Jeff Kent Baseball Hall Of Fame Case

Based upon his receiving just 18.1% of the vote last year, it does not seem like Jeff Kent will get anywhere close to the 75% threshold for Hall of Fame induction. Unfortunately, it does not appear as if he is going to get the push he needs to get anywhere close to that 75% in any of the subsequent three years meaning he will one day need to have his case reassessed by the Veteran’s Committee.

Now, there are viable reasons to overlook Kent’s candidacy. After all, his 55.4 WAR puts him below the 69.4 WAR of the average second baseman. The same can be said of his 35.7 WAR7 and 45.6 JAWS. Assessing just those numbers, you could say Kent belongs just in that proverbial Hall of Very Good, but not the Hall of Fame.

However, there is more to his case, and it merits a deeper look.

First and foremost, there are the homers. In his career, Kent hit 377 homers with 351 of them coming as a second baseman. That mark is the best among second baseman in Major League history. In terms of Hall of Fame eligible players, that puts him ahead of Rogers Hornsby, Ryne Sandberg, Joe Morgan, and Joe Gordon, each of whom are Hall of Famers.

There’s more to it. Mike Piazza is the all-time leader in homers at the catcher position. Cal Ripken Jr. is the all-time leader in homers by a shortstop. Mike Schmidt is the all-time leader in homers at third. They are all in the Hall of Fame. Right now, looking across every position, the all-time home run leader at a position was inducted into the Hall of Fame when there was no PED issues.

That was the case with Lou Gehrig at first and Hank Aaron in the outfield. The only exception to this rule has been Kent.

There’s more to Kent’s offense than just homers. His 562 doubles were also the fifth most at the second base position putting him behind Hall of Famers like Biggio and Charlie Gehringer but ahead of Hornsby, Roberto Alomar, Billy Herman, Frankie Frisch, and Morgan. Breaking it down, Kent is the only Hall of Fame eligible player in the top ten in doubles at the second base position who has not been inducted.

Going deeper, Todd Helton and Kent are the only Hall of Fame eligible players at their position to be in the top five all-time in doubles (not implicated with PEDs) not inducted into the Hall of Fame. That was cemented with Ted Simmons recent election by the Veterans’ Committee.

While considered an out of date stat, Kent’s 1,518 RBI are the third  most at the position. All of the Hall of Fame eligible second baseman in the top 10 are in the Hall of Fame except Kent. Again, barring PEDs, the top three Hall of Fame eligible players in RBI have been inducted. All except Kent.

In terms of RBI, there is more to it. Right now, the only non-PED implicated Hall of Fame eligible players who have at least 1,500 RBI not inducted into the Hall of Fame are Fred McGriff and Carlos Delgado. Essentially, if you are a non-1B with 1,500 RBI, you were inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Kent is also second all-time in slugging at the position. Again, every clean Hall of Famer in the top two in slugging at their position has been inducted into the Hall of Fame. He’s also fourth in OPS. As you can assume, every clean Hall of Fame eligible player in the top five in OPS at their position have been inducted.

It’s this type of production which arguably makes Kent the second best offensive second baseman all-time to Hornsby. That would also make Kent the best at his position in the post World War II Era. It is one of the reasons why he was the 2000 National League MVP.

A second baseman winning the MVP is a rare feat indeed. In fact, there have been only 10 second baseman in Major League history who have done that. With the exception of Dustin Pedroia, who is not yet Hall of Fame eligible, everyone second baseman who has won the award is in the Hall of Fame. That’s everyone except Kent.

Really, the only reason Kent is not in the Hall of Fame is his abrasive personality and his defense. Honestly, there is not much to defend his defense, which was admittedly subpar. However, we should take into consideration Kent has turned the 11th most double plays among second baseman in Hall of Fame history. That is more than Sandberg and Biggio.

Also, for what it is worth his total zone rating is higher than Alomar’s. That’s not insignificant when Alomar is considered a very good defensive second baseman.

There’s one other factor to consider with Kent’s Hall of Fame case. He was an excellent postseason player. In 49 postseason games, he hit .276/.340/.500 with 11 doubles, nine homers, and 23 RBI. Prorated over a 162 game season, those numbers would equate to 36 doubles, 30 homers, and 76 RBI.

That is high end production in games which matter most. Speaking of which, in his only World Series appearance in 2002, he would hit three homers.

Overall, in his 17 year career, Jeff Kent established himself as the second best offensive second baseman, and really, he was the premier slugger at the position. For those efforts, he put up stats which would have been otherwise Hall of Fame worthy, and he would win an MVP award. While he may not be a proverbial first ballot Hall of Famerr, he is someone who has put together a career worthy of induction.

4 Replies to “Jeff Kent Baseball Hall Of Fame Case”

  1. Rich says:

    Here is my case against him

    The short list
    Hornsby
    Lajoie
    Robinson
    Morgan
    Collins
    And
    Kent?

    Which of these things are not like the other? Its really that simple. Hes not one of them and never will be.

    1. metsdaddy says:

      Just because Babe Ruth and Willie Mays are Hall of Famers doesn’t mean a Vladimir Guerrero can’t.

  2. Blair M. Schirmer says:

    Good writeup. Kent’s an interesting case, although his offensive output was boosted (the way a rocket’s boosted) by hitting behind Bonds, and by the era he played in, the “Superball Era” if you will.

    From 1992-1996 he played at the level of modest but respectable regular, about 2.5 bWAR/150 games.
    The Giants got the heart of his career from 1997 through 2002: 31.5 bWAR and the MVP that really should have gone to Bonds or Todd Helton or Andruw. Even Randy Johnson had a better case, but no one’s taking the trophy away from Kent, so…

    Phase Three, where he’s actually decent most of the time, 13.5 bWAR in 2003-2009. It’s always interesting to see players in their dotage making 60 to 80% of their career salaries while putting up 25% or less of their career production. There’s a lesson in there, somewhere, for GMs.

    So Kent would be about the 17th best 2Bman in the HOF, if he got there, if you put in the obvious omissions, and removed or discounted the guys who didn’t quite deserve it. The problem is, Kent’s got a lot of peers at that #17 slot. Kinsler, Pedroia, Bobby Doerr (if we’re revising the current Hall and leaving Doerr out for the moment). If Kent goes in, each of those three should probably go in. I think I’d discount some of his stats because of era and the fortuity of hitting behind the greatest OBP machine in 50 years, and draw the line just over Kent’s head in no small part because his peers all seem like Hall of Very Good players to me.

    Does a Hall with Jeff Kent in it get any worse? Does he lower the standard for future HOFers at the position? That we have to think about that for more than a moment argues against him.

    1. metsdaddy says:

      In terms of Kent, I think he’s the classic borderline guy. He’s definitely in one of if not the top tier of all-time second basemen (depending on your personal cut-off point).

      Still, he does have negative marks against him. Overall, I can see arguments both ways.

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