Of all the new Hall of Fame candidates this year, perhaps the most interesting case is Jorge Posada. I am going to examine Posada’s Hall of Fame case so you can decide whether he is a Hall of Famer…or not.
In 1995, the New York Yankees after 13 seasons without a playoff appearance called four players up from the Minor Leagues. These 4 players were Andy Pettite, Mariano Rivera, Derek Jeter, and Jorge Posada. For the next 17 seasons from 1995-2012, the Yankees only missed the postseason twice. The four players were dubbed the “Core Four”. So along with one of the greatest shortstops (Jeter) and the greatest closers in history (Rivera), you have Posada, who in my opinion, is also a future Hall of Famer.
After 17 years with the New York Yankees, Posada hit .273/.374/.474, with 275 career home runs. He was also the recipient of 5 Silver Slugger awards and was voted into 5 All-Star games. Jorge Posada has played in 15 playoffs and is the owner of 5 World Series rings. Posada’s Number 20 was retired by the Yankees in 2015.
Posada was also considered a leader on a team that made the playoffs almost every year of his career, but his defense is not exactly “Hall of Fame worthy”. Despite being a good handler of pitchers, and leading the AL in assists twice, Posada never won a Gold Glove award in 17 years and was never considered a great defensive catcher. Should a less than stellar defensive catcher still make the Hall of Fame? It is really up to the Baseball Writers Association who will consider Posada’s fate.
Do I think Posada is a first ballot Hall of Famer? Very questionable to say the least. Nonetheless, I believe there is a case to be made on his behalf.
The average bWAR for Hall of Fame catchers is 52.7. Even though he is 10 wins below 52.7, he has a higher bWAR than Roy Campanella, Rick Ferrell, and Roger Bresnahan. Along with that, the only two catchers with more home runs and not in the Hall of Fame are Ivan Rodriguez (who is another newcomer on this year’s ballot) and Lance Parrish.
Also, Jorge Posada is one of only 12 catchers ever to have over 1000 RBI in his career. Posada also has more career doubles than Gary Carter and Mike Piazza, and the highest OPS of any non-Hall of Fame catcher (.848). This, of course, makes a strong case for Posada’s entry into Cooperstown.
| STAT | No. | RANK |
|---|---|---|
| Walks | 936 | 3 |
| Doubles | 379 | 7 |
| OPS | .848 | 6 |
| OBP | .374 | 8 |
| HR | 275 | 8 |
| RBI | 1,065 | 11 |
| OPS+ | 121 | 8 |
Do you think Posada is a Hall of Famer? If so how long will it take him? I would love to hear what you have to say in the comments below.
In this writer’s opinion, Jorge Posada is a Hall of Famer whether or not he gets in on the first ballot, or even at all.
Doubleday Double Talk 
I don’t think Posada stacks up as a Hall of Fame inductee. Sure, Mike Piazza is probably the best offensive catcher of all time so you can’t measure Posada up to that, but at the same time you acknowledge his defense alone doesn’t make him stand out either. Really good player? Absolutely. Deserving of baseball immortality? I don’t think so. Good article though!
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