Is Bob Abreu a Hall of Famer?

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Bob Abreu was removed from the starting lineup just 10 minutes before a July 30, 2006 doublegame against the Florida Marlins. Hours later, during the ninth inning of Game 1, the Citizens Bank Park jumbotron announced that the nine-year-old Phillies and two-time All-Star was heading to the New York Yankees for a pack of young prospects.

In his last game wearing the red and white uniform, Abreu came out of the dugout, tipped his cap and blew kisses. Fans gave a standing ovation to the man who had often been vilified in his time with the club, but who had helped bring the Filiss back to prominence in the early 2000s.

In 2004 the Phillies opened their stadium.

By opening day Bobby Abreu was hitting .091avg in 7 games.

That day I connect 1st HR seen in the history of that park.

Then he became the only player in history with 30 + HR, 30 + SB, 40 + 2b, 100 + BB, 100 + RBI and avg> .300 in 1temp pic.twitter.com/UHAFpq3esk

– AJ Torres, Miguel Cabrera & Salvador Pérez Stan (@ajtorresd) January 23, 2021

Abreu’s path to the Phillies followed a series of particularly bizarre circumstances. Signed by the Astros as a 16-year-old amateur free agent from Venezuela in 1990, he spent six years as one of the minor league’s top prospects before his rookie season in 1997. That season, he was drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays. in the expansion draft before being traded to the Phillies that same night by shortstop Kevin Stocker.

That deal saw future 2.5 WARs being sent to Tampa Bay by Stocker, and the Phillies received future 59.8 WARs by Abreu.

Bobby Abreu hit 195 home runs in a Los Angeles uniform.
Phillies including this inside-the-park home run in 2000.#RoadACooperstown pic.twitter.com/jQcnpPXqrx

– Xspark Baseball (@XsparkBaseball) November 26, 2020

The right fielder produced immediately after his arrival in Philadelphia. In 1998, Abreu posted a .312 / .409 / .497 performance with 28 defensive runs saved. That line would be pretty similar to his career numbers in Philadelphia: .303 / .416 / .513.

Abreu’s hitting in the late 1990s was relatively weak compared to his contemporaries. Since then, analytics has helped statisticians revalue the importance of walks and OBP. WAR and other modern analytics have helped contextualize the picture of what it means to be a well-rounded baseball player.

Before his 30-year season, Abreu was worth 62 defensive runs. In his career, he stole exactly 400 bases and was sacked only 128 times. As his defense and speed began to decline with age, Abreu’s ability to get a walk kept him a productive right fielder from the age of 31 to 37, when he averaged 2.7 WAR per season.

Phillies Hall of Fame induction night for Bobby Abreu. #MLBVenezuela ð ???? »ð ???? ª https://t.co/jWBnPeBdai

– MLB Venezuela (@MLBVenezuela) August 3, 2019

Although WAR should not be considered the only important statistic, it is a good estimate of the value of a player’s career.

Of the 28 Hall of Fame players listed in Baseball-Reference as right fielders, the WAR average per career is 70.1, well above Abreu’s 60.2. However, Abreu would not be the first man consecrated in Cooperstown with such a low total.