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Trevor Hoffman

Chipper Jones, Jim Thome, Vladimir Guerrero, Trevor Hoffman Elected To Hall Of Fame

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The Baseball Writers Association of America on Wednesday elected Chipper Jones, Vladimir Guerrero, Jim Thome and Trevor Hoffman to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Jones (who appeared on 97.2 percent of ballots) and Thome (89.8 percent) will go into Cooperstown as first-ballot Hall of Famers. Guerrero (92.9 percent) will be enshrined in his second year of eligibility. Hoffman (79.9 percent) was on the ballot for the third time.

Edgar Martinez fell shy of the 75 percent mark needed for enshrinement, receiving a votes on 70.4 percent of ballots Others coming within 20 percent of induction include Mike Mussina (63.5 percent), Roger Clemens (57.4 percent) and Barry Bonds (56.4 percent). Full voting is available at the BBWAA’s website.

There was never much doubt that Jones, 45, would be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. The former No. 1 overall draft pick and 1999 National League MVP was an eight-time All-Star, a two-time Silver Slugger and won a World Series title with the 1995 Braves. One of the best switch-hitters in the history of the sport, Jones hit .303/.401/.529 with 468 home runs, 150 stolen bases, 1619 runs scored and 1623 runs batter in over the life of a brilliant career that spanned nearly two decades.

Remarkably, Jones batted better than .300 and posted on OBP north of .390 from both sides of the plate over the course of his illustrious career. In addition to the extraordinary work he did in the regular season, Jones was an accomplished postseason bat as well, hitting a combined .287/.409/.456 with 13 homers in 417 trips to the plate in the postseason. Both Baseball-Reference and Fangraphs peg Jones’ amazing career at more than 85 wins above replacement.

Thome, 47, heads into Cooperstown as one of the most accomplished sluggers in Major League history. The longtime Indians star retired with 612 homers — then the seventh-most home runs in big league history (though he’s since been passed by another Cooperstown-bound slugger, Albert Pujols, in that regard). Thome never won a league MVP but did make five All-Star teams and take home a Silver Slugger.

An on-base machine, Thome hit .276/.402/.554 and scored 1583 runs against 1699 runs batted in over the course of a career that spanned parts of 22 Major League seasons. He belted another 17 homers and knocked in 37 runs over the course of 267 postseason plate appearances. His career 147 OPS+ ties him with Hall of Famers Willie Stargell, Willie McCovey, Mike Schmidt and the aforementioned Edgar Martinez for the 47th-best mark in MLB history. B-Ref pegged Thome’s career at 72.9 WAR, while Fangraphs credited him with a similarly excellent 69 WAR.

Guerrero, 43 next month, spent parts of 16 seasons in the Majors and batted .318/.379/.553 with 449 home runs, 1328 runs scored, 1496 runs batted in and 181 stolen bases. Guerrero earned American League MVP honors in a 2004 campaign that saw him bat .337/.391/.598 with 39 homers in 680 plate appearances, and he finished third on the AL MVP ballot on two other occasions. Guerrero was named to nine All-Star teams and took home eight Silver Slugger Awards in his career.

Guerrero was uncannily consistent, hitting .300 or better in 13 of his 15 full seasons in the Majors (and batting .290 and .295 in the two in which he came up short). Both OPS+ and wRC+ feel that the only full season he had in the Majors in which his bat was below the league average was his final season in 2011, when he batted .290/.317/.416 as a 36-year-old. He joins Juan Marichal and Pedro Martinez as the third Dominican-born player to be elected to the Hall of Fame.

Hoffman’s appointment to Cooperstown will be the most polarizing among today’s honorees. The 50-year-old is, of course, one of just two players in Major League history to record more than 600 career saves, joining future Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera in that regard. Hoffman’s career came to a close with a 2.87 ERA, 9.4 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 as well as 601 saves and a 61-75 record through 1089 1/3 innings.

Hoffman’s supporters point to that vaunted save total, his seven All-Star nods and exceptional consistency. Hoffman posted a sub-3.00 ERA in 12 of 14 seasons from 1994-2007, averaging 37 saves per year along the way. His detractors note that he logged nearly 200 fewer innings than Rivera, the man to whom he is most often compared (based on their incredible saves totals) and also pitched 128 fewer postseason innings than Rivera.

There is, of course, no denying that Hoffman had a remarkable career; he averaged better than a strikeout per inning and finished with an ERA+ of 147, turning in an ERA worse than the league average just once in his career — in his 18th and final MLB season. Whether that places him among the all-time greats can be debated ad nauseam, but those whose voices matter most in that discussion (the BBWAA) clearly are of the mind that Hoffman is indeed worthy of being placed in such rarefied air.

