Potential Baseball Hall of Famers (Part 1 of 3)

With Spring Training starting later this month, I thought it would be fun to think about the Baseball Hall of Fame.   The Hall of Fame is one of my foremost hobby interests, and it has been a few years since I have addressed the topic in a blog post.

The last time I authored an article about Baseball Hall of Famers was the summer of 2020.  Included on that list were Albert Pujols, Yadier Molina and Buster Posey, who have since retired.  These three individuals are not eligible for election but are likely to be enshrined someday.  

More importantly, the list from 2020 mentioned Cody Bellinger, Matt Chapman, Kris Bryant, Javier Baez, Christian Yelich, Jose Altuve, Corey Seager and Giancarlo Stanton as having decent shots to make it to Cooperstown.  In the past three years, these individuals have not helped, and in most cases hurt, their chances.  It is highly unlikely that these eight players will make it to the Hall of Fame when their careers conclude.  With this in mind, take what you read below with a grain (or perhaps a pound) of salt.

I divided my list of 18 players into 3 parts.  I started part 1 with those who I believe have the most work to do to get voted in and ended part 3 with a couple of obvious first-ballot selections.  Here we go with part 1…

Carlos Correa

We start the list with what might be a surprising name to see included in a group of potential Hall of Famers, but there is a case for Correa, who was one of the most talked about free agents during the Major League offseason.  Correa has eight seasons of experience and is still only 27-years old.  In 2016, 2017, and 2021, he turned in Most Valuable Player caliber play for Astros teams that made deep playoff runs.  The problem is that those are the only three seasons of Correa’s career that he has been completely healthy, making his Hall of Fame case questionable.  Baseball general managers seem to have concerns about Correa’s injury history as well.  Both the Giants and Mets withdrew massive contracts in December 2022 after he failed team physicals.  Correa ultimately resigned with the Twins.

Overall, Correa still has the time and the talent to be a Hall of Famer, but his track record of not being able to stay on the field makes him a less likely Cooperstown pick than the other players on this list.  This is reflected in the price of Correa’s prospect cards from 2013 Bowman Chrome.  PSA 9 copies run $20, while PSA 10 versions are $50.