Detroit Tigers: Who will be the Tigers next Hall of Famer?

Torii Hunter

I think it is safe to say that if Torii Hunter does make the Hall of Fame, he will not be wearing a Tigers hat. Hunter spent 12 of his 19 seasons with the Twins and is one of the best players in team history.

However, Hunter did have two productive seasons in the Motor City toward the end of his career.

Between 2014-2015, Hunter slashed .295/.327/.456 with 34 home runs, 167 RBI and a 115 OPS+. He was an All-Star and Gold Glove winner in 2013 while also finishing 19th in MVP voting.

Hunter was known throughout his career as an elite defensive centerfielder, although he spent his time in Detroit patrolling right field.

Hunter is eligible for the Hall of Fame starting in 2020. While he has a compelling case, he is far from a sure thing for induction.

Hunter finished his career with 2,452 hits, 353 home runs, 1,391 RBI, 195 stolen bases, a .277 batting average, a 110 OPS+ and a 50.0 bWAR.

His case resides primarily on his defensive numbers. He won 9 Gold Glove Awards, the seventh most among outfielders. His five All-Star appearances and two Silver Slugger Awards will help as well.

However, Hunter’s number do not quite line up with other Hall of Fame centerfielders. According to Jay Jaffe’s Hall of Fame metric JAWS, Hunter’s 40.6 score ranks him 32nd all-time. The average Hall of Fame centerfielder has a score of 57.9.

Johnny Damon, Chet Lemon, Kenny Lofton, Jim Edmonds and Ellis Burks all rank ahead of Hunter. None of them are in the Hall.

Additionally, Hunter’s 50.0 career WAR falls considerably short of the average Hall of Fame centerfielder’s 71.2 mark.

Hunter will get a lot of votes based on name recognition alone. Getting 75% will be tough however, especially since Jim Edmonds and Kenny Lofton each received less than 5% in their first year on the ballot.

Next up is the Tigers most deserving candidate who has yet to get enshrined.

Lou Whitaker

Alan Trammell and Jack Morris were inducted via the Modern Era committee, a subset of the Veteran’s Committee. They evaluate players who are no longer on the regular BBWAA ballot but who deserve another chance at the HOF.

Lou Whitaker deserves that chance.

We already explored Whitaker’s Hall of Fame case back when Trammell and Morris went in.

Just to recap, for fun:

The left-handed hitting Whitaker compiled 2,369 hits, smacked 244 home runs, stole 143 bases, hit .276, and walked more times than he struck out.

He made five All-Star games, won three Gold Glove awards, four Silver Slugger awards, was the 1978 Rookie of the Year and compiled a ridiculously high 74.9 WAR.

There are six second baseman with a higher career WAR than Whitaker: Rogers Hornsby, Eddie Collins, Nap Lajoie, Joe Morgan, Rod Carew and former Tiger Charlie Gehringer.

What do those six players have in common? A pretty plaque in Cooperstown with their name on it.

More importantly than the six names in front of Whitaker are the 15(!) Hall of Fame second baseman behind him.

Pick any metric and Whitaker measures up to his HOF counterparts. His JAWS score of 56.4 is 13th among second baseman. That ranks in front of Hall of Famers Roberto Alomar, Jackie Robinson, Joe Gordon, Bobby Doerr and Nellie Fox, among others.

The issue here is not whether Whitaker deserves the Hall of Fame, which is an easy answer. The issue is if the Modern Era Committee, who meet again in 2019, will give him another chance.

The Modern Era Committee will select 10 players to discuss, all whom played from 1970-1987. While there are quite a few candidates from that era who deserve another chance (including fellow second baseman Bobby Grich) Whitaker seems like a good bet to get on that ballot.

With 16 voters and a four person limit, Whitaker will need 12 of the voters to select him, a pretty tall order.

However, there is momentum for Whitaker right now with Trammell and Morris getting their due. It is time for Tiger fans to help push the movement to get Lou into the Hall.

Next is an active Tiger, but one who has a chance at Cooperstown when his career is over.

Victor Martinez

It seems pretty likely that 2018 will be Victor Martinez’s last season in the major leagues.

If that is the case, Martinez would first be eligible on the Hall of Fame ballot in 2023.

Similar to Hunter, Martinez would not go into the Hall of Fame wearing a Detroit Tiger’s hat. However, his contribution to the Tigers has been substantial, even if last season was one to forget.

Through the 2017 season, the 39-year-old Martinez has racked up 106 home runs, 486 RBI, 916 hits and 167 doubles in a Tigers uniform. He was a 2014 All-Star and finished second in MVP voting, while also winning the Silver Slugger Award.

Additionally, he has posted a 121 OPS+ and a .296/.357/.453 slash line in Detroit, along with a 9.4 bWAR.

For his entire career (mostly spent in Cleveland) Martinez has accrued 2,036 hits, 237 home runs, 1,124 RBI, 402 doubles, a 121 OPS+ and a 33.5 bWAR.

He made five All-Star games, won two Silver Slugger Awards and led the league in OBP and OPS once each.

His HOF case holds up simply because of how much time Martinez spent behind the plate earlier in his career.

