Should Michael Young Get HOF Consideration In A Few Years?

[fengzhang]

I'm not a fan of using a "magic number" for letting people into the HOF. If a player is great at saying healthy, gets 650 at-bats a year, and hits .305 a year and somehow manages to accumulate 3000 hits, he's just that...a good .305 player who hung on long enough to accumulate 3000 hits. What else does Michael Young do well that deserves HOF consideration? In the end, Michael Young is a .303 hitter with an OPS barely above the league average and he's good for 75 runs, 13 HR, and 70 RBI per 500 at-bats. Good player but not HOF material.

 

[wolters03]

Yes because of hie legitimate shot at 3000...

I don't see him playing 10 more years. Without the "magic number" I don't think he gets in. File him in the Mark Grace category of "Great", just not "All-Time Great"

Who says it would take him 10 years?? He gets on average 150 hits per year with multiple seasons of 200+ hits. At 34 years old if he plays tell he is 40 he will get his 3,000 hits. If he does reach that milestone obviously he is in. Outside of that no chance.

 

[markakis8]

He wasnt a one tool player. He was a great fielder and a descent hitter, especially for a SS at that time. With Martinez, no, bc you can compare him to all hitters. You cant compare a ss hitting, to say a first basemans hitting. But a DH, yes.

He was not a decent hitter. No ifs, ands, buts about it.

Back on topic...don't forget Michael Young has switched positions multiple times...not b/c he was poor at one position but b/c his team needed him to do so. I believe he's won a GG (only one but its still fascinating that it wasn't his original position).

He's well on his way to his SIXTH 200 hit season, a 7 time all-star. He won't need to play 10 more years to reach 3,000 hits.

If he stays in Texas his entire career, that will help.

Someone compared him to Mark Grace, in terms of their careers. I see him finishing with a Paul Molitor type career. The dude can flat out hit and shows no signs of slowing down. He can easily DH for 3-4 years later down the road.

 

[elmalo]

He wasnt a one tool player. He was a great fielder and a descent hitter, especially for a SS at that time. With Martinez, no, bc you can compare him to all hitters. You cant compare a ss hitting, to say a first basemans hitting. But a DH, yes.

He was not a decent hitter. No ifs, ands, buts about it.

Back on topic...don't forget Michael Young has switched positions multiple times...not b/c he was poor at one position but b/c his team needed him to do so. I believe he's won a GG (only one but its still fascinating that it wasn't his original position).

He's well on his way to his SIXTH 200 hit season, a 7 time all-star. He won't need to play 10 more years to reach 3,000 hits.

If he stays in Texas his entire career, that will help.

Someone compared him to Mark Grace, in terms of their careers. I see him finishing with a Paul Molitor type career. The dude can flat out hit and shows no signs of slowing down. He can easily DH for 3-4 years later down the road.

Yes he was, for a shortstop. Shortstop is a defensive position.

 

[markakis8]

Yes he was, for a shortstop. Shortstop is a defensive position.

No he wasn't. I understand shortstop is a defensive position. You are not automatically labeled a decent hitter if you are SS.

There have been plenty of SS that were decent hitters and there have been a few that were great hitters.

Your defensive ability has nothing to do with how great of a hitter you are in the box.

 

[UMich92]

Yes he should get consideration. With only 28 players in the club, 3000 hits is still a magical milestone. Without 3000 hits, I don't think he has much chance to get in. With 3000 hits, some people may gnash their teeth but he should get in.

 

[scotty21690]

If Johnny Damon makes it in, so does Michael Young.

 

[Wes]

I've never thought of him as one of the best players in baseball, so he's not a hall of famer to me.

 

[Lars]

It basically boils down to whether or not he gets 3,000 hits - he is a nice player who has had a very good but not quite HOF career.

However, none of the other 'he doesn't look HOF worthy to me' arguments people like to spout off about with players like Young will matter if he actually gets 3,000 hits.

 

[sdsportsfan1214]

Young will make the HOF one day. It may take awhile but he'll make it. Like another poster said the game today is changing. You arent going to see too many guys reaching 3,000 hits, 500 hr's etc etc. I think alot of these guys that are borderline will get in sometime in the future. 2500 hits will be the new 3000 15-20 years from now

 

[tpeichel]

Young will make the HOF one day. It may take awhile but he'll make it. Like another poster said the game today is changing. You arent going to see too many guys reaching 3,000 hits, 500 hr's etc etc. I think alot of these guys that are borderline will get in sometime in the future. 2500 hits will be the new 3000 15-20 years from now

I think it's more likely that 250 Wins will become the new baseline for the HOF, but I think 3000 hits will still be one of the measuring sticks. If Young can stay productive to the age of 40 and get his 3000 hits, there is no reason he won't be in the HOF.

 

[elmalo]

Yes he was, for a shortstop. Shortstop is a defensive position.

No he wasn't. I understand shortstop is a defensive position. You are not automatically labeled a decent hitter if you are SS.

There have been plenty of SS that were decent hitters and there have been a few that were great hitters.

Your defensive ability has nothing to do with how great of a hitter you are in the box.

He was, for a shortstop. You hav to consider the position. When compared to other shortstops of his era, and othr shortstops who proceded him, he was not a bad hitter.