Four Former Mariners Eligible For 2018 Hall of Fame Ballot
It’s never too early to start looking at the possible candidates for the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2018. The Mariners could have four more former players on the ballot including Jamie Moyer, Omar Vizquel, Brian Fuentes, and Kevin Millwood.
The 2017 hall of fame induction won’t be as joyful for Mariners fans when in 2016 Ken Griffey Jr. was elected or in 2015 when Randy Johnson was enshrined.
Edgar Martinez did climb up the rankings but still fell short of the 75% votes cast for him that he needed, and Arthur Rhodes and Mike Cameron combined for zero total votes. Still, having three players on the ballot is a great accomplishment.
Rhodes and Cameron won’t be on the ballot for quite some time unless the veterans committee decides to put them back on if at all down the road but Martinez will mostly likely be joined by the four other aforementioned past Mariners.
Moyer is a 25-year veteran who pitched 11 seasons with the Mariners. Yet, as impressive as his longevity was, his numbers leave his hall of fame enshrinement up for debate.
With a career-ERA of 4.25 and a total of 267 wins, it’ll be up to the voters to decide if Moyer’s good outweighs his no so good.
Vizquel began his career with the Mariners before he was shipped to the Cleveland Indians where he grew into a potential hall of famer.
He was a great fielder and base-stealer and also had a pretty decent bat. Although Vizquel probably won’t go into the hall in a Mariners uniform, the M’s can take pride that they helped craft a potential future hall of famers illustrious career.
Fuentes was another player who began his career with the Mariners but went on to sew his wild oats with other clubs and in other leagues.
Fuentes pitched in 10 games in his rookie season with the M’s and had an ERA of 4.63. He ended up being one of the top-50 saves leaders in baseball history. He had impressive strikeout ability and a respectable ERA of 3.62.
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It will be up to the Baseball Writers Association of America to decide if he belongs in the hall of fame.
Finally, Kevin Millwood. He was a visitor to the Mariners organization just like Fuentes expect he played his final season with the club as opposed to the first.
Millwood showed flashes of brilliance in his career but took part in one of the more thrilling moments in Mariners history: the 2012 combined no-hitter.
It was the highlight of a disappointing concluding campaign for Millwood as he had a 6-12 record and an ERA of 4.11.
Do his 16 years of experience and 169 wins provide enough reason to make him a member of Cooperstown?
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The idea that all four of these new potential nominees will get into the hall this next year is preposterous, but as I said earlier, just having your name on the ballot is a great honor.
Mariners fans should be proud that they will have 5 total players up for enshrinement in 2018
