It is not a stretch to believe the steely McGriff would have played in all of those games and, had he stayed on his trajectory of averaging 4.28 plate appearances per game and a homer every 17.7 plate appearances, would have hit 16 more homers.That would have given McGriff 509 homers, tied for 26th all-time with Gary Sheffield. That said, don’t count him just yet as an automatic selection to Cooperstown, or even a selection at all. On the most basic level, flouting the sport's rules to gain an edge on the competition, while hundreds of contemporaries choose to play clean, eats at the moral code held dear by many players, fans, and media members. He averaged 154 games from 1988-93 and again from 1996-98.In 1994-95, the Braves played 258 games, and McGriff participated in 257 of them. Countless second basemen have better fielding numbers than Biggio, who might be one of the worst defensive Hall of Famers in baseball history, judging at least on his -100 runs from fielding. In the near term, Cano could return from his suspension and keep right on hitting, just as teammate But the longer-term outlook suddenly looks much more muddled.

Since 2000, six natives from Latin America have been inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Previous generations lost service time during war. A shortened 2020 would make producing the 645 hits he needs all the more unlikely.Through his age-35 season, Mussina had 2,833¹/₃ innings, a 126 ERA-plus and 68.3 Wins Above Replacement. Cano also has a reasonable shot at 80 WAR, topped by just five second basemen, namely Rogers Hornsby, Eddie Collins, Nap Lajoie, Joe Morgan and Charlie Gehringer.Cano’s projected numbers suggest he might finish his career as an inner circle Hall of Famer. Team: New York Mets (majors) Born: October 22, 1982 in San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic do High School: San Pedro de Macoris (San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic) Debut: May 3, 2005 (Age 22-193d, 16,240th in MLB history) vs. TBD 3 AB, 0 H, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 SB

Post was not sent - check your email addresses! Fairly, or not.CBS Sports is a registered trademark of CBS Broadcasting Inc. Commissioner.com is a registered trademark of CBS Interactive Inc. That has been truer than ever since Baseball writers continue to grapple with the issue of PED use, and they remain all over the map in filling out their HOF ballots.

That said, for peak value, Robinson might rate as one of the best second basemen in baseball history, though Robinson spent enough time at first and third base that it’s hard to define him as any one position.Meanwhile, Ryne Sandberg finished his career with 2,386 hits, 282 home runs, a .285 batting average and roughly the same WAR as Biggio, 67.5 to 65.1. But it was just 258 rather than the standard 324. Labor-related stoppages canceled the final two months and the postseason of 1994 and limited 1995 to 144 games.There were 66 potential games lost for McGriff in his prime — he was in the midst of arguably his best season in 1994. Baseball analyst Jay Jaffe invented a metric called JAWS that measures the combination of a player's career performance and his numbers during his peak years, as defined by his seven best seasons. Without 3,000 hits, Biggio maybe doesn’t get beyond one Hall of Fame ballot.Are there exceptions to the rule? 6:48 pm ETI agree that CBS Sports can send me the "CBS Sports HQ Newsletter" newsletter. Team Names: New York Yankees, New York Highlanders Seasons: 118 (1903 to 2020) Record: 10394-7849, .570 W-L% Playoff Appearances: 55 Pennants: 40 World Championships: 27 Winningest Manager: Joe … Cano's resume doesn't approach that of legends like Bonds and A-Rod, but it's still Hall-worthy, even if he never plays another game. Whitaker, Randolph, and Grich all have higher WAR and Wins Above Average ratings. By JAWS, Cano rates as the None of that, nor Cano's more conventional career stats (.304/.354/.493, 305 home runs, 522 doubles, 1,206 RBI, 1,168 runs scored while playing one of the most demanding positions on the diamond), nor his accolades (eight All-Star appearances, five Silver Slugger awards, two Gold Gloves) trump today's suspension announcement ... at least if recent history is any indication. Orlando Cepeda in 1999. Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Stan Musial are among the headliners in that club.• He's an eight-time All-Star and the second-most prolific home run-hitting second baseman in history (with 305) behind only Jeff Kent. His 493 ties him with Lou Gehrig for the most homers hit without attaining 500. Please check the opt-in box to acknowledge that you would like to subscribe. 6-keys: media/spln/mlb/reg/free/stories

Play Now Seattle’s Robinson Cano has been suspended for 80 games, which is a … In the previous 64 years, there were only five. Thanks for contacting us. Rod Carew in 1991.

Max Scherzer is already a no-brainer for me with three Cy Young awards and nine seasons ranging from above-average to brilliant, but I am not sure that is a universal opinion.