vance_the_cubs_fan

Gillette's take on Hershiser:

Gillette on Jones:

Hershiser will get his fair share of votes because of his work in the post season. He's not a HOF, but if there were a Hall of Very Good, he belongs.

If Belle doesn't belong, why is Ralph Kiner a HOF? Let's look at how similar they were. Belle played in ten full seasons and so did Kiner. BA: Kiner: 279 Belle: 295 OBP: Kiner: 398 Belle: 369 SLG: Kiner: 548 Belle" 564 Runs Kiner:971 Belle: 974 Doubles Kiner: 216 Belle: 389 HR Kiner: 369 Belle: 381 RBI Kiner: 1015 Belle: 1239 All-Star Game Appearances Kiner: 6 Belle: 5 Top MVP Finishes Kiner: 2 Belle: 3 162 Game Averages- Kiner- 279/398/548 41 HR 112 RBI Belle- 295/369/564 40 HR 130 RBI Wow...I don't think you could find more similar players. If Kiner is a HOF, Belle should be as well.

MLB.com had a nice article on Wetteland. Link

The final ballot for John Wetteland is now posted.

This is the last one.

Ballot for Walt Weiss is now up.

Ballot for Hal Morris is now posted.

I would love to have Craig Wilson on this team.

Ballot for Doug Jones is now posted.

Ballot for Greg Jeffriesis now posted.

Ballot for Orel Hershiser is now posted.

Ballot for Ozzie Guillen is now posted.

Hence the reason why I think the Orioles were the one to leak this rumor. I think the O's would become very unpopular in baseball circles if they made something like that up. I really do think Prior was\is on the table, too many sources had variations on this deal to have me believe otherwise. The press has been known to run with a rumor from time to time, haven't they? After all, they aren't selling actual news, they are selling newspapers. Its all about circulation and ratings. And with the absence of any quotes coming from Hendry confirming his willingness to trade Prior, the impirical evidence for your theory is non-existent. I'm not saying the O's started this rumor. But I wouldn't put it past Ken Rosenthal to write the article that started this Prior rumor without "filling in the blanks" a little to make his story sound a little more juicy than it actually was. I'm confused. Has Hendry denied he had Prior on the table? I thought he admited a deal would have been done if Bedard was included. Hendry has refused to publicly comment on the specifics of any deal. He's given his standard response that he'll do whatever is necessary to improve the team, or some variation. The fire started because unlilke Prior for Abreu, Hendry did not flat out say Prior was untouchable.

Curious, how are their approaches different? Is Sickels is more of a SABER guy? Yes, Sickels is more of a saber guy and probably has a much more stringent rating scale.

It doesn't matter who we got for him, JVB wasn't going to crack the major league staff in Chicago.

I think we should change this to "Will Grissom Make the Opening Day Starting Line-up?"

I think you are forgetting someone... I hated the inclusion of Puckett, who didn't belong, because it opened up so many arguments for guys like this. Belle simply didn't last long enough in my eyes to be included. 10 full seasons isn't long enough? I like him for the hall, I wonder how that 147 career OPS+ stacks up. So, I guess you don't think Koufax belongs either. He only had ten full seasons as well. Every rule has its exceptions. I figured someone would challenge me on that. :D Tim, here is my take on it. The BBWAA has set that a player must have 10 seasons to appear on the ballot. By making that the requirement, I figure that if a player gets those ten seasons, I should look at his accomplishments in those seasons. Surely, some players aren't good enough to simply retire after ten seasons and be worthy, others are. When I look at Belle, while he only played ten seasons, eight of those were at HOF levels. There's a lot of 15 year players that will be put in the Hall that don't have eight seasons that are as strong as Belle's. Some of those with 15-year careers don't have five seasons as good as Belle. There's no doubt Belle was a surly SOB, but that shouldn't keep him out. His career was too short, shorter than it should be, but the standard for the ballot is ten seasons, Koufax and Puckett and Kiner are all examples of players who made it in with that length of a career, so I don't see it as a consistent line of reasoning to keep Belle out.