Hall of Stats

The 2013 stats are up! As expected, there were no changes to the Hall of Stats’ population. But plenty happened during the year worth mentioning.

Miguel Cabrera had a pretty good year. Last season, he won the Triple Crown and was worth 7.3 WAR. This year, he didn’t win the Triple Crown, but he was just as good (7.2 WAR). That performance helped him race past the 100 Hall Rating threshold. To the Hall of Stats, he is now officially Hall-worthy. Anything he does for the rest of his career is just icing on the cake.

I had been watching Joe Mauer all season to see if he would join Miggy. My back-of-the-envelope calculations showed him as right on the borderline, so I’d have to wait until I did the real number crunching. Well, I’ve done it.

Yes—he’s right on the borderline. But he falls short… with a Hall Rating of 99.963. Basically, when Joe Mauer steps on a field next season that will make him Hall-worthy. He’s that close.

Who could cross the threshold next season?

• Lance Berkman didn’t have to do much in 2013 to make him Hall-worthy. But he had a lousy year and sits at 99.6.
• Mark Buehrle continues to sneak up on the history books and now has a 97 Hall Rating.
• Jason Giambi is a longshot, but his 94 Hall Rating is technically within reach.
• David Wright will probably blow past 100 this year, Miggy-style (he currently has a 92 Hall Rating).
• Robinson Cano also has a good shot. He sits about where Miggy was going in 2013 with a Hall Rating of 89. But will he do it for the Yankees? He could become the 13th player to achieve a 100 Hall Rating for New York.
• Mark Teixeira, Cano’s teammate, is more of a longshot at 88.
• Cliff Lee has an 86. With the way he’s pitching, he could reach 100 in 2014.

How about Mike Trout? How far did he climb up the Hall Rating ladder? Last year I wrote about how he had already matched Tommy McCarthy. Well, he rode a 9.2 WAR season (he was even better by Fangraphs’ WAR) to a 47 Hall Rating. On the way there, he passed two more Hall of Famers—Lloyd Waner and High Pockets Kelly.

We also had some key retirements at the end of the season:

• Mariano Rivera is a lock for the Hall of Fame with or without his staggering 131 Hall Rating. That Hall Rating is 33rd among all pitchers in history. The closest reliever is Hoyt Wilhelm with 108. Rivera ranks 6th among all Yankees and first among Yankee pitchers (pretty amazing for a reliever).
• Todd Helton retires as the best player in Rockies history. His 120 Hall Rating is very much Hall-worthy, but he’ll battle the Coors problem, much like Larry Walker.
• Andy Pettitte finishes with a 109 Hall Rating—ranking 62nd among all pitchers in history. Hall Rating does not (yet) incorporate postseason stats, which can only help his Hall of Fame case. There is, of course, is admission to HGH use to deal with. Pettitte ranks 15th all time among Yankees, fourth among pitchers.

As you poke around at the new numbers, does anything strike you as interesting?