CAN POSADA MAKE THE HALL OF FAME?

(May 1, 2011 - Source: Gregory Shamus/Getty Images North America)

Based on everything we know about major league baseball and adding in the steroid era and the writers reluctant to vote for those alleged 'roid players, one has to think that someone like Jorge Posada or Mike Mussina have a significant chance... eventually based on their numbers and ability and that fact.

But I gotta tell you something, what we know about Posada is that he was a very good hitting catcher, maybe not as good as a Mike Piazza, but still quite solid.  We also know that defensively he was missing a few solid pieces and that has been long documented over the years.  But again, since the writers have hedged on voting in alleged users, I believe that may give Jorge an opportunity to shine here.

(Oct. 5, 2010 - Source: Elsa/Getty Images North America)

I was reading CBS Sports Dayn Perry's piece on Posada, and I absolutely loved it.  I think you should check it out too because it gives you the pros and cons of Posada and whether or not he has the chops to get in. I wanted to share a small portion...

(Aug. 5, 2010 - Source: Al Bello/Getty Images North America)

"The case for Posada

In addition to his prominent role on most of those Yankees World Series teams of the '90s and '00s (Posada made the playoffs every year of his career except for 2008), it's Posada's production relative to his catching peers that distinguishes him. Across those 17 seasons, he batted .273/.374/.474, which is good for an OPS+ of 121. Along the way, he tallied 275 homers and drew 936 walks. Among those with at least 500 games caught, Posada ranks fifth all-time in on-base percentage, fifth in slugging percentage, fourth in OPS and first in walks.

There is no doubt Posada's bat was special in the light of his manning a premium defensive position for so long. Speaking of which, Posada spent almost 13,000 innings behind the plate. His 1,574 games caught ranks 26th all-time, and he's top-100 all-time in assists as a catcher. Posada's throwing arm was never regarded as an asset, but he wasn't a grave liability in that regard (he threw out 28 percent of would-be base-stealers for his career versus a league-average mark of 30 percent)....

(Sept. 20, 2010 - Source: Andrew Burton/Getty Images North America)

The case against Posada

According to the best of our advanced measures, Posada was indeed a bad defensive catcher in pretty much every regard -- controlling the running game, blocking balls in the dirt and framing pitches. Pick your all-encompassing defensive metric of choice, and it likely ranks Posada as among the worst defensive full-time catchers ever. Broadly speaking, that's in keeping with his reputation.

As for the bat, yes, it's very impressive by positional standards on a rate basis, but the counting benchmarks aren't there. Posada's modest 1,664 career hits are particularly lacking by Cooperstown standards. That has a little something to do with the fact that Posada wasn't a lineup fixture until he was 26 years old, but that's not really a point in his favor. Yes, Posada was patient at the plate and drew lots of walks, but making it to the Hall with fewer than 2,000 hits is very difficult. As well, Posada was a terrible base-runner and despite having barely more than 6,000 career at-bats he grounded into 186 double plays, which is the 143rd-highest tally in baseball history."

(May 19, 2011 - Source: Mike Stobe/Getty Images North America)

I encourage you to read Perry's entire piece.

Now look, if you were ask me, seeing that certain numbers have dwindled over the years when it comes to standards as being voted into the Hall of Fame, and the idea that writers are trying to be all high and mighty NOT wanting to vote in alleged users, I think it helps Jorge's case.... but I guess we will have to wait and see.

(Aug. 12, 2016 - Source: Rich Schultz/Getty Images North America)

But as a fan of the guy for years... I want him there, and if I was a writer, there is no question my bias would help Jorge's cause.

Stay tuned folks... looking forward to see what happens here.