Grady Sizemore, Hall of Fame Material?
Written By: Scott | Category: Cleveland Indians | Comments: 16
With 2009 MLB award voting now in the rear view mirror, Joe Posnanski has deemed St. Louis Cardinal Albert Pujols a Hall of Fame lock at age 29. Winning his third MVP award in five years, and looking at his numbers, it would be hard to argue with such a statement. Thankfully, the non-debate then lead to a list of 10 players whom Posnanski feels are on a path to be Hall of Famers by the time their career is over. And even more thankful (for Tribe fans, anyway) is that the list included Indians center fielder Grady Sizemore.
When discussing Sizemore, Posnanski feels that Grady has many positives in his corner. For one, Grady is only 27-years old. Labling Sizemore as “above average at every part of the game except throwing” only makes a stronger case. But is the Hall of Fame for players who are just “above average?”
His batting average has dropped year-over-year since 2007 – though much of this past season’s struggles can be attributed to his cavalcade of injuries. But if any statement of numbers caught me by surprise, it would be those in reference to the figures below:
Player A
Age 22: .289/.348/.484, OPS+ 123, 22 HR, 22 SB
Age 23: .290/.375/.533, OPS+ 133, 28 HR, 22 SB
Age 24: .277/.390/.462, OPS+ 123, 24 HR, 33 SB
Age 25: .268/.374/.502, OPS+ 133, 33 HR, 38 SB
Player B
Age 22: .261/.329/.492, OPS+ 114, 25 HR, 32 SB
Age 23: .283/.368/.491, OPS+ 148, 24 HR, 17 SB
Age 24: .248/.351/.426, OPS+ 126, 19 HR, 32 SB
Age 25: .301/.406/.565, OPS+ 170, 33 HR, 52 SB
Obviously, “Player A” is Grady Sizemore. But who is “Player B?”
That would be one Barry Lamar Bonds.
At age 25, Bonds was an All-Star, a gold glove winner and a silver slugger. At age 25, Sizemore was an All-Star, a gold glove winner and a silver slugger. The big difference is that Bonds won the NL MVP that season with the Pirates winning 95 games, losing in the NLCS. Sizemore, however, finished 10thin the AL MVP voting, with three others in the AL Central receiving more votes. With the Indians finishing 81-81 that season, not even making the playoffs, this comes as little surprise.
Now, there is no denying that Bonds’ career took a bit of a different trajectory than his early years. His stolen base numbers would decline almost year-over-year, reaching single digits from 2002 on. Given today’s standards of practice, and factoring in my belief in Sizemore’s baseball ethics, it is pretty safe to say that Sizemore will not be following Bonds’ career path.
But does this make him less of a candidate for The Hall?
Of course, even considering Sizemore as a Hall of Famer makes my last Sizemore-based post that much more sobering. Another player on Posnanski’s list is CC Sabathia – whom the Indians traded for a handful of prospects. If Sizemore is not extended beyond his 2011 season, Indians fans may see yet another high echelon player leave the franchise.
Another potential Hall of Famer.
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(AP Photo/Duane Burleson)
Author: Scott
Scott is a co-founder/editor of Waiting For Next Year who resides in Cleveland, Ohio. Feel free to follow him on Twitter or email him at scott@waitingfornextyear.com.Scott has written 1701 articles for Waiting for Next Year.
that is all.
We are quickly becoming the AL version of the Pirates. I feel it’s almost inevitable that Grady will leave at some point in the future (before he’s old and washed up).
@ ben – yes, but how big will his neck swell up, and what will his ultimate helmet size be?
My guess is that it’ll be bigger than bonds’ because steroids are even BETTER now!!!
chances are grady will be gone within a few years. this isnt an indians problem or an ohio/cleveland economy problem, like peter gammons argues. obviously the economy isnt helping matters but i think the cavaliers show that if there is a winning and fun product, then the cleveland fans will show up despite a bad economy. this is a mlb problem. all the middle-small market teams are losing their top level players to the yankees, redsox, mets, dodgers. those teams simply cant compete financially on any level with the big guns, and they certainly cant absorb a “mistake contract” if a guy turns into a bust or gets hurt, like westbrook or hafner for the tribe. the yankees can screw up a signing like wang or carl pavano and be fine. and now the new news is the redsox are going “all-in” to get roy hallyday and could also get felix hernandez. its getting to the point that the entire mlb season will be a waste of time.
what kills me is when bud selig and other mlb guys STILL try to argue that there is competitive balance since the yanks havent won in 9 years. what a joke! when was the last time the yankees had to trade away guys like jeter or arod or riveria since they couldnt afford them? never! in fact, the yankees can sign 3 guys together (CC, burnett and texeira) while 4 other teams couldnt justify signing just a single one.
It’s not just the Indians. It is about 26 teams. The Twins are probably going to lose Joe Mauer after next year. Just two years after losing their ace.
And I know it’s probably just me, but I think Grady is WILDLY over-rated.
grady is overrated? but he has hall of fame dreaminess!
Who was the last “franchise player” for a smaller-market team in MLB? I’m sick of developing these guys and losing them. Nobody plays for one team their whole career anymore, unless that whole career is in NYC like Jeter or Posada. I’ve already said my goodbyes to Grady.
I like Grady but Posnanski is a homer. Sizemore won’t sniff the HoF.
good question clevexaminer. maybe pujols in StL?
@8. It is why I don’t follow the MLB. If the Indians are good in August, then I start paying attention.
Just think if the Indians were in the same division as the Yankees and Red Sox like Toronto, Tampa Bay, and Baltimore.
Once every fifteen years, your team might sneak in? Just to be completely re-tooled in two years like Tampa Bay is in the process of.
great point nicko! at least the indians are in the central. we sort of have a chance every couple years or so. i think its safe to say that toronto, tampa and baltimore have essentially zero chance of any post-season, barring a miracle like a few years ago where tampa had an AMAZING season and the yankees had a “down” year (down meaning 89 wins). any other year the yankees are on pace for 89 wins, they are making those deadline deals to put them over the top. that year was so incredible by tampa that even the yankees knew they had too many injuries and too many games to make up at the trade deadline, so going for it wasnt even worth it for them.
All good points. Maybe MLB should just get rid of the division system altogether. Best 4 AL and NL teams make the playoffs.
or maybe MLB should be a tad bit more proactive in facilitating competitive balance. not parity – just balance so the other 90% of the teams have a decent chance of maintaining stability for more than 2-3 years.
In order for Grady to make it to the HOF would be for him to get that batting average OVER .300. He would also have to average about 20-25 home runs out of the lead off and drive in approximately 90 runs a year. Those numbers are obtainable for him to get. Except maybe the batting average. But even if he averages those over a 15-18 year career it’d still be a tough sell. I’m rooting for him. But I think at this point in his career he has been good at best and average at worst. I think he is this All-Star centerfielder because he is so ‘dreamy’. Him being a nice humble kid also plays into his advantage. The fan all star voters and the writer HOF voters are getting tired of the Barry’s, Manny’s (I’m a giant fan of Manny always will be too), Rocket’s, and Mcguire’s. Those first ballot (not likely anymore) HOF players have the wirter’s wanting to give a clean, honest, good guy some credit he has yet to earn.
Grady will make it to the HOF, but only after he plays his last decade for the Yankees and has 3 MVP seasons in pinstripes.