Hall of Fame Poll: Derrek Lee

Derrick Lee is a player I really didn't pay much attention to. Most of his career was spent in the NL.

He played 15 seasons, 7 with the Cubs and 6 with the Marlins, then 1 each with Pirates, Braves, Padres and Orioles.

Career he hit .281/.365/.495 with 331 home run and 1078 RBI for a 34.1 bWAR. He had 3 Gold Gloves, made 2 All-Star games, made 2 All-Star teams, 1 Silver Slugger and got MVP votes 4 times, finishing 3rd in 2005.

2005 was a terrific season. He hit .335/.418/.662 (OPS of 1.080)  with 46 home runs, a league leading 50 doubles. That was the season that just doesn't belong. He  had a 7.7 bWAR that year. He only had one other season above 5.

For me, he doesn't have much of a case for the Hall.

You can check his stats here.

A lot of debate about the Hall of Fame relates to comparing a candidate against others elected and excluded. The chart below shows all players who played the majority of their career after 1945 (excluding active players, and those on the ballot or yet to hit the ballot) according to how long they played and how productive they were. TRC+ is wRC+, just for all runs rather than just batting runs. This is not meant to be definitive, but a high level starting point showing how players with similarly productive and lasting careers have fared.

Similar Players: none in the Hall of Fame; Wally Joyner, Alvin Dark, Willie Wilson, George Scott, Cecil Cooper a representative sample of those not elected.