Andruw with arguments for the Hall?

The 2022 Hall of Fame Exaltation Ceremony will be held on July 24 in Cooperstown. This year’s ballot was revealed by the North American Writers Association (BBWAA) on November 22, and voters have until December 31 to submit their selections. Results will be announced live on January 25, 2022 through the MLB Network.

Several candidates have strong arguments for joining Cooperstown. One of them is Curaçao expatrullero Andruw Jones, who was arguably the best player of his position for more than a decade. At a panel discussion with reporters from MLB.com, we discussed Jones’ candidacy.

Alyson Footer, Moderator / Editor: Andruw Jones is an interesting case, because between 1996 and 2006, he was one of the best center fielders in the sport, and he seemed to be on a trajectory that would lead him straight to the Hall of Fame. The downfall came in the next six years. Although it was dramatic, he still managed to have an OPS + of 100 (league average), 120 and 126 between 2009 and 2011. Is that decline enough to dismiss his case to Cooperstown?

Editor’s note: Jones was arrested in 2012 on allegations of domestic violence, something that could also scare some voters.

Sarah Langs, reporter / producer: I’m curious to know how others think. I tend to think that his lack of support is based on the Hall of Fame talent he had around him – Chipper Jones, Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux, John Smoltz. He was a great player, but maybe he was overshadowed?

Mark Bowman, Braves reporter: Andruw can be said to have been overshadowed by some of the others, but he was not greatly outmatched by them. Andruw had the third-highest WAR in MLB between 1998 and 2007. The two players who topped him were Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez. The man positioned himself behind them and was a perennial sidekick to Chipper Jones, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 2018.

Langs: Absolutely agree. What I meant to say is, I wonder if the voters will see those Braves teams as a guarantee of the Hall of Fame.

Jon Paul Morosi, reporter for MLB.com/MLB Network_: * _For those of you who don’t vote for Jones because he started out of his Hall of Fame run when he signed with the Dodgers, it doesn’t seem fair to me. I vote for him, because he was a historically important player over a 10-year period.

Here I present the list of the center fielders to win 10 or more Gold Gloves: Willie Mays, Ken Griffey Jr. and Andruw Jones. Sure, that includes the subjectivity tied to the award, but taking the honor for 10 years in a row represents an extraordinary milestone that shouldn’t be overlooked.

Langs: Here, ALL players with 10 or more Gold Guanes and 400 or more home runs: Mays, Griffey, Mike Schmidt and Andruw Jones. The other three are not only in the Hall of Fame, but were entered in their first year of eligibility.

Bowman: Before evaluating Jones’ candidacy, it must be remembered that he came to the Big Top at age 19 and defended a very physically demanding position at the highest level for a decade. Yes, his decline was pronounced once he was 30 years old. But is there that much difference in the greatness you showed in your early years compared to another player who made his debut at an older age?

Daniel Kramer, Mariners reporter: The decline has to be the reason it’s not getting more support from voters. It’s fair? Nowadays the 10 best years of a player are very much taken into account, and Andruw’s cap was very high. Let’s look at the numbers between 1998 and 2007; all with the Braves. His 57.6 WAR, according to Baseball-Reference, was second only to Alex Rodriguez and Barry Bonds. As JP said, he also won 10 consecutive Golden Gloves and hit 25 or more home runs in each of those seasons, setting a franchise record with 51 homers in 2005. He was called up to five All-Star Games in that span.

Morosi: Daniel is quite right: There is always a balance in Hall of Fame voting between the greatest achievement of a player in his prime vs. accumulation of excellent numbers during a stretch. When players have both, they will likely be elected in their first year on the ballot. Jones has that first, but not the second. For me, the fact that it meets the first requirement is enough for it to be immortalized in Cooperstown.

Bowman: There may be subjectivity in the Golden Gloves selections. But Andruw was clearly the best defender during the first decade of his career. He led the Majors with a defensive bWAR of 26.7 during his first 11 full seasons of his career (1997-2007) with the Braves. Puerto Rican Iván Rodríguez was second with 16.5.

Kramer: What I think is lost in his greatness was his ability to stay healthy. During that 10-year heyday, he played in 1,577 games – more than any major league player in that stretch – for an average of 157.7 games per season. Think it over. An average of less than five games was lost per year over a decade. Even taking into account his decline after his departure from Atlanta, Jones in his career played 2,196 games in 17 seasons. Only five other major leaguers participated in more games during that stretch: Derek Jeter, Alex Rodríguez, Johnny Damon, Chipper Jones and Bobby Abreu of Venezuela.

Footer: To emphasize what JP (and others) said: I always thought that if a player dominated for 10 years, he was considered the best in his position and one of the most feared hitters in the league, that meets the requirements to be in the Hall. of Fame. But when it comes time to vote, some seem to decide that 10 years is not enough. Will that be a fair time?