Quick Hits: Epstein, Ozzie, Beltran

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Links for Tuesday, as the Red Sox and Braves try to fend off several wild card challengers…

  • Red Sox GM Theo Epstein failed to accumulate the necessary pitching depth, writes Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.  Epstein has become a popular target this month, but the criticism holds more water for me if the author was pointing out the team's depth issues before the season or in July.  Morosi, to his credit, questioned Boston's rotation in April.
  • On a similar note, the John Lackey contract looks ugly right now.  But it wasn't regarded that way when Lackey signed in December of 2009.  In fact, ESPN's Jayson Stark did a poll of "20 wise baseball men" prior to the 2010 season, and Lackey's contract was voted the best signing of the offseason (right before Chone Figgins).  
  • White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen hopes to learn about his future before leaving for a trip to Spain in early October, he told Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune.  Guillen has a year left on his contract, so the White Sox don't necessarily have to follow that timeline.
  • Scott Boras will have lunch with the Giants' Carlos Beltran today to determine the right fielder's free agency goals, he told the Associated Press yesterday at the Moneyball premiere.
  • ESPN's Buster Olney tells stories of how Padres GM Randy Smith came to acquire Trevor Hoffman from the Marlins, and how the Yankees considered trading Mariano Rivera before they realized what they had.

Trevor Hoffman Retires

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All-time saves leader Trevor Hoffman told MLB.com's Barry Bloom that he is retiring. Hoffman walks away with 601 career saves, a 2.87 ERA and 1133 strikeouts in 1089 1/3 innings for the Marlins, Padres and Brewers. After 18 seasons in the big leagues, he says he's ready to call it a career.

"It's time to retire. It's time to move on," Hoffman told Bloom. "This is more of a self-evaluation. I expect to pitch at a certain level and I had to be honest with myself that I wasn't certain I could maintain that anymore."

It seemed possible that the Padres or D'Backs could sign Hoffman to play and he did draw some interest this offseason, but the 43-year-old is moving to a different side of the game. He will return to the Padres in a front office role.

The seven time All-Star agreed to decline the Brewers' offer of arbitration after the season. If he had signed a major league deal with another team, Milwaukee would have obtained a supplementary first round pick in this year's draft.

Quick Hits: Pettitte, Figgins, Giants, Hoffman

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On this date in 2002, the Diamondbacks signed Carlos Gonzalez as an amateur free agent. Two blockbuster trades and one breakout season later, CarGo has agreed to a seven-year extension with the Rockies. Here are today's links…

  • Andy Pettitte told Brian Costello of the New York Post at his home in Texas that he's just "chilling out, hanging" and still hasn't decided whether he'll play in 2011.
  • The Mariners have officially asked Chone Figgins to move back to third base, reports Kirby Arnold of the Daily Herald. Figgins has played more games at third than at any other position, but he played second base last year.
  • The Giants will likely rely on players already in the organization for infield depth now that Edgar Renteria has agreed to sign with the Reds, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (on Twitter).
  • Trevor Hoffman is leaning toward retirement, according to Heyman (on Twitter). The reliever has drawn some interest this offseason, but he had hoped for the chance to close in 2011.
  • Michael Girsch will replace John Abbamondi as the Cardinals' assistant GM, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (on Twitter).

Rays Notes: Bullpen, First Base, DH

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The Rays find themselves in a difficult position as the 2011 season approaches. Forced to cut payroll, they've lost Carlos Pena, Carl Crawford, (presumably) Rafael Soriano, and most of their bullpen to free agency, and traded Jason Bartlett as he approaches his final arbitration year.

Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times looks at some of the issues left to be addressed as the Rays begin bargain shopping this offseason:

Poll: Trevor Hoffman’s Future

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When you look through our list of available free agents, two players stand out as surefire future Hall of Famers: Manny Ramirez and Trevor Hoffman. Manny has been involved in his fair share of rumors this offseason, but all has been quite on the Hoffman front. The 43-year-old told MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy that he still wants to pitch, but “the offers are sparse.” There was some thought that he could return to the Padres if they trade Heath Bell, but that obviously hasn’t happened yet. 

