Best MLB Players Not in the Hall of Fame

Has the bar been lowered? Here are the top candidates for Cooperstown at each position.

Best MLB Players Not in the Hall of Fame

Look what they’ve done to my Hall Fame, ma.

The voters turned it into the Hall of Very Good. Then, boom, out of nowhere, Harold Baines received a Hall pass with 2,866 hits, 384 home runs, 1,628 RBI, zero Gold Gloves and zero World Series titles. Now it’s the Hall of Kinda Good.

Far worse, suspected steroids-users have seen their vote totals rise up, up, up, while the ages of the voters and their attention to history and precedent have gone down, down, down. A few cheaters even sneaked into Cooperstown.

Now compare those developments to the stated Baseball Writers Association of America standard: "Voting shall be based upon the player's record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played."

But now that the Baines standard is in place, a massive victory for quantity over quality, expect a rush of borderline candidates and worse to flood Cooperstown in the years to come.

That’s a Hall of a shame.

Here are the best Hall of Fame candidates at each position.

Note: Players are eligible for the Hall of Fame five years after they retire. Suspected or admitted steroids cheaters are marked with an asterisk.

Starting Pitcher: Roger Clemens*

Career: 24 years (1984-2007)

Teams: Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees, Houston Astros

If I had a hundred bucks for every time I heard a suspected steroids loser say "never, ever," I’d have almost enough money to buy a box seat ticket and a Dodger dog.

Roger Clemens said words to that effect, most infamously as a defendant in a defamation lawsuit filed by his former trainer. Among other things, the career 354-game winner claimed that steroids hurt performance, not the other way around. Even more remarkably, he did this with a straight face.

Remember, this is the same Clemens who had a 1.87 earned run average in the 2005 season. At age 42. One year after he won 18 games. And the Cy Young Award.

Uh, kind of strange how so few geezers excel late in their careers since the steroids crackdown, isn’t it?

By my count, there are three cheaters in the Hall of Fame if not more. It may take a while, but as voters become younger and more indifferent to history and tradition, Clemens may join them eventually. His approval rate (59.5 percent) increased for the fifth consecutive year in the 2019 election, and he has two swings left on the regular ballot.

Honorable Mention: Curt Schilling, Starting Pitcher

Career: 20 years (1988-2007)

Teams: Philadelphia Phillies, Arizona Diamondbacks, Boston Red Sox

Only Clemens (139.0) has a better career WAR than Curt Schilling (80.6) among non-Hall of Fame pitchers. What should put him is a crazy .846 postseason win percentage (11-2 record), fourth best in MLB history. Oh, and his 2.23 ERA in 19 starts wasn’t too shabby, either.

That Schilling hasn’t garnered more than 61 percent of the Hall of Fame vote reeks of more politics as much as anything. He admits to conservative values, while his media peers are more liberal than ever, hardly the ideal scenario for a Cooperstown hopeful.

"Part of it is (political)," Schilling told Fox’s "Life, Liberty & (Mark) Levin" of the oversight. "I mean, it’s not a guess. ... People that have not voted for me specifically because of the things I’ve said or did — they’ve said it. They’ve come out and said, 'I can’t vote for him because of what he said and what he did.' "

If Pedro Martinez and his 219 career victories are in the Hall of Fame, then Schilling and his 216 should be, too. When it comes to the postseason, Schilling is his daddy.

Relief Pitcher: Billy Wagner

Career: 16 years (1995-2010)

Teams: Houston Astros, Philadelphia Phillies, New York Mets, Boston Red Sox, Atlanta Braves

Throw out the postseason records — in Billy Wagner’s case, please do — and his Hall of Fame case is an overwhelming one.

For one, Wagner ranks sixth in saves (422) in baseball history. Among the retired pitchers ahead of him, only John Franco (424) doesn’t have a Hall of Fame plaque. His career 2.31 earned run average trails only new inductee Mariano Rivera (2.21) among retired 200 save club members.

