On July 23rd Scott Rolen will become just the 18th third baseman to be inducted into the MLB Hall of Fame. Only the designated hitter position has fewer representatives in the Hall of Fame than the third basemen. A couple of third basemen are almost locked for the Hall of Fame, such as Nolan Arenado and Adrián Beltré. There is another current third baseman who could be on the path to the Hall of Fame. Let’s examine José Ramírez’s Hall of Fame candidacy.
Scott Rolen is a good comparison for José Ramírez when it comes to the Hall of Fame. Rolen didn’t retire at the top of any offensive category among third basemen. Rolen also never won an MVP award and finished top six in voting only once. However, Rolen was a seven-time All-Star and eight-time Gold Glove winner. Ultimately Rolen finished with 2,077 hits, 316 home runs, 517 doubles, 1,287 rbi, 118 stolen bases, and a .281/.364/.490 slash. José will likely have to get close to those numbers to have a chance.
Ramírez signed a seven-year contract last offseason that will take him through his age-35 season. For the sake of this exercise, let’s assume he retires after his contract is up. That gives him six more seasons including this year.
When it comes to awards, Ramírez is already a four-time All-Star and four-time Silver Slugger. That’s three more Silver Sluggers than Rolen. Ramírez has also finished top six in MVP voting five times. However, Ramírez has yet to win a Gold Glove. Ramírez will likely add more All-Star appearances to his resume and has a good chance at adding more Silver-Slugger awards. Finally winning an MVP would also boost his resume tremendously, although may be tough to do with players like Shohei Ohtani, Mike Trout, and Aaron Judge as competition.
For his career, Ramírez is roughly 900 hits, 100 home runs, 200 doubles, and 600 RBI away from Rolen’s totals. Ramírez currently sits at 178 stolen bases, which would rank him fourth among all Hall of Fame third baseman. To catch Rolen in the rest of the offensive categories, over his final six seasons Ramírez would need to average 150 hits, 17 home runs, 34 doubles, and 100 RBI a year. Between the 2021 and 2022 seasons, Ramírez averaged 158 hits, 32 home runs, 38 doubles, and 114 RBI a year. Ramírez is 30 years old, so he is due for regression over the next couple of years, but it’s safe to assume that he will catch Rolen in just about every offensive category. Ramírez may also benefit from the new rules when it comes to adding to his stolen base and hits totals.
Since the start of the 2017 season, only two players in baseball have amassed 400 extra-base hits. Nolan Arenado (405) and Jose Ramirez (426). pic.twitter.com/dPwR0g5izq
— Jared Carrabis (@Jared_Carrabis) April 23, 2023
José Ramírez’s Hall of Fame candidacy got a boost with Scott Rolen’s induction. Rolen had a tremendous career and is deserving of the Hall of Fame. If Ramírez continues his current career trajectory, he will likely exceed Rolen’s career offensive numbers and find himself in the Hall of Fame as well.
Follow Sean on Twitter and be sure to stay up-to-date with Belly Up Sports for all your baseball information.