Martinez has caught 858 games, compared to 746 at DH and 213 at first base.

The standards for the Hall of Fame are lower offensively for catchers than they are at other positions.

However, Martinez still falls short of the average HOF catcher according to most metrics.

His JAWS score of 31.2 ranks him 29th among catchers, sandwiched between Russell Martin and Yadier Molina. The average Hall of Fame catcher has a score of 43.9.

His 33.5 bWAR ranks him 30th, and his 7-year peak WAR of 28.9 ranks him 23rd.

The average Hall of Famer has a 53.4 bWAR and a 34.4 7-year peak WAR.

Martinez may show some life with the stick next year, but is unlikely to make much of a dent in his current statistics. If his stats don’t increase dramatically, he is unlikely to make the Hall of Fame.

Next is another active player who should get some serious consideration when he retires.

Curtis Granderson

At age 36 and coming off a pretty ugly season, Granderson may not have much time left before he calls it quits. However, he still managed to blast 26 home runs last year. If he puts together two more solid seasons his Hall of Fame case will grow considerably.

Granderson spent his first six seasons in Detroit. He did not become a full-time player until the magical 2006 season, where he hit .260 with 19 home runs and 8 stolen bases.

In 2007, Granderson joined an incredibly exclusive club by posting a 20-20-20-20 season. He accrued 38 doubles, a league-leading 23 triples, 23 home runs and 26 stolen bases. He also hit .302 and finished 10th in MVP voting. Granderson led the league in triples again in 2008 and made his first All-Star team in 2009, when he blasted 30 home runs.

He was traded after the 2009 season to the Yankees in a three team trade that netted the Tigers Phil Coke, Austin Jackson, Daniel Schlereth and Max Scherzer.

Across his 14-year-career, Granderson has smacked 319 home runs and stole 151 bases. He’s hit 92 triples and 307 doubles while also scoring 1,113 runs.

Granderson has been an All-Star three times, won the 2011 Silver Slugger Award and has a career 115 OPS+ and 45.8 bWAR.

Similar to Hunter, Granderson will have to stack up favorably to Hall of Fame snubs like Kenny Lofton, Jim Edmonds, Chet Lemon and potentially Andruw Jones (who is currently only receiving 5.6% of votes).

Through the 2017 season, Granderson falls short of Hall consideration. However, two or three more seasons could get him around 400 career home runs, over 2000 hits and over 50 career WAR. That would put him in range of Torii Hunter and Jim Edmonds, offensively.

Defensively, while Granderson was very good, he is not on the level that Edmonds and Hunter were. So even if he catches them offensively, his odds of reaching the Hall of Fame seem slim.

Still, there is always a chance Granderson goes on a late-career surge and gets love from the Hall of Fame voters.

Next up is the only sure-fire, can’t miss Hall of Famer on this list:

Miguel Cabrera

Should Torii Hunter, Victor Martinez or Curtis Granderson ever hear their name called for Cooperstown, it would likely be years after they first arrive on the ballot.

That means that even if they do make it, Miguel Cabrera will already have his plaque in Cooperstown.

Cabrera is a no-doubt first ballot Hall of Famer, and he will go in wearing a Detroit Tigers hat.

Even coming off his rough 2017 season, Miggy’s career numbers are slam dunk Hall of Fame worthy.

He boasts a career slash line of .317/.395/.553 with 462 home runs, 1,613 RBI, 2,636 hits, 545 doubles, a 151 OPS+ and a 68.8 bWAR.

He is an 11 time All-Star and has won 7 Silver Slugger Awards, two MVP’s, four batting titles and the 2012 Triple Crown.

All this through only his age 34 season.

Miggy will be moving to DH after the 2018 season with Victor Martinez leaving. That should allow his career to last a few more years. Even if his decline continues, he should have no problem eclipsing 500 home runs and 3,000 hits, a mark only four players have ever achieved.

Cabrera has been in the league fifteen seasons. He spent his first five years in Florida before coming to Detroit in the infamous trade that brought the Tigers Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis in exchange for prospects Cameron Maybin and Andrew Miller, among others.

While he was very, very good in Florida, his career took off in the Motor City. He has posted a ridiculous .319/.398/.558 line in Detroit, with a 155 OPS+ and 50.6 bWAR.

It’s safe to assume that Miguel Cabrera will be in the Hall of Fame his first time on the ballot, and that his plaque will have him wearing a Detroit Tigers hat.

How long until that happens depends on how much longer he plays, but rest assured it will not be another two decades before the Tigers see one of their own inducted into Cooperstown.

Next: Predicting the 2018 Bullpen

The last decade has been a successful one for the Tigers. Amidst a rebuilding period, it will be nice to see many greats from Detroit’s past up for the Hall of Fame in the next few years.

Ultimately, fans will likely have to wait until Miguel Cabrera is inducted on his first ballot to see their next Hall of Famer. However, Justin Verlander should follow suit soon thereafter. Plus, there’s always a chance that one of Granderson, Martinez or Hunter sneaks in.

Plus, we can all hope that one of our prospects pans out and helps jump start the next wave of elite baseball in the Motor City.