It that’s not good enough, then this should blow the voters away: Among pitchers with at least 800 innings, Wagner’s strikeout rate (11.9 per nine innings) and opponents batting average (.187) are the best ever by a country mile.

How could a 180-pounder who was barely tall enough to ride Cyberspace Mountain throw so hard for so long?

"To look at me, it doesn't make a lot of sense," said Wagner, a natural right-hander, no less.

This doesn’t make a lot of sense, either — Wagner had a 10.03 ERA in 14 postseason games. Nah, couldn’t be the same guy.

Honorable Mention: Dan Quisenberry, Relief Pitcher

Career: 12 years (1979-90)

Teams: Kansas City Royals, St. Louis Cardinals, San Francisco Giants

Dan Quisenberry received only 18 of a possible 470 votes in the 1996 election, his one and only appearance on the regular ballot. The three-time All-Star and two-time Cy Young Award runner-up deserved better.

Quisenberry and Hall of Famer Bruce Sutter are joined at the hip as the preeminent closers of the 1980s decade. Sutter finished with 300 saves (28th overall), and Quiz had 244 (37th) in virtually the same number of innings. Each led the league in the category five times. Otherwise, there wasn’t much difference between them.

It’s difficult to gauge relief pitchers through metrics because of their limited sample sizes. For what it’s worth, Quisenberry owns a career 5.98 WAR per relief appearance over 162 games, highest of the 43 non-Hall of Famers with at least 200 career saves. Sutter checks in at 5.93, which gives you an idea of their proximity.

Clearly, Quisenberry could use another ex-teammate or two on the modern era committee in the future.

Catcher: Joe Mauer

Career: 15 years (2004-18)

Teams: Minnesota Twins

If the Hall of Fame voters want a good argument, well, whoo boy, they’ve got one here.

Joe Mauer was headed to Cooperstown in his first 10 seasons, six of them as an All-Star catcher. That changed after the 2013 season, when he moved to first base/designated hitter.

Mauer the catcher had a lights-out .328/.428/.481 slashline in 897 games. His rare plate discipline and underrated baserunning further separated him from the pack.

But elsewhere, Mauer was only pretty good. In 903 games at first base and designated hitter, his .286/.368/.399 slashline is that of a much less productive player.

Mauer had almost the exact same number of plate appearances as a catcher (3,943) and first baseman-DH (3,942). So is Mauer a catcher, or is he a first baseman/DH? Or are a career .306 batting average. 2,123 hits and 143 homers good enough at any position these days?

Honorable Mention: Thurman Munson, Catcher

Career: 11 years (1969-79)

Teams: New York Yankees

Thurman Munson owned a .292 batting average, 113 home runs and 701 RBI in 1,423 games when he perished in a plane accident. He also was a seven-time All-Star, three-time Gold Glover and one-time MVP.

The resume is in the same ballpark as Hall of Fame catcher Roy Campanella, who hit .276 with 177 homers and 614 RBI in 1,215 games before his own career was cut short in an auto wreck. He was an eight-time All-Star, three-time MVP and would have been a multi-times Gold Glover if there had been such an award at the time.

Had Munson like Campanella played three more seasons through 35 years of age, he would have finished with more home runs (147) and RBI (909) than Mickey Cochrane and almost as many hits (2,019) as Johnny Bench, both Hall of Famers. Only Cochrane and Bench are ahead of him in career WAR/162 (5.25) at the position.

Munson didn’t merit the Hall of Fame treatment of Roberto Clemente, whose five-year wait requirement was waived after his tragic death. He does deserve a close look for 10-plus seasons of all-around excellence.

First Base: Dick Allen

Career: 15 years (1963-77)

Teams: Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago White Sox

It was criminal that Dick Allen never received more than 19 percent of the Hall of Fame vote in 14 years on the regular ballot. Harold Baines could only dream to have his resume.

