Just like everything else in baseball these days, there’s a statistic that can tell you whether or not a player has what it takes to be voted into the Hall of Fame.
Gone are the days of arguing your favorite player has been overlooked, because the “Hall of Fame Monitor” is a pretty good barometer of who’s bound for Cooperstown after retirement and even while they’re playing.
BetTexas.com utilized Baseball-Reference.com's “Hall of Fame Monitor” stat to see which current players are worthy of Cooperstown. The figure assesses how likely an active player is to make the Hall of Fame. Using its rough scale, 100 means a good possibility and 130 is a virtual cinch. The site explains how it came up with the “Hall of Fame Monitor.”
Unfortunately for baseball fans, there is no legal Texas sports betting.
Most Likely Active Hall of Famers
Two With Strong Astros Ties Look Like Locks
Based on the value they’ve already created, former Astros pitcher Justin Verlander and Jose Altuve, the Astros’ second baseman for 13 years, can go ahead and start jotting down notes for their enshrinement speeches.
Verlander, who signed as a free agent with the New York Mets this past offseason, was with Houston from 2017-2022. He played a big role in three trips to the World Series, where Houston won championships after the 2017 and 2022 seasons. He was 61-19 with a 2.26 ERA in that time, missing most of 2020 and 2021 after needing Tommy John surgery.
That makes him 247-138 with three Cy Young awards over his 18-year career, which included two World Series appearances for the Detroit Tigers before his arrival in Houston via trade. No current pitcher is a bigger lock for the Hall of Fame and the only two close are the Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw and the Mets’ Max Scherzer.
Verlander’s new team isn’t having nearly the type of success it hoped when acquiring the star. The Mets are 17.5 games out of the National League East lead. Although there are no Texas betting apps, New York is a disappointing +25000 to make a miraculous comeback and win the division.
Altuve has been a hitting machine ever since taking over at second in 2011, just four years after Hall of Famer Craig Biggio retired from the Astros after a 20-year career. That’s a combined 33 years out of 37 where Houston has had two of the best to ever play the game at second base.
Altuve is an eight-time All-Star who was the American League MVP in 2017, and he’s won three batting titles. He has five Silver Slugger Awards for best hitting second baseman and he’s got one Gold Glove.
The defending World Champions are struggling a little bit this season, as Altuve has missed time with numerous injuries. There is no BetMGM Sportsbook Texas, but nationally the operator still gives Houston +130 odds to overtake Texas and win the American League West.
Two Texas High School Products on List
Kershaw is one of two Texas high school products on the list along with the Cardinals’ Paul Goldschmidt.
Kershaw was the seventh overall pick of the 2006 draft out of Highland Park High School in Dallas, and he’s been building his Hall of Fame case since 2008. He’s 207-91 with a .695 winning percentage that ranks fifth-best all-time.
To understand how impressive that is, the four guys above him have been retired since 1877, 1944, 1947 and 1938. And none of them started as many games as Kershaw has.
The Dodgers also took Goldschmidt in the 2006 draft, but it was in the 49th round so The Woodlands High School grad went to play at Texas State. Three years later, the Arizona Diamondbacks took him in the eighth round, and he made the majors in 2011. The seven-time All-Star first baseman was the MVP in 2022, and he has five Silver Slugger honors and four Gold Gloves.
He’s on the edge of Hall of Fame status at 105, but he’s already reached 300 homers and 1,000 RBIs. If he can close his career strong, he’s got a good chance of adding another Texan to the hallowed halls in Cooperstown.
