After the excitement of the winter meetings, I thought we'd get back to these. I'm skipping Bill Mueller and Terry Mulholland, both had long careers but neither is anything like a Hall of Famer. Mueller had a really good season in 2003, hitting .326/.398/.540, helping the Red Sox make it to the playoffs. Mulholland was a sub-.500 pitcher (124-142), whose career was extended because he was left-handed and would throw out of the pen.
Dale Murphy is another that looked like a sure Hall of Fame choice, in the middle of his career, but his numbers fell off a cliff soon after he turned 30. He came up as a catcher for the Braves, but he wasn't very good behind the plate. They moved him to first base then center field where he became a Gold Glover. He won NL MVP awards in 1982 and 83 and got votes several other years. He played in 7 All-Star games, won 5 Gold Gloves and 4 Silver Sluggers. He led the league in homers and RBI a couple of times. He played every game for 4 straight seasons, 1982-1985.
Murphy had a career line of .265/.346/.469 with 398 home runs, 1266 RBI and 161 stolen bases. For a few years he was thought of as the best player in baseball, but injuries slowed him.