OK, so there were four guys selected for the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Wednesday. There’s plenty of analysis on it and all I can say is all four of those guys would’ve been on my ballot (plus six others). None of the guys who got in played for the Red Sox though which leaves us with one big question: who will be the next Red Sox players to get into the Hall of Fame? Let’s break it down (since there’s three categories).
Retired
Among guys who are currently retired, there are three Red Sox players who will likely end up enshrined in Cooperstown: Roger Clemens, Curt Schilling and David Ortiz. Why? Because Clemens was a 300-game winner, Schilling struck out over 3,000 batters and was a hell of a postseason pitcher and Ortiz excelled in the playoffs and is a member of the 500 home run club.
There is doubt as to whether or not Schilling and Clemens will get in, but they’d be good veterans committee picks. Honestly, I wouldn’t lose sleep if Clemens didn’t get in. Curt Schilling really matters though; a guy’s political views shouldn’t keep him out of the baseball Hall of Fame when he raised about $10 mil for ALS research during his playing career.
David Ortiz is obvious. Edgar Martinez just got in the Hall of Fame, so the DH bias is gone. Ortiz will probably get in before the latter two because of the stupid voters.
Active (not on the Red Sox)
Adrian Beltre is in the 3,000 hits club and played a year for the Red Sox. 462 career home runs as a third baseman. Yeah, he’s a first-ballot guy.
Oh, and Terry Francona and Theo Epstein for non-players. I think those ones are self-explanatory.
Active
There’s no one on the Red Sox right now you can point to for sure and say Hall of Famer about. If we’re being honest, there’s more guys on the Red Sox who could be Hall of Famers than you think. Not saying they will happen, but it’s possible.
Dustin Pedroia -- Through 6000 at-bats, he is a lifetime .300 hitter who plays great defense. He also plays the game hard and has an MVP title to his name. This obviously depends heavily on how he closes out his big league career. If he can put together a few great seasons and stay (generally) healthy, then he has a chance.
Mookie Betts -- Betts has power, speed and is the best defensive right fielder in the league by far. If you’re into WAR (wins above replacement), he has averaged more than seven per year over the course of three full big league seasons. Oh, and he’ll only be 25 this season.
Chris Sale -- Sale struck out over 300 batters last season and has an ERA under 3.00 in his big league career in an era where offense is at an all-time high. He has the best K/BB ratio in MLB history (5.12) and has been in consideration for the Cy Young Award in all six MLB seasons where he has been a full-time starter.
Craig Kimbrel -- Kimbrel is one of the best closers in MLB history. That's why he has a 1.80 ERA over the course of eight MLB seasons. He has received Cy Young consideration five times already. If he keeps doing what he has done for awhile, then there's probably a case.
David Price -- No, I won’t drop dead. Price had a hiccup in 2016 adjusting to Boston, but still had a sub-4 ERA and was marred by injury last season. He very well may still be one of the best pitchers in baseball. He has won the Cy Young and finished second in the voting twice. Obviously, how he pitches over the course of this Red Sox contract will say a lot about whether or not it is possible. Just saying.
Rafael Devers/Andrew Benintendi? -- It’s ridiculous to think about now but all I’m saying is it’s not impossible. Same goes for Dave Dombrowski and Alex Cora. In fact, Dombrowski probably has a very good chance to go in as an exec.