A seven-time All-Star and one-time MVP, Allen abused pitchers for more than a decade in both leagues. Name the category and he probably led the league in it — OPS (four times), slugging percentage (three), home runs (two), RBI (one), runs scored (one), walks (one). Among first baseman, he ranks 11th in WAR/162 (5.44) overall.

True, Allen could be aloof and even prickly at times, especially in his early Phillies days. Then again, a lot of teams wouldn’t mind a clubhouse distraction who hits .292 with 25 homers and 80 RBI. That was his average in 14 complete seasons.

Full disclosure: I want Allen to be elected just to see if he shows up late to his induction address.

Honorable Mention: Mark McGwire*, First Base

Career: 16 years (1986-2001)

Teams: Oakland Athletics, St. Louis Cardinals

Mark McGwire likes to brag that he would have hit 70 homers in a season without the steroids.

"Absolutely," McGwire said in 2018, 20 years after the fact. "I just know myself. I just know. I was born home run hitter."

Well, yeah, sure, OK, except that McGwire admitted to steroids. In fact, his admission may be the most notable achievement of his 'roids-riddled career. He’s the only star player to fess up.

McGwire maxed out at 24 percent in his fourth of 10 tries on the regular Half Fame ballot. As more cheaters invade Cooperstown, though, his 583 home runs (11th overall) will be too difficult for his apologists to overlook at some point.

Second Base: Bobby Grich

Career: 17 years (1970-86)

Teams: Baltimore Orioles, California Angels

Few if any played a more consistent two-way game than Bobby Grich over his 17 seasons. His career offensive WAR (87th overall) and defensive WAR (83rd) are virtually identical.

Grich finished with a .266 batting average, 224 homers and respectable .794 OPS. He also won four consecutive Gold Glove Awards in the mid-1970s as the standard at his position.

Perhaps Grich’s most stunning achievement came as a free agent in 1976, when the five-time All-Star signed with the Angels even though the New York Yankees offered $700,000 more in annual salary. (Gasp!)

Grich was on the HOF ballot only one year (1992), but a lot has changed since then. Of the six retired second basemen who exceeded his 5.74 WAR/162, every one is in Cooperstown. He’s got a chance.

Honorable Mention: Chase Utley, Second Base

Career: 16 years (2003-2018)

Teams: Philadelphia Phillies, Los Angeles Dodgers

Because Chase Utley played the game like a strong safety, he lacked the durability to put up gaudy career numbers. He finished with a .275 batting average, 1,855 hits and 259 homers. He also led the league in one category more than once — hit by pitches (three times).

Still, in terms of sheer efficiency, Utley is under the radar among his peers. His 5.47 WAR/162 ranks among the best ever at second base.

Then there was that insane performance of his in the 2009 World Series, albeit with a loser — five home runs, eight RBI and 1.448 OPS in six games.

Utley may be a five-run homer to reach Cooperstown, but I’ll take him over Baines in a best-of-one against the Mars invaders any day.

Shortstop: Alex Rodriguez*

Career: 22 years (1994-2016)

Teams: Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers, New York Yankees

Alex Rodriguez hit a bunch of home runs and knocked in a bunch of runs and won a bunch of awards in his career. Never mind that. His most impressive accomplishment was the way he conned the public all those years. Or tried to, anyway.

The thing is, Rodriguez can sweet-talk the chrome off a hubcap. Since his steroids admission, the first-ballot member of the Chronic Liars and Cheaters Hall of Fame has done his best to put his dirt back in the tube.

"There's rules, and you have to follow the rules," Rodriguez begged forgiveness in "Cigar Aficionado" not long ago. "I made those mistakes, and at the end of the day, I have to live by those mistakes."

Smart guy, that A-Fraud. He knows fake humility and repentance are his only tickets to Cooperstown. Fans and Hall of Fame voters can be a forgiving lot, so don’t be surprised if he fools them again one day.

