Hall of Fame Polls: Scott Rolen and Francisco Rodriguez

It is Scott Rolen’s sixth time on the ballot. He jumped from 35.3%, in 2020, to 52.9% two years ago to 63.2% last year. He’s close. I wonder if there is enough momentum to get him to the 75% this year, but it does seem enviable.

Scott is one of those guys who doesn’t have that one great stat that Writers can look at and say ‘he should be in, but then he was good at all parts of the game. Bobby Grich is a fair comparison in that way. Grich should be in the Hall, but the Writers need help with guys who do everything well.

Scott played 17 seasons, 7 with the Phillies, 6 with the Cardinals, 4 with the Reds, and 2 with the Blue Jays.

He hit .281/.364/.490 with 316 home runs in 2038 games. He was Rookie of the Year in 1997, won eight Gold Gloves, made seven All-Star teams, and received MVP votes four times. And, for a brief period, he was the GOAT with the Jays. He had seven straight seasons with 25 or more home runs.

He was a favourite in his short time with the Jays. But, of course, it helped that he started his Jays’ career with a seven-game hitting streak.

He came to us in trade for Troy Glaus. And he left us for Edwin Encarnacion, Josh Roenicke, and Zach Stewart.

His bWAR was 70.2 (fWAR 70.1), which puts him 67 all-time among position players.

I looked at Brooks Robinson’s career, and Rolen looks like a better version of Brooks (with a shorter career), so I’ll vote yes. I didn’t see Robinson play, so I don’t know how their defense compares. But, of course, they played in different eras.

Rolen is a tough one. It is partly because of his glove for those on the yes side. If you consider him the best defensive player of his generation at third base, he likely deserves to go in. However, if you think his defense could have been better, then his offensive numbers come up short.

He did win eight Gold Gloves. We were lucky enough to watch him play third for a season and a half. He wasn’t quite at the peak of his defensive powers, but he might have been the best defensive third baseman in Toronto (Kelly Gruber was pretty with the glove, too, and Chapman deserves to be in the conversation).

He and Tony LaRussa didn’t get along. Something about Tony not liking the look in Rolen’s eye or something. Old school managers have this thing about how guys ‘carry themselves’. I’m more interested in whether they help the team win between the lines, but who knows?

You can see Scott’s stats here. For comparison, Brooks Robinson is here.

I was going to skip Francisco Rodriguez, but he is number 4 all-time in saves and had a terrific career. The three guys ahead of him in saves are all in the Hall. So maybe he should be there too?

Rodriguez has a 16-year MLB career. He played in 948 games (all in relief, 21st all-time in games pitched). He had a 2.86 ERA, and 437 saves (and 88 holds). In 976 innings, he had 1142 strikeouts and 389 walks.

He made six All-Star teams, got Cy Young votes three times (finishing third once and fourth twice) and had MVP votes once (sixth).

Rodriguez was on playoff teams six times and owns one World Series ring.

Career he held batters to a .207/.287/.341 line.

He threw a mid-90s fastball (that lost a little as he aged) and 12-to-6 curve.

Francisco got into trouble with opponents and, sometimes, teammates with his on-the-mound displays of emotions. And he had he was charged with assault and domestic abuse a couple of times.

You can see his stats here.