There are a lot of incredible players in Major League Baseball. The biggest goal is to make the Hall of Fame and be remembered forever. However, not every player that has done well is going to be enshrined in Cooperstown.
Let’s take a look at Every MLB team’s best player that will not make the Hall of Fame.
Arizona Diamondbacks: Ketel Marte
While it is still way too early to project Corbin Carroll, the next man would be Ketel Marte. He is 29 years old and has only one All-Star appearance on the ledger. He has been a solid hitter with a .795 OPS but less than 1,000 hits will keep him out without much contention.
Atlanta Braves: Matt Olson
The Braves roster is stacked but not all of these stars are going to shine forever. Matt Olson has 219 home runs at 29 years old so expecting to get to 500 feels like a bit of a reach. He has been in the top 10 of MVP voting just once in his career and two All-Star trips in eight seasons, he will be great and is having an incredible 2023 season but it will not end with a Cooperstown visit.
Baltimore Orioles: Cedric Mullins
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The young group of the Orioles makes it hard to project but center fielder Cedric Mullins has had enough tape to figure this out. With less than 500 career hits while having 65 home runs and 89 stolen bases, it is just not enough. Hopefully he has a great decade remaining but he is not in a good position right now.
Boston Red Sox: Rafael Devers
Rafael Devers just signed a massive extension before the season started but still has to show a lot at 26 years old. He already has some power numbers with 168 home runs but one Silver Slugger and two All-Stars need to continue to increase in order to improve. He’s not a great fielder and may need to move off the hot corner sooner than later.
Chicago Cubs: Cody Bellinger
2017 NL Rookie of the Year, NL MVP and two-time All-Star is a strong start to a career. However, at 28 years old he is a 21.9 career Baseball Reference WAR and needs to be better than that. He has been on a tear this season but needs a handful of seasons like that in order to get the call to immortality.
Chicago White Sox: Luis Robert Jr
Center fielder Luis Robert Jr is going to be a great playr but not a Hall of Fame player. He has 71 home runs and 201 RBIs so he would need a handful of monster seasons to be considered at all. The White Sox have talent but maybe not Hall of Fame talent. Robert can wind up in the White Sox Hall of Fame but not in Cooperstown.
Cincinnati Reds: Joey Votto
One of the more controversial players on this list is Joey Votto. While he has been a legend in Cincinnati, he has just a MVP, one Gold Glove, and six All-Stars to his name. It is going to be close but the counting numbers are not there for me but he does have an outstanding peak. At 39 years old and playing less than 100 games in three of the last four years, he is not going to get the counting stats to put him in the Hall.
Cleveland Guardians: Shane Bieber
When you win the pitching Triple Crown, it is difficult and only 28 years old, it is difficult to imagine being on this list. However, Shane Bieber has not produced enough. His incredible season was in 2020, pitching only against Central teams and that makes it look a lot differently. Not enough dominance outside of one year to put him in contention.
Colorado Rockies: Charlie Blackmon
Charlie Blackmon has won a batting title, two Silver Sluggers and four All-Star appearances. He has two seasons where he received NL MVP votes as he was 26th in 2016 and fifth in 2017. That is not a good enough peak to be Hall of Fame worthy.
Detroit Tigers: Javier Baez
Miguel Cabrera is going to make it so Javier Baez is next on the list in terms of talent. With a 98 OPS+, including a .692 OPS since being traded from the Chicago Cubs almost 2.5 years ago, things have turned south on him. He’s a good player but nowhere near a Hall of Fame level.
Houston Astros: Alex Bregman
Jose Altuve, Justin Verlander and Yordan Alvarez have compelling cases for the Hall of Fame at this point in their career. However, Bregman has not with two All-Stars and a Silver Slugger to his name. In the last three seasons, which are supposed to be prime years, he is averaging 19 home runs and 79.3 RBIs. That is not Cooperstown-wrothy numbers.
Kansas City Royals: Salvador Perez
Salvador Perez is a fringe Hall of Fame candidate but personally, he misses out. He has five Gold Gloves to his name and 244 homers in his career but the counting numbers are not there with other Hall of Fame players. He will likely fall short of 1,000 RBIs and runs scored. With a career 104 OPS+, Perez is not considered a major plus in the lineup either.
Los Angeles Angels: Anthony Rendon
Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani will make the Hall of Fame, Anthony Rendon will not. He has just one All-Star and two Silver Sluggers to his name. At 33 years old, he has just 158 home runs and the counting stats are not there. He has played 200 games in his four years with the Angels thus far and that is not good enough. His health and production are the reasons he will miss the call to the hall.
Los Angeles Dodgers: JD Martinez
This Dodgers team is loaded with talent but JD Martinez is going to be one that struggles to find a way to Cooperstown. He has a career 29.2 Baseball Reference WAR with 307 home runs at 36 years old. Martinez is not going to eclipse some of the bigger statistical numbers and fall short of being a Hall of Famer. It’s tough too because of his .286 career batting average.
