Remembering those left off the Hall of Fame ballot

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I’d say the 17 new players added to this year’s Hall of Fame ballot were 10 too many. With so many worthy candidates already backlogged, adding such a large crowd serves no real purpose and might actually damage the process when someone such as Eddie Guardado gets a token vote, as Jacque Jones did last year (obviously, the Minnesota nominating committee is very strong). Once upon a time, the token votes were harmless. These days, they might get the 10th spot on someone’s ballot over a much more worthy player.

This year’s ballot has seven newcomers worthy of actual Hall of Fame debate: Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, John Smoltz, Gary Sheffield, Nomar Garciaparra, Carlos Delgado and Brian Giles. The last four are never getting in, but they all have Hall of Fame-like qualities. Guardado and Aaron Boone do not, yet they were included on the ballot anyway, along with Rich Aurilia, Tony Clark, Jermaine Dye, Darin Erstad, Cliff Floyd, Tom Gordon, Troy Percival and Jason Schmidt.

But enough about them. Let’s mention some of the others who played their final seasons in 2009 but were left off the ballot, even though they were just as worthy as others included. First, though, a nod to Brandon Webb. I’m writing this for the purposes of mentioning those left off the ballot, whereas Webb was completely ineligible, having played only seven years (10 years is required). He is, however, one of the finest players ever to be ineligible for the Hall of Fame. He won a Cy Young and finished second twice before shoulder problems wrecked his career, leaving him with an 87-62 record and a 3.27 ERA.

So, who got left off?

Jarrod Washburn: The lefty had his best season during the Angels’ championship campaign in 2002, going 18-6 with a 3.15 ERA and finishing fourth in the AL Cy Young balloting. Capped his career with a 107-109 record and a 4.10 ERA that doesn’t sound all that impressive, but actually comes out to a 108 ERA+ in an offense-heavy era. That’s good for 28 WAR, the highest mark of those left off the ballot (the lows to be included on the ballot were Clark at 12.5, Guardado at 13.3 and Boone at 13.5).

Mark Loretta: Loretta played 15 years, mostly as a second baseman and shortstop, and finished with a higher OPS than Boone, who played 12 years as a third baseman. He also went to two All-Star Games to Boone’s one. But he didn’t have a backer in the room when it came to putting together the ballot. Loretta had his best season in 2004, hitting .335/.391/.495 with 16 HR and 76 RBI to finish ninth in the NL MVP balloting. Overall, he hit .295/.360/.395 in 5,812 at-bats.

Kelvim Escobar: That Escobar has been attempting comebacks every year probably didn’t help his chances of getting included. He was a fine pitcher in his 11 seasons, though, winning as many as 18 games and once saving 38. He had his best season in 2007, going 18-7 with a 3.40 ERA for the Angels, then made just one more major league appearance in his career, that coming in 2009. Overall, he was 101-91 with a 4.15 ERA and a 112 ERA+.

Kevin Millar: Unfortunately, Millar’s best years came in obscurity in Florida, and he was more famous than good during the second half of his career (he was also probably good enough to play in the majors at least a year before the Marlins called him up; he had two at-bats prior to his age-27 season). Still, as visible as he’s been, it was surprising to see him left off, especially when he’s at least as qualified as Boone or Clark. Millar hit .274/.358/.452 with 170 homers in 4,688 career at-bats. Clark hit .262/.339/.485 with 251 homers in 4,532 at-bats. Boone hit .263/.326/.425 with 126 homers in 3,871 at-bats.

Paul Byrd: The leading winner left off the ballot, Byrd finished his career 109-96 with a 4.41 ERA and a 103 ERA+. He made an All-Star team with the Phillies in 2009 and won 17 games for a horrible Royals team in 2002, leading the league with seven complete games that year. He then missed all of 2003. In the latter half of his career, he was among the game’s stingiest when it came to issuing walks, finishing in the top five in the AL in walk rates four times.