Honorable Mention: Nomar Garciaparra*, Shortstop

Career: 14 years (1996-2009)

Teams: Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers, Oakland Athletics

No sooner did Nomar Garciaparra arrive in Boston than he was on a meteoric Hall of Fame path. In his first four full seasons, he was a four-time All-Star, back-to-back batting champion and Most Valuable Player.

From that point on, Garciaparra was a physical wreck, a career u-turn that prompted suspicious minds to connect the dots.

The steroids whispers grew in the spring of 2001, when a suddenly ripped Garciaparra opened eyes on a Sports Illustrated front cover. That season, he was limited to 21 games because of a wrist tendon surgery. Three years later, a gruesome groin injury grounded him again. He retired at 35 with 1,747 hits, 229 homers and 4.99 WAR/162, 11th best at shortstop.

Garciaparra said a rigorous workout regimen was the reason for his physical makeover. He never flunked a drug test. Nor was he mentioned in the Mitchell report. This much is certain: Only he knows what might have been.

Third Base: Scott Rolen

Career: 17 years (1996-2012)

Teams: Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, Toronto Blue Jays, Cincinnati Reds

Dominant two-way third basemen are hard to finder than 2 1/2-hour games, as one look around the Hall of Fame confirms. The hot corner has been home to a lot of Scott Rolen types, guys who are consistently good or even very good but not truly great.

Most metrics geeks have Rolen in the top dozen or so third basemen of all time, but he’s probably better than that. Only six have a higher WAR/162 (5.58) at third base. The eight-time Gold Glover and seven-time All-Star ranks slightly ahead of Adrian Beltre, another candidate at the position.

Rolen also never was tied to illegal performance-enhancers, while Beltre was implicated in the Mitchell report after the 2007 season.

The flip side is Rolen was no stranger to sprains and fractures. He played more than 142 games only five times in 17 seasons. Mr. Intensity also was known to be a disruptive force at times, the result of occasional clashes with managers and team executives. (Hello, Larry Bowa, Dallas Green and Tony LaRussa.)

Nonetheless, the Hall of Fame could do much worse than Rolen, especially at a position so few in number.

Honorable Mention: Adrian Beltre*, Third Base

Career: 21 years (1998-2018)

Teams: Los Angeles Dodgers, Seattle Mariners, Boston Red Sox, Texas Rangers

Adrian Beltre is a member of the 3,000 hit club (3,166), which gives him an automatic Hall pass. He also has 477 homers, five Gold Gloves and a high likability quotient on his side.

Now about that 2004 season.

Beltre was godawful in 2003, when he put up some of the worst numbers of his career. Poof! Suddenly, the 25-year-old turned into Mike Schmidt in his prime the next season. His .334 batting average, 38 homers and 121 RBI would be career highs.

After an injury-plagued 2009 season, Beltre discovered the fountain of youth somewhere. He averaged 25 homers and 89 RBI over the next nine seasons, remarkable numbers for any player in his 30s.

Maybe Beltre was one of those rare physical freaks who defied logic. Or maybe the Dominican native was one of the many who cheated their way to fame and fortune. Regardless, he’s almost certain to make the Hall of Fame cut on his first or second try.

Left Field: Barry Bonds*

Career: 22 years (1986-2007)

Teams: Pittsburgh Pirates, San Francisco Giants

I won’t bore you with his PEDs-stained numbers. You know all about them by now. (One-hundred-twenty intentional walks in one season? At 39 years old? Really?)

The truth is, any narcissist who makes a joke of the game to the extent that Barry Bonds did all those years shouldn’t be allowed in the Cooperstown zip code. Seriously, can you think of any person who has done more to destroy the integrity of the game than this bum?

(Yeah, I know, Bonds never flunked a drug exam. But after he left Pittsburgh, he never, ever passed the eye test, either.)

