeared in the top 10 in homeruns? Joe Gordon? Ryne Sandberg? Anyone else? It's just not a position with a whole lot of emphasis on power. The fact that it took only 280 or so homeruns by a player in the juiced era to set the 2B record shows just how unimportant power at 2B has been.

[dgarza]

At this point I see him as an 80-85% HOFer, if that makes any sense to anybody.

[DoubleX]

I think of Sandberg as a much superior player to Kent. Sandberg will most likely get in this year or next, but the fact that he's struggled so much doesn't bode well for Kent, especially since his one claim to fame, home runs, might be seen as tainted by the Juiced era.

[dgarza]

How many 2B in history have regularly appeared in the top 10 in homeruns? Joe Gordon? Ryne Sandberg? Anyone else?

Maybe Morgan, Lazzeri, Boone, ....

Whitaker also only made the top 10 once

i was putting 300 HRs into juiced context...SSs aren't supposed to hit HRs either...

[dgarza]

If Kent hit 100 HR less, but played in a different era, he might have a slightly better chance, not that he has a bad chance now.

That fact that his numbers look a lot better once he hit SF makes him look uneven as a player also.

[Chadwick]

Don't forget the man beat Barry Bonds out for an MVP Award!

Likely Hall of Fame material.

[mac195]

I'd put Kent's chances in the 40-50% range. Obviously he'll get a lot of consideration, but many voters will discount his big RBI years somewhat, because he had Bonds on base in front of him. Kent was a late bloomer, and has played in only 1777 games. Also, he isn't known as a great fielder, so he'll be getting in mostly on his bat. He'll need 3 more decent-to-good years to move into the Sandberg/Biggio/Larkin range. At this point I don't know how Kent can rate ahead of guys like Trammell and Whitaker, who haven't gotten many votes.

[Gonzo]

I'd say he has a 75-80% percent chance. Now a days though, I think most players are judged by the number of home runs he hits.

[ElHalo]

How many 2B in history have regularly appeared in the top 10 in homeruns? Joe Gordon? Ryne Sandberg? Anyone else?

I believe this is everybody who did it more than once, though I could be missing a couple:

Rogers Hornsby (14 times)
Joe Gordon (9)
Nap Lajoie (9)
Bobby Doerr (7)
Ryne Sandberg (5)
Tony Lazerri (4)
Ross Barnes (3)
Charlie Gehringer (3)
Joe Morgan (3)
Bret Boone (2)
Bobby Grich (2)
Alfonso Soriano (2)

Kent is the third best second baseman of his era (after Biggio and Alomar). That's ok, but there's nothing about him that strikes me as particularly impressive, and his rapport with the press certainly won't do him any favors. He seems like a no to me.

[ElHalo]

Another thing:

It seems to me like these guys are mortal locks to make the HoF (counting only active guys with at least ten years in):

Ivan Rodriguez
Mike Piazza
Raphael Palmeiro
Roberto Alomar
Craig Biggio
Derek Jeter
Alex Rodriguez
Barry Bonds
Manny Ramirez
Ken Griffey, Jr.
Sammy Sosa
Greg Maddux
Roger Clemens
Randy Johnson
Pedro Martinez
Mariano Rivera

With a few more guys who are very likely to make it. That seems like an awful lot of active players to be making the Hall of Fame. If we start adding in more peripheral guys, like Kent, it will make it the "Hall of Great 1990's Players." I don't know how good of an idea that is.

[DoubleX]

Another thing:

It seems to me like these guys are mortal locks to make the HoF (counting only active guys with at least ten years in):

Ivan Rodriguez
Mike Piazza
Raphael Palmeiro
Roberto Alomar
Craig Biggio
Derek Jeter
Alex Rodriguez
Barry Bonds
Manny Ramirez
Ken Griffey, Jr.
Sammy Sosa
Greg Maddux
Roger Clemens
Randy Johnson
Pedro Martinez
Mariano Rivera

With a few more guys who are very likely to make it. That seems like an awful lot of active players to be making the Hall of Fame. If we start adding in more peripheral guys, like Kent, it will make it the "Hall of Great 1990's Players." I don't know how good of an idea that is.

That's an excellent point; how much is too much? Your list didn't even include guys like Glavine, Bagwell, and Thomas (I'm particulary shocked that you of all people didn't include Thomas ).

Also, when will Joe Gordon get his due? 9 times in the top 10? Wow. That's impressive for a secondbasemen.