Posted by MikeT23 on 8/23/2013 5:46:00 PM (view original):
Mattingly, at his peak, best player in baseball.
Raines, at his peak, standing on 2nd hoping somebody gets a hit.
This is the problem with Mattingly. He had a 4 year peak. After that peak, he's a .292/.347/.424 hitter. And yes, I understand he added value defensively. But Raines is much more worthy of the HOF.
One could also argue they'd prefer Raines' 4 year peak than Mattingly's 4 year peak. .075 difference in OPS, which is fairly significant, but Raines is stealing 70 bases, and playing a more important defensive position.
8/24/2013 11:51 AM (edited)