Hoffman, baseball’s all-time saves leader, lost his job as Milwaukee’s closer during the 2010 season, though he finished the year with a 2.67 ERA in his final 30.1 innings. His fastball velocity, never anything special to begin with, has been trending downward the last few years. If Hoffman can’t find a job to his liking before Spring Training, he could opt to retire with 601 career saves to his credit and over $80MM in career earnings (according to Baseball-Reference.com). 

Considering the multiyear, big dollar deals handed out to relievers this offseason, it’s not crazy to think that Hoffman could end up being a bargain on a low-salary, one-year contract. But will anyone give it to him?

Olney On Pettitte, Rendon, Blanton, Hoffman

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C.C. Sabathia can opt out of his contract with the Yankees after next season, but ESPN.com’s Buster Olney points out that the team could be proactive and ensure that the lefty stays in the Bronx. They could offer to add a couple years to his current deal in exchange for Sabathia’s right to opt out. Here’s the latest on another Yankee lefty and a few more rumblings from around the league:

  • For the first time this winter, a Yankees person spoke to Olney optimistically about the chances that Andy Pettitte returns in 2011.
  • One talent evaluator says he might take Rice third baseman Anthony Rendon ahead of Bryce Harper if both players were in the same draft. The Pirates select first overall next year and may be tempted by Rendon, the consensus top player available.
  • Multiple GMs confirmed to Olney that the Phillies will have to eat some of Joe Blanton’s salary if they decide to move him. The right-hander will earn $17MM over the course of the next two seasons.
  • Trevor Hoffman is still telling teams that he wants to be a closer. The all-time saves leader is coming off of a rough season, but he pitched better in the second half.

Odds & Ends: Rasmus, Gilbert, Nishioka, Hoffman

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MLBTR wishes all of its American readers a very happy Thanksgiving.  For those readers not from the USA…uh, happy Thursday!  Onto some news items:

  • "Three contending clubs" have a "persisting interest" in Colby Rasmus, tweets Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.  Strauss noted in a follow-up tweet that these are teams with a "new interest," so presumably that eliminates past suitors like the Braves, Blue Jays, Diamondbacks and White Sox.  The Rasmus rumor mill seemed to have petered out, with the most recent report stating that there was a 99% chance that Rasmus would still be in St. Louis next season.
  • Dennis Gilbert will not try to buy the Houston Astros, reports Jon Paul Morosi of FOXSports.com.  Gilbert led a group bidding for the Rangers earlier this year and has been rumored to be a potential future ownership candidate for the Dodgers.
  • The Twins are "very much in on" Tsuyoshi Nishioka, tweets Sports Illustrated's Jon Heyman.  We heard last week that Minnesota had an interest in the Japanese infielder.
  • When Kevin Towers was general manager of the Padres, he planned to eventually bring Trevor Hoffman back to San Diego so the future Hall-of-Fame closer could retire as a Padre, tweets Fanhouse.com's Tom Krasovic.  Though Towers has moved on to Arizona, Krasovic says there's a chance Hoffman could still return to San Diego now that Sandy Alderson and Paul DePodesta are no longer with the organization.
  • Bill James talks to CBSSports.com's Evan Brunell about a variety of topics, including the new Mets front office, the Justin Upton trade rumors and what the Royals should do with Zack Greinke.
  • Joe Pawlikowski of the River Ave Blues blog wishes the Derek Jeter negotiations moved as smoothly as Mike Mussina's contract talks with the Yankees after the 2006 season.

Odds & Ends: Bigbie, Jeter, Hoffman, Tigers

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Five years ago today, the Red Sox acquired Mike Lowell and Josh Beckett in the blockbuster trade that sent Hanley Ramirez to Florida. As I explained a year ago, that deal worked out pretty well for both clubs. Here are today's links…

  • Seven American League teams watched Larry Bigbie work out recently, MLBTR has learned. The teams have interest in the 33-year-old as a corner outfielder/DH.
  • Jon Heyman of SI.com weighs in on the Derek Jeter contract talks and says the Yankees can't take the chance that Jeter walks out on them, even if it costs them an extra year or a few more million.
  • ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick compares the GM-manager relationships for Chicago's two teams.
  • Some baseball people people are convinced that Trevor Hoffman will return to San Diego, according to ESPN.com’s Buster Olney. The expectation among GMs is that the Padres will trade Heath Bell by next year’s trade deadline.
  • The Tigers are still seen as serious bidders for outfielders, according to Olney.

National League Free Agent Arbitration Offers

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11 National League teams have free agent arbitration offer decisions to make, and we'll group them in this post.  For a fantastic customizable chart with all 65 Type A/B free agents and their decisions in real-time, click here.

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