Yet "Barry Quite Contrary" has seen his Hall of Fame approval rate increase in each of the last five years to 59 percent. Like Clemens, it could take a while, but expect Bonds and his sellouts to have their day yet.

Honorable Mention: Charlie Keller, Left Field

Career: 13 years (1939-43, 1945-52)

Teams: New York Yankees, Detroit Tigers

"King Kong" Keller (is that a Hall of Fame name or what?!) took part in only 1,170 games — he spent one prime year in the military and three others with a herniated disc — but his career ranks make you go, "Wow." He’s 34th in on-base percentage (.410), 44th in OPS (.928) and 40th in range factor (2.14) on the all-time list.

Bet you didn’t know this: Charlie Keller’s career 5.95 WAR/162 ranks behind only Bonds and Ted Williams in left field. That’s right — ahead of Rickey Henderson, Ralph Kiner, Fred Clarke and Al Simmons, the Hall of Famers next in line.

Keller was a postseason difference-maker as well. If there had been a World Series MVP award at the time, he would have been the runaway winner in 1939 and a close second to future Hall of Famer Joe Gordon two years later.

Keller didn’t put up big enough numbers to meet the Baines standard, but based on short-term excellence, the five-time All-Star deserves more than token consideration.

Center Field: Carlos Beltran

Career: 20 years (1998-2017)

Teams: Kansas City Royals, Houston Astros, New York Mets, San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, New York Yankees, Texas Rangers

By itself, Carlos Beltran’s career .279/.350/.486 slashline doesn’t scream Hall of Fame at you. Still, his career 2,725 hits and 435 homers put him on the short list of best switch-hitters in baseball history.

In terms of versatility, Beltran was in a higher league. The three-time Gold Glover had great range in center field. Few ran the bases better. His .864 stolen-base success rate (312 of 361) ranks behind only Chase Utley (.875) among those with 100 or more career steals.

It’s the postseason where Beltran further distances him from the other candidates. His .307/.412/.609 slashline in 15 series is the definition of clutch. That’s the equivalent of 40 homers and 105 RBI over 162 games.

Beltran is a first- or second-ballot Hall of Famer beyond any reasonable doubt.

Honorable Mention: Kenny Lofton

Career:17 years (1991-2007)

Teams: Houston Astros, Cleveland Indians, Atlanta Braves, Chicago White Sox, San Francisco Giants, Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Cubs, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, Los Angeles Dodgers, Texas Rangers

At his peak, Kenny Lofton was akin to the left-handed Rickey Henderson as the best leadoff man in the game. For six consecutive seasons (1994-99) with two teams in both leagues, Lofton was an All-Star selection. He also was a Gold Glove candidate and received MVP votes.

Among center fielders, Lofton owns a 5.5 WAR/162. That’s better than Ken Griffey Jr., Duke Snider, Richie Ashburn and Kirby Puckett, all Hall of Famers.

If Baines is the Hall of Fame basement, then Lofton is closer to the loft.

Right Field: Joe Jackson

Career: 13 years (1908-20)

Teams: Philadelphia Athletics, Cleveland Naps, Chicago White Sox

Numbers-wise, "Shoeless" Joe Jackson would be a Hall of Fame shoo-in. His career batting average (.356, third overall) and on-base percentage (.423, 17th) are first-ballot worthy. So is his monstrous WAR/162 (7.58),which ranks behind only Babe Ruth (10.55) at the right-field position.

It’s the fix of the 1919 World Series that has left Jackson on the outside all these years. Twice, he admitted to a $5,000 take in front of a grand jury. He later recanted the accounts and remained adamant about his innocence until his final breath. He was never convicted in a court of law.

So, six decades after his death, the debate continues: Will Shoeless Joe ever gain Hall of Fame induction? Can’t say it’s so — some opinions will have to change to lift his lifetime ban — but ask yourself this: Did he ruin the game any worse than the steroids cheaters?