Morosi: Yes, 10 years should be long enough. If Andruw had finished his career the way he started it, he probably would have his badge in Cooperstown by now. But like Dale Murphy and others, he was penalized by the fact that his performance declined rapidly at the end of what at one point appeared to be a Hall of Fame-worthy career.

When it comes to voting for the Hall of Fame, I have found that it is crucial to consider the historical context of the numbers we are talking about – such as the fact that Sarah pointed out of the combination of at least 10 Gold Gloves and 400 home runs. That really stands out and underscores everything that Jones did.

For players who actually dominated, 10 years is a good time. Jones meets that condition.

Langs: We talked about the same thing about Buster Posey. Waiting for someone to shine for 15 years seems unfair. In Jay Jaffe’s JAWS system, WAR at a seven-year heyday is one of the highlights. It’s not even 10! Only seven to compare the best moment of any player. I think that is remarkable. And the 46.4 WAR Jones posted in his best seven years is ninth among center fielders, trailing only Mays, Ty Cobb, Mike Trout, Mickey Mantle, Tris Speaker, Griffey, Joe DiMaggio and Duke Snider. EVERYONE OF THEM is in the Hall of Fame (and one is active, Trout).

Morosi: Excellent point Sarah – and note that few played in the same generation as Jones. So too emerges a key distinction: The best center fielders of the last 50 years are Mike Trout, Ken Griffey Jr. and Andruw Jones – with Torii Hunter also emerging in the conversation.

Kramer: To set a foundation of greatness worthy of the Hall of Fame of more than 10 years is not at all fair. A decade is an inordinately long time.

Bowman: Unfortunately there was no Statcast to conclude on whether Jones ‘defense was up to par with Willie Mays’. But the fact that those who saw both in action are wondering may validate the idea that Jones was one of the best center fielders in history. I think that has value in a world where Ozzie Smith is inducted into the Hall of Fame primarily because of his glove.

Langs: We can see Total Runs in Zone (practically a first version of Runs Saved on Defense) as a center fielder. He has records going back to 1953. Highest Zone Run Totals as CF: Jones 230, Mays 176. That doesn’t include the first two seasons of Mays’ career, which began in the Negro Leagues in 1948.

** Kramer: ** The fact that Andruw is considered the best defensive player of his generation (and possibly of all time), not only by his teammates, but by his rivals, that should be enough to get him into the conversation of Cooperstown. It is also a key defensive position. Tom Glavine once did something very interesting about Andruw’s glove, saying that that Braves super rotation in the ’90s wouldn’t have put up such impressive numbers without Jones backing them up there in center.

Morosi: The Braves were a dynasty in the National League, a team we saw every year in the postseason. We could say that they may have had to win more than one World Series during those years, but their historical impact cannot be questioned.

Kramer: Andruw hit .273 / .363 / .433 (.796 OPS) with 10 home runs in 76 career postseason games. In addition, he is the youngest player to hit a home run in a World Series, when he bounced it in his first two at-bats of the 1996 Fall Classic at age 19.

Bowman: Yes, the 19-year-old who homered in his first two World Series at-bats became one of the greatest defensive players of all time. Plus, he hit more than 400 home runs, had a 50-homer season and was a key offensive producer for a team that won its division in each of its first 10 seasons. They are very impressive credentials.

Footer: Here are Jones’ voting numbers: His support is up 14.5% in 2021 from 2020. He received 33.9% of the vote in 2021. He is in his fifth year on the ballot. A jump of 14.5% is a lot, and a good sign that it could come in eventually. Do you think it will be enough to get you in before your 10th year of eligibility?

Kramer: I really think so. I think that as Andruw approaches his last years on the ballot and there is more urgency to analyze his case, voters will appreciate his achievements more, as happened with Puerto Rican Edgar Martínez and Larry Walker, both elected in his last chance.

Morosi: I’m optimistic that Jones will eventually get in, but he would have said the same about Kent, and his totals remain inexplicably low.

Langs: I know that this is how these things work and that the ballots have been full of candidates in recent years. But look what Mark just said! I can’t believe we’re talking to this.

Morosi: I agree. The ballot is probably going to get a little less complicated in the next few years, which should help.

Langs: I think it will come in. We have already seen players who go up and up over the years and I hope that trend helps him too.

Morosi: In time, Jones is going to benefit from conversations like this one that we are having here.

Bowman: Last year’s increase in voting is promising. I think that this year that number is going to approach 50%. If that happens, I think Jones is going to be elected in the next two or three years.

Morosi: Journalists recall his rapid decline and the unimportance of his later seasons. That was the case, and it affected the perception of his career. However, the more we detach ourselves from those later years, the better perspective we get when we evaluate everything he did. We will remember him less as that half-time player who was at the end, and more as that historical player batting and defending. If we are going to talk about a 10-year period beginning in the mid-1990s, it would be difficult to write a one-page summary of what happened in MLB without making a significant mention of Andruw Jones. And that’s one of the standards that I always use when I vote for the Hall of Fame.