Hall of Fame S26: Part II: Position Player Odds & Ends

Beyond the top tier of eligibles, there are some other interesting Hall cases to look at.  For reference, let's look at the scoring.  Without going into as much detail about my methodology as I have in past previews, I dole out points based on whether a player is in the career top 20 among eligibles in statistical categories and for player awards won.  A look at the position players and their scores:

1) A. Tarasco, 4296 pts
2) A. Cordero, 4057 pts
3) Happy Moore, 3383 pts
4) Felipe Rodriguez, 3104 pts
5) H. Polcovich, 3059 pts
6) R. Alicea, 2909 pts
7) S. Taylor, 2631 pts
8) E. Montanez, 2438 pts
9) D. Gwynn, 2151 pts
10) J. Moreno, 1982 pts
11) I. Santana, 1967 pts
12) Hugh Moore, 1959 pts

We've already looked at some of these guys, but I think a couple more bear discussing.

Fourth on our list is Felipe Rodriguez, who was a star at 2b and 3b before eventually moving out to left field late in his career.  Rodriguez has the most runs scored of any eligible at 1902, and the 5th most hits at 2594.  The 7-time All-Star might warrant consideration in the future, but there are a few guys in line ahead of him.

I'm always puzzled about Horace Polcovich.  How can a 2-time MVP with 550 career home runs not make the cut?  Of course, he really only had 8 strong seasons between his career's slow start and it's abrupt end.  And while he won a Gold Glove at first, he wasn't good enough to play any other position.  And perhaps most shocking, Polcovich had exactly 1 playoff AB--with Hartford in S18.  If the guy had actually carried a team to the playoffs, I might overlook his lack of longevity, but as much as I love an MVP winner, I have a hard time voting this guy in.

I like Alicea, Taylor and Montanez a lot.  Not quite Hall-worthy here I don't think, though note that Taylor stacks up very favorably when compared to Hall of Fame shortstop Rafael Cedeno.

As I've noted before, Don Gwynn deserves serious consideration given that he was a catcher.  Gerald Bradley and Pedro Arroyo will soon be retiring though, and those guys are a cut above at the position.

Finally, I hope Juan Moreno gets some votes.  Not many guys have hit over 400 HR and stolen over 300 bases, and Moreno's .406 OBP and .992 OPS are especially outstanding when you realize he didn't get his first full season in until S10.  Plus, he was a key ingredient for a couple of world champions, posting playoff OPSs over 1.000 for Texas in S12 and Hartford in S22.