Jacob deGrom, oft-injured Rangers ace, to have season-ending right elbow surgery

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Charles LeClaire/USA TODAY Sports
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ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers signed Jacob deGrom to a $185 million, five-year deal in free agency last winter hoping the two-time NL Cy Young Award winner could help them get back to the playoffs for the first time since 2016 and make a push toward winning a World Series.

They also knew the risks, with the pitcher coming off two injury-plagued seasons with the New York Mets.

Even with deGrom sidelined since late April, the AL West-leading Rangers are off to the best start in franchise history – but now will be without their prized acquisition until at least next year. The team said Tuesday that deGrom will have season-ending surgery next week to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow.

“We’ve got a special group here and to not be able to be out there and help them win, that stinks,” deGrom said, pausing several times with tears in his eyes. “Wanting to be out there and helping the team, it’s a disappointment.”

General manager Chris Young said Tuesday the decision on surgery came after an MRI on deGrom’s ailing right elbow, but the extent of what is required might not be determined until the operation is performed next week.

Tommy John surgery, in which the damaged ligament is replaced, is often needed to fix a torn UCL, but Young and the Rangers didn’t go as far as saying the pitcher would have that particular procedure. After being drafted by the New York Mets in 2010, deGrom made six starts in the minors that summer before needing Tommy John surgery and missing all of 2011, three years before his big league debut.

DeGrom last pitched April 28 against the New York Yankees, when he exited early because of injury concerns for the second time in a span of three starts. The announcement about surgery came a day after deGrom was transferred to the 60-day injured list.

Young said the latest MRI showed more inflammation and significant structural damage in the ligament that wasn’t there on the scan after deGrom left the game against the Yankees.

“The results of that MRI show that we have not made progress. And in fact, we’ve identified some damage to the ligament,” Young said. “It’s obviously a tough blow for Jacob, for certainly the Rangers. But we do feel this is what is right for Jacob in his career. We’re confident he’ll make a full recovery.”

Young and deGrom, who turns 35 later this month, said the goal is for the pitcher to return near the end of next season. Both said they were glad to have clarity on what was wrong with the elbow.

Texas won all six games started by deGrom (2-0), but the right-hander threw only 30 1/3 innings. He has a 2.67 ERA with 45 strikeouts and four walks. He threw 3 2/3 scoreless innings against the Yankees in his last start before leaving because of discomfort in his arm.

The Rangers went into Tuesday night’s game against St. Louis with a 39-20 record, the first time they were 19 games over .500 since the end of 2016, their last winning season.

Before going home to Florida over the weekend for the birth of his third child, deGrom threw his fifth bullpen last Wednesday in Detroit.

“I’d have days where I’d feel really good, days where I didn’t feel great. So I was kind of riding a roller coaster there for a little bit,” deGrom said. “They said originally there, we just saw some inflammation. … Getting an MRI right after you pitch, I feel like anybody would have inflammation. So, you know, I was hoping that that would get out of there and I would be fine. But it just didn’t work out that way.”

DeGrom spent his first nine big league seasons with the Mets, but was limited by injuries to 156 1/3 innings over 26 starts during his last two years in New York.

He had a career-low 1.08 ERA over 92 innings in 2021 before missing the final three months of the season with right forearm tightness and a sprained elbow.

The four-time All-Star didn’t make his first big league start last year until Aug. 2 after being shut down late in spring training because of a stress reaction in his right scapula.

His latest injury almost surely will trigger Texas’ conditional option on deGrom’s contract for 2028.

The option takes effect if deGrom has Tommy John surgery on his right elbow from 2023-26 or has any right elbow or shoulder injury that causes him to be on the IL for any period of 130 consecutive days during any season or 186 days in a row during any service period.

The conditional option would be for $20 million, $30 million or $37 million, depending on deGrom’s performance during the contract and health following the 2027 season.

“I feel bad for Jake. If I know Jake, he’ll have the surgery and come back and finish his career strong,” second-year Mets manager Buck Showalter said. “I know how much it means to him. He enjoys pitching. It’s certainly sad news for all of us.”