As you can probably tell, this article is an exercise in picking the best possible baseball team made up entirely of MLB players who have not been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
The rules for this exercise are pretty straightforward:
- The player must have already had their time on the ballot. That means no current players or players still going through the voting process.
- The player cannot have steroid use as the reason they have not been elected, so no Bonds or Clemens.
- The player cannot have personal or off-the-field issues as the reason they have not been elected, so no Schilling or Rose.
- Finally, we decided to limit the pool to players who competed post-integration. So apologies to all the Jim McCormick or Jack Glasscock Hall of Fame truthers out there.
Besides that, everyone else is fair game.
One more quick thing. Throughout this article, the stat JAWS will be mentioned quite a bit. For those unfamiliar, JAWS, short for Jaffe WAR Score System, was developed by sabermetrician Jay Jaffe as a way to evaluate Hall of Fame worthiness. It is calculated by averaging a player’s career WAR with their seven-year peak WAR. Players are then grouped by position, and an average JAWS score is established for each position. In short, the higher a player’s JAWS, the stronger their Hall of Fame case.
Side note: if you have never read anything Jay Jaffe has written, you really should.
With all that out of the way, let’s get into picking the team. We came up with this list together, and we will each provide a short explanation for why we think each player deserves his spot.
Catcher
Thurman Munson
Brad:
We were unsure if including Munson was “cheating,” considering he was clearly on a Hall of Fame trajectory prior to his untimely death. Ultimately, we decided to include him because we believe he still deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. He owns the highest JAWS among non-Hall of Fame catchers, and his number is actually higher than several catchers who have already been elected.
It feels wrong to compare him to Buster Posey, considering one retired to spend time with his family and the other died in a plane crash, but they were very similar players. Posey had a higher peak and was more injury-prone, but the profiles are remarkably alike. For what it is worth, I fully expect Posey to make the Hall.
Emile:
Brad pretty much covered it all here. Had Munson’s career not been tragically cut short, it is difficult to imagine a scenario in which he would not be in the Hall of Fame. Despite playing only about ten seasons, Munson still passes the “Baines meter,” and as Brad said, he has the highest JAWS of any non-Hall of Fame catcher.
Munson’s WAR per 162 games sits at 5.2, which is higher than Hall of Famers Joe Mauer, Mike Piazza, and Gary Carter. That alone makes his absence from Cooperstown feel increasingly difficult to justify.
First Base
Carlos Delgado
Emile:
Carlos Delgado could hit, and it really is that simple. He finished his career with a 138 OPS+ across more than 2,000 games. Delgado launched 473 home runs and drove in more than 1,500 runs over 17 seasons. He is also in the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, which should count for something.
Regardless, Delgado is an outstanding bat to anchor the heart of this lineup.
Brad:
A career .929 OPS is really good. I have always believed that if the BBWAA decided to collectively punish steroid-era players, which is a defensible stance, then they need to give players whose era-adjusted numbers do not stand out as dramatically a little more benefit of the doubt. I genuinely do not understand how Delgado is not already in Cooperstown.
Second Base
Bobby Grich
Emile:
Second base came down to a very close decision between Bobby Grich and Lou Whitaker. While Whitaker played longer and was more consistent, we ultimately chose Grich due to his higher peak. Whitaker has the higher total WAR over 19 seasons, but Grich, despite having about 1,700 fewer at-bats, owns the higher WAR7, WAR per 162, and JAWS.
Grich was elite at getting on base, and I cannot help but feel that he would be much more appreciated in today’s baseball environment.
Brad:
Emile did not include this in his portion, but the real reason we chose Grich over Whitaker is because I have had enough of the Lou Whitaker hype from baseball nerds like us on the internet. This guy basically had the 2021 Nicky Lopez season for two decades and somehow gets Hall of Fame buzz. Not on our watch.
That said, Emile gave the proper explanation. Grich probably should be in the Hall of Fame.
Third Base
Sal Bando
Emile:
Bando was a central figure in the A’s dynasty of the early 1970s. He was a top-five player on three consecutive World Series-winning teams. That résumé, combined with a relatively weak player pool at third base, made Bando the pick here. He gets the nod over someone like Buddy Bell due to his more consistent offensive production and higher peak.
Brad:
It is going to be transparent with the next pick, but the Hall of Fame seems to allow nearly every left-side infielder into Cooperstown. I think Bando’s numbers have been unfairly penalized due to Oakland’s ballpark dimensions and a weak run environment. Bando posted roughly a decade of 60 WAR, which is usually more than enough for me to feel comfortable with a player getting in.
Shortstop
Ben Zobrist
Brad:
I wanted to argue that the Hall of Fame is too generous when it comes to shortstops, but the reality is that although many prospects begin at short, only truly elite players manage to stay there throughout their 30s. I decided to include Zobrist because I have been fascinated by his Hall of Fame case for a while. While he never had a set position, placing him at short felt reasonable for this exercise.
Emile will lay out the statistical case, but to me, Zobrist represents something larger than his on-field contributions. He symbolizes the rise of modern sabermetrics and the shift toward evaluating player value beyond traditional statistics. Foolish Baseball has an excellent video on Zobrist’s Hall of Fame case that does a better job arguing it than either of us could.
