Juan Pierre's HOF chances

I know, right? I'm sure you're rolling your eyes, but he has a chance to hit some significant milestones.

Hits: He has 2099 hits right now, and he turns 35 in August. He had 179 and 178 hits the last two seasons. He will probably have close to 2200 at the end of the season. If he averages 160 hits the next 5 seasons, he will be on the doorstep of 3000. He is also a career .296 hitter and is hitting .305 this year.

Stolen Bases: He has 575 now, and 21 so far this year. If he averages a little over 20 for the next 5 years, he will reach 700. There are only 10 players in the history of the game to reach 700.

Now, I don't think of him as being a Hall of Fame type player at all, but the HOF absolutely LOVES 3000 hits. If he hits 3000, you might find yourself in Cooperstown one day in front of the Juan Pierre plaque. I have no idea which team would be on his cap, as the most games he has played for one team is Florida with 486 (162 x 3 = every game for three seasons).

The HOF will never have to worry about cap to put on Juan Pierre's plaque.

Juan Pierre will never be a hall of famer

I truly hope that should he reach those numbers, modern metrics would have been accepted enough that no one even dreams of putting him in the Hall. He has a career WAR of 14.6. Benefits from his stolen bases were basically cancelled out by how often he was caught stealing. Lifetime slugging of .363. He does not deserve a single vote, regardless of the numbers he compiles IMO.

I can't even imagine many teams will continue to give him a job past this or next season.

This topic is a miserable failure

PadresFan86 said:

This topic is a miserable failure

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99% of the "Is X a Hall of Famer" topics are

PadresFan86 said:

This topic is a miserable failure

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Why?

Worse than Juan Gonzalez's

George_Calfas said:

Why?

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Pierre is no where near HOF worthy

This is a great topic. I don't see how anyone with 3000 hits can be left out of the hall. But I don't see how Juan Pierre can be let in.

Closest HOF to him is Richie Ashburn offensively. Ashburn got in mainly because of how good he was on defense. Cant say that about Pierre.

As much as I like Pierre (him being from Louisiana), I don't think he'll make it. The many different teams and lackluster star power will keep him out. As much as people like to hate on him, the guy has done his job well for years. At one point, he was the fastest baserunner in the MLB (or close to it).

Depends on perception. Right now you can roll up pretty much whatever numbers you want. Averaging 160 hits for 5 years sounds reasonable until you realize just how steep a cliff players can fall off after age 35, especially a guy like Pierre, who is all about speed. But let's say he makes 3000. If he makes it to 2700 or so, still healthy, and is up around 650 SBs, you can be sure ESPN and other baseball press will start mentioning him more regularly. His "march to 3000" will be something the color guys mention once per game in his last couple years. Graphics will be produced comparing him to Henderson, Raines, Brock, Biggion, et al. Much like Craig Biggio, who by then will face election at least once, if not 3 or 4 times by then, he will be one of those totally under-the-radar guys who is approaching a top-tier milestone, and his whole career will be reevaluated. He may come out positively, but you can be sure no end of handwringing will be done if he does reach 3000 and then gets even 20% in his first election. It would certainly be the most interesting debate since the John-Morris-Blyleven-Kaat logjam. Can a 21st century player with essentially deadball stats get elected even if he reaches one of the big numbers? He currently has just 17 more Major League home runs than I do (I have zero), and a truly anemic .708 OPS. It's weird, 240 doubles and 90 triples. It's like he's not comfortable on second base, more willing to turn a double into a triple than a single into a double. Or maybe he consciously stays on first so he can steal second.

So, perception will win out. If he's perceived as the ultimate banjo hitter, a have-baserunning-shoes-will-travel, always-needed-never-wanted, type of guy with no particular standout personal moments, he's out. If he's eventually romanticized as a throwback speedster who reached immortality with grit and determination and has a heartstring tugging biopic starring Will Smith, he's in.

PadresFan86 said:

Pierre is no where near HOF worthy

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Again, why? OP posted stats and facts and solicited opinions. Why is he not HOF worthy?

Here is a quick fact i just read - Juan Pierre scored the 1,000th run of his career Friday night with only 16 of those coming on his home runs. The only other player who debuted in the live-ball era (1920 to date) who had fewer than 20 home runs at the time of his 1,000th career run is Maury Wills, who had 18 homers at that time.


I agree with everyone that has said he doesnt belong or there is nothing that spells hofer on him but if the Dude somehow some way gets to 3000 hits and 700 sb (like leatherman said) and keeps his walk total higher than his strikeout total he will get into the hall. Keep in mind he has more stolen bases than stikeouts and has never struck out more than 52 times in a season. I really cant fathom it myself as i would have never thought Juan would even come close to sniffing the hall but after looking closley at his stats who knows. I know that he has plenty of stats on why he shouldnt be a hofer but trust me 3000 hits and 700 sb will override all those negatives real quick. We will see though as someone has alrady stated he might not have a Job in the mlb long enough to get those milestones.

Let's not forget (even though - most of the time - it means jack squat) he also has a WS ring... with the Marlins. Did someone say Will Smith?

LET HIM IN!!!

George_Calfas said:

Again, why? OP posted stats and facts and solicited opinions. Why is he not HOF worthy?

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Career OPS of .708 paired with mediocre defense. If you are going to put up those types of numbers offensively, you better be able to field like Ozzie Smith. I'd say Pierre is a below-average defender with a horrible arm.

At least this is a better discussion than the thread asking if Harper and Trout will be HOFers. lol