it's January 23, and with zero moves to discuss, except for the Austin Jackson signing, let's talk about the HOF case of Andruw Jones, first off, I'm not here to measure him against another hall of famer, as the voters don't know what they are doing and I can't say you are wrong for not including him, because you included this guy, when I don't agree with your criteria or lack there of , I'm here to state that this guy is either a HOF or not, simple as that.
Andruw Jones is a fascinating case, consider this, he is four months older than Tom Brady. As a 19-year-old he got called up to the majors and played in the World Series as a teenager. Becoming an impactful player at such a young age should be very helpful in his HOF case, as it helps him build more cumulative value than your average star, it should.
But peaking at such a young age only helped make up value, as he was basically done by his age 30 season, in 2007, after that his total value was 2.9 WAR.
Now with all of this in mind is he a Hall of Famer? Let's see.
Based on the defensive metrics, he is the best defensive outfielder ever.
Career Def: 281.3
The next closest outfielder is Willie Mays at 170.1.
It's indisputable, he won 10 Gold Gloves, other guys had that but his metrics are above everyone.
His hitting was above average, but not HOF worthy, which doesn't mean much as you have to look at the overall value.
A comparison for him as a hitter, Curtis Granderson.
Jones:
254/337/486 .231 ISO
10.3 BB% 20.2 K%
.352 wOBA 111 wRC+
Granderson:
252/339/472 .220 ISO
11.0 BB% 22.7 K%
.350 wOBA 117 wRC+
Andruw Jones career SLG percentage of .486 is the same as one Carlos Beltran.
6+ WAR seasons;
Jones: 6 (98-00, 02, 05, 06)
Beltran: 4 (03, 04, 06, 08)
Here is a guy with 64.2 WAR before turning 30, with the 10th highest ISO among CF ever, all-time defense, i cannot sit here and say he is not a Hall of Famer.
432 career HR. That's top 50 ever. 47th to be exact. He wasn't Vlad Guerrero with the bat, but the production is there.
Career wRC+ and wOBA
Andruw Jones: 111, .352
Alan Trammel: 111, .343
Cal Ripken: 112, .346
Think about that.
To sum it all up, top 50 all-time in homers, best defensive OF ever, 10 gold gloves, 64.2 by his age 30 season.
To me, he is a Hall of Famer.
As always feel free to comment, suggest and to each and every one of you out there, who reads my articles, from the bottom of my heart I appreciate it.