Emile:
Yes, we know, Zobrist at shortstop is kind of cheating. The non-Hall of Fame shortstop group is arguably the weakest position group. Most of the top JAWS leaders who are not in either used steroids, were born in the 1800s, or posted sub-100 OPS+ marks.
Despite not being a full-time shortstop, Zobrist is one of the most deserving players on this team. His value, and the way it was understood, helped revolutionize how baseball evaluates players. To me, that, combined with multiple World Series titles, a World Series MVP, and comfortably surpassing the Baines threshold, means more than playing 20 years with a career OPS+ under 90.
Outfield
Lance Berkman
Emile:
144 OPS+. Fifteen-year career. Enough said.
More seriously, Berkman is the JAWS leader among left fielders not in the Hall of Fame whose last names are not Bonds, Rose, or Ramírez, and who are not named Sherry Magee, whose career ended shortly after the Treaty of Versailles. While Berkman’s defensive value was limited, his offense more than compensated. He averaged 4.7 offensive WAR per 162 games and produced 558 offensive runs above replacement.
The player immediately ahead of him in JAWS, Minnie Miñoso, who is in the Hall of Fame, has only 510 oRAR despite 400 more plate appearances.
Brad:
Berkman could hit. A 144 OPS+ is absurd. His near-career .300 batting average, .400 on-base percentage, and .500 slugging percentage speak volumes. I tend to believe doubles hitters age better due to strong plate discipline and balanced power. Berkman is a prime example, much like Freddie Freeman.
Given our criteria, Berkman is comfortably the best hitter not in the Hall of Fame.
Outfield
Kenny Lofton
Emile:
Despite ranking top ten in JAWS among center fielders, Lofton fell off the ballot after one year. I understand why he’s not in the Hall yet, as Brad outlines below, but I still think he was treated unfairly. Lofton ranks top fifteen all-time in stolen bases and played center field for nearly his entire career. His offense was not overwhelming, and his late-career seasons were messy, but it is difficult to dismiss a near-70 WAR player.
Brad:
I understand why Lofton is not currently in the Hall. Bouncing between teams late in a career seems to hurt candidates, and his game relied heavily on athleticism, which declined after age 30. By the time voters evaluated him, it had been 15 years since he was an MVP candidate.
I am not claiming he was as good as Ichiro or Jeter, but their rate stats are shockingly similar. While I acknowledge some flaws in his JAWS ranking due to positional adjustments, he is still clearly Hall of Fame caliber.
Outfield
Jim Edmonds
Brad:
I think Delgado may have had the best overall career on this list, and Lofton might be the most likely to eventually get in, but Edmonds is the best position player not in the Hall of Fame. He won eight Gold Gloves, all in center field, and retired with a .903 OPS. Those are inner-circle credentials, yet he failed to reach five percent on the ballot.
Edmonds won a World Series, was historically great in the postseason, enjoyed strong longevity, and starred in a major market for a historic franchise. The more I look at his numbers, the more baffled I become.
Emile:
Brad said it all. Edmonds was simply a great baseball player. He excelled defensively and offensively and was a key figure in the Cardinals’ success throughout the 2000s. Edmonds ranks 15th in center field JAWS and, once Beltrán, Andruw Jones, and Trout are elected, will likely be one of only two players in the top fifteen not enshrined.
Emile, Quick Note:
If there were a fourth outfielder, it would be Dwight Evans. Once Betts and Judge are eventually elected, Evans and Shoeless Joe Jackson will be the only two top-twenty right fielders by JAWS not in Cooperstown. Evans ranks ahead of Ichiro in JAWS, total WAR, and WAR per 162. While Ichiro is a deserving first-ballot Hall of Famer, Evans has been unfairly overlooked.
Starting Pitcher
Dave Stieb
Brad:
In our eyes, Stieb was the best pitcher of the 1980s, which makes his Hall omission even more stunning. From 1982 to 1985, Stieb produced 29.3 WAR and a 148 ERA+ and arguably deserved the Cy Young every year. Poor run support hurt his win totals, costing him awards. Even more damaging was a four-year retirement that reset his Hall clock, creating a twenty-year gap between his prime and ballot appearance.
Emile:
Thanks to the Jon Bois and Alex Rubenstein documentary series, Stieb has regained attention among younger fans. The series reinforces what Brad wrote. Stieb remains underrated, even today.
Starting Pitcher
Johan Santana
Brad:
I cannot fully understand how Koufax is often called the greatest pitcher ever while Santana is dismissed as undeserving. Their careers were remarkably similar. Santana posted 35 WAR over a five-year stretch, a feat matched only by Betts, Trout, Judge, and Ohtani among active players.
Emile:
I understand why Santana is not in the Hall. He started only 284 games over 12 seasons, and injuries shortened his peak. But from 2004 to 2008, he was the most dominant pitcher in baseball. If you want to include him as one of the greatest pitchers of the 21st century, I would not argue.
A Stieb and Santana one-two punch at their peaks would be must-see baseball.
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