Is Jim Edmonds a Hall of Famer?
Upon hearing the news that the Milwaukee Brewers are close to signing aging outfielder Jim Edmonds, a couple of thoughts came to mind. My first thought was “I can’t believe he’s still playing.” I then thought about the Hall of Fame case for Edmonds, and was admittedly unsure about it before I looked into it.
Edmonds is an interesting case; a guy who was generally regarded as an excellent fielder by his peers (he’s won multiple Gold Glove Awards in CF), but is sometimes considered overrated by the gatekeepers of advanced defensive metrics. The one item not up for debate is the quality of his bat, as his career OPS+ of 132 places him squarely among a group of several Hall of Fame outfielders.
I went back and looked at the career Wins Above Replacement Player for a bunch of well-known outfielders. I didn’t have much of a scientific method for picking the names, I was basically aiming for guys who were considered excellent outfielders without being Willie Mays-level elite. Some of them are in the Hall of Fame, the others are in the “Hall of Very Good”.
Here are the results (names in blue are Hall of Famers):
| Player | Career WARP3 |
| Tony Gwynn | 78.50 |
| Roberto Clemente | 78.30 |
| Jim Edmonds | 72.20 |
| Willie Stargell | 66.00 |
| Billy Williams | 63.40 |
| Dave Winfield | 62.60 |
| Richie Ashburn | 61.60 |
| Andre Dawson | 59.60 |
| Dwight Evans | 59.50 |
| Duke Snider | 53.60 |
| Jose Canseco | 47.10 |
| Dale Murphy | 45.30 |
| Moises Alou | 45.20 |
| Kiki Cuyler | 43.60 |
| Kirby Puckett | 43.40 |
| Dave Parker | 40.20 |
| Fred Lynn | 37.50 |
| Lou Brock | 37.20 |
| Earl Averill | 36.60 |
| Tony Oliva | 36.20 |
| Jim Rice | 34.20 |
I would never have guessed his case would be this easy, but it appears that Edmonds clearly deserves to be enshrined, if historical consistency is to be maintained. He might have to wait a few years due to some bozos not considering him a “first ballot Hall of Famer”. Seriously, what kind of logic is that? Being a Hall of Famer should be akin to being pregnant: you are or you aren’t. Unless I’m missing something, Jim is.
What amazes me is how many of these newfangled, modern statistics put Dwight Evans right up there with the elite who have played the game. When you also take his defense into consideration it should be a no-brainer. I think I have to start badgering the veteran’s committee.
[...] Is Jim Edmonds a Hall of Famer? Upon hearing the news that the Milwaukee Brewers are close to signing aging outfielder Jim Edmonds, a couple of thoughts came to mind.A My first thought was “I can’t believe he’s still playing.”A I then thought about the Hall of Fame case for Edmonds, and was admittedly unsure about it before I looked into it. [...]
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