York Yankees
What current players on the New York Yankees do you see in the Baseball Hall of Fame in the future?
The players I can see included Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Jorge Posada, Jason Giambi, Mike Mussina, and Randy Johnson.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Yankees#Active_Roster
That’s a good question…
You’re right about Jeter, A-Rod and Randy Johnson… they are all shoe-ins…
Also, Mariano Rivera will probably be a first ballot Hall of Famer (as will those other guys)…
I think Bernie Williams has a shot, because the Yankees have just been so successful during his career. Plus, he has great post-season numbers…
Giambi might qualify based on his career numbers (by the time he retires). It will depend on how the electors view the steroids issue, we won’t really know that for a few years yet…
Posada, again, it will depend on what kind of career numbers he puts up, but he also has an outside shot, due to the team success of the Yankees during his career. If they win a couple more Championships while he’s still catching, it will improve his chances greatly. I’m not sure how many All Star games Posada has played in, but that could also be a factor if he makes the All Star team enough times…
With Mussina, as with any pitcher, we’ll have to see what kind of career numbers he puts up. He’s 37 right now, with a career record of 224-127, a fine .638 winning percentage, and he’s almost 100 games over 500. His ERA of 3.64 is ok considering the era he’s pitching in… I don’t think his career record quite puts him in yet, but if he can stay healthy, he might be able to get close to 300 wins and 3,000 strikeouts (he now has 2,400). It will also help if he gets a ring or two…
Sheffied, again, depends on Steroid Issue… He’ll have the numbers, I think… he and Mussina are both still playing well…
Frankly, Don Mattingly’s career #s of 2,153 hits, 222 home runs, 1,099 RBI are really not HOF caliber, especially for a first baseman. Not making it to a World Series hurt him. A .307 average is good, and I think he’s the best Yankee player never to play in a World Series, but the fact that his career was only 1,785 games also hurts. His chances were hurt even more by the fact that he was “projected” to put much more impressive numbers up than he actually did (there was actually a time when he was projected to be a 3,000, maybe even a 4,000, hit man). He really is not a Hall of Famer, IMO. He had, in reality, only about six good seasons. He would have to have kept that quality up for 10 or 12 years to be seriously considered for the HOF.
