Jorge Posada: Hall of Famer Or Not?

Ken Griffey Jr. was recently inducted into the MLB Hall of Fame, along with catcher Mike Piazza for the 2016 Hall of Fame Class. There is little doubt in many baseball fans minds that both of those players deserve the honor. 

Now, as we look forward to the next Hall of Fame ballot, we see a list of players that includes players like Manny Ramirez, Tim Wakefield, Jason Varitek and Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez.

Right of the bat, Pudge has to make the Hall of Fame, right?  I mean, the guy won an MVP in 1999, a NLCS MVP in 2003, he had 13 Gold Glove Awards, and 14 All-Star selections to go with a modest .296 batting average, 311 Homeruns, 1,332 RBI’s and he had 2,844 hits on his MLB career. 

The mix of all-time great defense with all these stats should make Pudge a lock. However, is another catcher joining the ballot with Varitek and Pudge?  Maybe the beloved Jorge Posada! 

His passion for the game made it impossible for fans not to admire the guy. He won 4 World Series rings with the Yankees, the team he spent his entire career with.

However, if someone who has just began getting into baseball did not know Jorge Posada’s heart and looked at his stats alone, would they consider him Hall of Fame worthy? 

His career .273 batting average with 275 homeruns and 1,065 RBI’s might make it hard for the fan to see why he should be in the Hall of Fame.

Posada had solid defensive numbers, and a couple of really good seasons. After all, he did win 5 Silver Slugger Awards, and is a 5x All-Star.

Posada’s numbers may have not been record breaking, but is it possible that Posada gets voted in simply because of the impact he had on the game. Is the combination of his heart and 5 silver sluggers and 4 rings enough to be a Hall of Famer?