Miami Marlins: Sandy Alcantara
A young star on the mound, Sandy Alcantara has a Cy Young Award in the bag before he turns 28 years old. However, a 40-55 career record with a 1.155 WHIP is not too impressive. While records are not the end-all, be-all, he needs to show a lot more consistency in his career if he wants to be immortalized.
Milwaukee Brewers: Josh Donaldson
Is this cheating because he was just claimed off waivers? Maybe. However, there are 30 of these players to talk about so cut me some slack. Donaldson is a former AL MVP, three-time All-Star and two-time Silver Slugger. With a 130 OPS+ he has shown to be a solid hitter but only 1300 hits is not enough to make it.
Minnesota Twins: Byron Buxton
Byron Buxton shown an incredible start to his career but only has played in 100 games once in his nine-year career. Injuries are what keeps him out and zapped him of a chance as he has not even reached 300 career RBIs through 670 games. Unfortunate but it does happen to some players.
New York Mets: Francisco Lindor
Francisco Lindor is one of the most talented players on this entire list. He is 29 years old and has a massive contract so he will be able to put up numbers. He has a Platinum Glove and a two-time Silver Slugger so far. He has a 117 OPS+ but only has been a top-five MVP candidate once in his nine-year career. Lindor is a very strong player but not enough to expect the Hall of Fame.
New York Yankees: Giancarlo Stanton
At this point, Stanton has become a bopper that struggles to run the bases or stay healthy. At 33 years old, he has won a NL MVP and hit 398 career home runs. While Aaron Judge could technically be in the conversation, his power buddy has struggled to consistently stay on the field during his prime.
Oakland Athletics: Brent Rooker
Oakland doesn’t have a Hall of Fame caliber talent on their roster and Brent Rooker is the best player they do have. Not much else to say here.
Philadelphia Phillies: JT Realmuto
Realmuto at one point was one of the best catchers in the sport. However, he has been a a good player with 149 career home runs and a .330 OBP. While being an offensive threat at the position, he is not going to be getting the call to Cooperstown unless he rattles off an incredible run in his mid-30s.
Pittsburgh Pirates: Andrew McCutchen
A former NL MVP, Gold Glove winner and four-time Silver Slugger is a solid resume but not enough for the Hall of Fame. He is currently at 299 career home runs and a .834 OPS for his career. He has done well but only had a four-year peak where he has been an award contender. That was from 2012-2015 and has not led a statistical category and has not done enough to get enshrined in baseball immortality.
San Diego Padres: Blake Snell
A Hall of Very Good candidate would be Blake Snell. He has a Cy Young Award and has a 3.26 career ERA and a 1.246 WHIP. However, only a 19.6 Baseball Reference WAR is not enough to even be considered for the award. He only has double-digit wins twice in his career and will not get enough numbers to be considered for Cooperstown.
San Francisco Giants: Logan Webb
Logan Webb is a solid young pitcher at 26 years old, he has not shown the ability to be a Hall of Famer. He has not reached 200 innings and has the same amount of 5.00+ ERA seasons as sub-3.10 ERA seasons. That is not going to be enough to be considered for a Hall of Fame career.
Seattle Mariners: Luis Castillo
Luis Castillo is one of the better pitchers in baseball today and has been named to three All-Star teams in his career. However, he has not dominated as he only led the league in one category and that was walks in 2021. He is now 30 years old and would need to dominate for the next six or more years to have a sniff.
St. Louis Cardinals: Adam Wainwright
Adam Wainwright is a fringe Hall of Famer. He won a World Series, three-time All-Star, two-time Gold Glove and a Silver Slugger but has been good. Wainwright will be a Cardinal legend with Yadier Molina and Albert Pujols in that generation but his numbers do not scream Hall of Fame. He’s a compiler with his longevity but a brutal 2023 season does not help his case. Can’t wait to see him as a forever Cardinal though!
Tampa Bay Rays: Wander Franco
Another copout but Wander Franco is arguably one of the most talented players in the game and at such a young age he has shown glimpses of greatness. However, these allegations against him are going to be in the back of people’s minds and voters are going to remember that. His talent has shown him to be a star at only 22 years old but he needs a huge resurgence to be considered that level, if he ever plays again.
Texas Rangers: Jacob deGrom
It is crazy to put a Rookie of the Year and two-time Cy Young Award winner on this list but he has not had the longevity to get to the Hall of Fame. While he still has a chance, he is recovering from Tommy John Surgery and already 35 years old. His control has been impeccable as he has an all-time record of 5.38 strikeouts per walk in his career but he is well short of 1500 innings and that’ll hurt him.
Toronto Blue Jays: Matt Chapman
It was a toss up between Vladimir Guerrero Jr and Matt Chapman but Guerrero has the better path still at such a young age. Chapman is 30 years old and has been a good but not great player. He has two seasons in the top eight for the AL MVP but has struggled to find his way offensively since having hip surgery.
Washington Nationals: Josiah Gray
The Nationals are a team that is hard to find any future Hall of Famers so going with the young star pitcher will have to do. He has a 4.74 ERA in 357 innings. That is not going to help him be a forever player. He has time as he is just 25 but Gray is going to struggle to find that potential and it’’ll be too late by the time he does.