Honorable Mention: Larry Walker*, Right Field

Career: 17 years (1989-2005)

Teams: Montreal Expos, Colorado Rockies

A five-time All-Star and one-time MVP choice, Larry Walker wasn’t unlike Barry Bonds in that he had two distinct careers.

There was the good one at the dawn of the steroids era, when he produced a .281/.357/.483 slashline with the Expos for six years. Then there was the great one with the Rockies for 10 seasons, when his numbers spiked to .334/.426/.618 with a boost from Coors Field and its friendly altitude.

Walker was among the biggest winners in the last election, when his percentage surged from 34 to 55 percent. Cooperstown looks a lot closer now.

Designated Hitter: David Ortiz*

Career: 20 years (1997-2016)

Teams: Minnesota Twins, Boston Red Sox

Eighty-eight percent of his career plate appearances were at designated hitter, where David Ortiz accomplished more statistically than anyone at the position — 485 homers and 1,569 RBI in 2,027 games. Over 162 games, that translates to a .289/39/125 slashline.

If there’s any question about Ortiz as it pertains to his Hall of Fame candidacy — other than that PEDs thing, that is — then it’s whether a guy who rarely plays the field should merit consideration. Hey, if closers who pitch only half the games can make the cut, then why the heck not?

Honorable Mention: Don Baylor, Designated Hitter

Career: 19 years (1970-88)

Teams: Baltimore Orioles, California Angels, New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Minnesota Twins, Oakland Athletics

Don Baylor lasted only two years (1994-95) on the regular Hall of Fame ballot — he received a mere 2.6 percent of the vote both times. But that was long before the Baines standard went into effect.

Baines had a higher batting average (.289-.260), more hits (2,866-2,135), home runs (384-338) and RBI (1,628-1,276) among them. But it took 1,691 plate appearances or roughly three more seasons to do it. Consider that Baylor stole significantly more bases (285-34) and scored almost as many runs (1,236-1,299), not to mention earned more Silver Slugger awards (3-1), Most Valuable Player awards (1-0) and World Series rings (1-0), and the difference was rather minimal.

Plus, as one of the few black major league managers, Baylor had historical significance attached to his name. If Baines, why not Baylor, too?

At this rate, my boyhood favorite Ted Kluszewski may have a chance yet.

Manager: Danny Murtaugh

Career: 15 years (1957-64, 1967, 1970-71, 1973-76)

Teams: Pittsburgh Pirates

Danny Murtaugh was Earl Weaver without the profanity-laden tirades, crazed hat-tosses and frequent ejections. The two had somewhat comparable resumes — and Murtaugh managed in nearly three fewer seasons. Why, he even looked like a pirate.

The Pirates won 54 percent of their games and pulled off two of the biggest World Series upsets ever with Murtaugh at the helm. In 1960, they shocked the mighty Yankees in seven games, and 11 years later, they beat the unbeatable Orioles, who were managed by Weaver himself.

But Murtaugh might have done his best work in 1958, when a young Bucs team surprised the baseball world with a second-place finish and turned around a wayward franchise.

Oh, then there’s this: Murtaugh is the only manager with at least five postseason and three-All-Star appearances and two World Series titles not in Cooperstown today.

If Weaver is in the Hall of Fame, Murtaugh should be, too.

Honorable Mention: Davey Johnson

Career: 17 years (1984-90, 1993-97, 1999-2000, 2011-13)

Teams: New York Mets, Cincinnati Reds, Baltimore Orioles, Los Angeles Dodgers, Washington Nationals

Davey Johnson owns an impressive career .562 win percentage, the highest of any manager not in Cooperstown at the moment. He also has 1,372 victories (31st overall), two Manager of the Year awards, one World Series title and one All-Star appearance to his credit.

Even so, Johnson fell short in the Today’s Game Era committee vote last fall. The fact that he had some loaded Mets teams yet managed only one pennant winner in his managerial career left some to want more, apparently.