Jeff Kent to announce retirement

[RedsBaron]

It is being reported that Jeff Kent will announce his retirement.
Should he make the Hall of Fame? Yes.
Will he make the Hall of Fame? I don't know; it will probably take him a few years.

[Ravenlord]

this makes it more economically feasible for the Dodgers to chase Manny.

also i have trouble with the idea of Kent being in the Hall (which i think he should) before Lou Whitaker and Alan Trammel.

[Ravenlord]

Age	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG
24	305	52	73	21	2	11	50	27	76	2	3	239	310	430
25	496	65	134	24	0	21	80	30	88	4	4	270	320	446
26	415	53	121	24	5	14	68	23	84	1	4	292	341	475
27	472	65	131	22	3	20	65	29	89	3	3	278	327	464
28	437	61	124	27	1	12	54	31	78	6	4	284	330	432
29	580	90	145	38	2	29	121	48	133	11	3	250	316	472
30	526	94	156	37	3	31	128	48	110	9	4	297	359	555
31	511	86	148	40	2	23	101	61	112	13	6	290	366	511
32	587	114	196	41	7	33	125	90	107	12	9	334	424	596
33	607	84	181	49	6	22	106	65	96	7	6	298	369	507
34	623	102	195	42	2	37	108	52	101	5	1	313	368	565
35	505	77	150	39	1	22	93	39	85	6	2	297	351	509
36	540	96	156	34	8	27	107	49	96	7	3	289	348	531
37	553	100	160	36	0	29	105	72	85	6	2	289	377	512
38	407	61	119	27	3	14	68	55	69	1	2	292	385	477
39	494	78	149	36	1	20	79	57	61	1	3	302	375	500
40	440	42	123	23	1	12	59	25	52	0	1	280	327	418
Career	8498	1320	2461	560	47	377	1518	801	1522	94	60	290	356	500
AVG	599	93	174	40	3	27	107	56	107	7	4	290	356	500

[Cyclone792]

Kent deserves to get in, IMO, as I believe he's pretty easily amongst the top 15 2B of all-time. Of course, I also think he's neck-and-neck with Bobby Grich, and Grich isn't in (Kent the better hitter, Grich the better fielder, overall value extremely close). I'd take both over Joe Gordon, whoI think is borderline yet just got elected via the Vets' Committee this year.

I'd probably rank the top 20 second basemen of all-time something like this:

1. Eddie Collins
2. Rogers Hornsby
3. Joe Morgan (I go back-and-forth on Collins/Hornsby/Morgan often; this is very interchangeable, IMO)
4) Nap Lajoie
5) Craig Biggio (easy HOFer, IMO)
6) Jackie Robinson
7) Roberto Alomar (easy HOFer, IMO)
8) Charlie Gehringer
9) Ryne Sandberg
10) Frankie Frisch
11) Rod Carew
12) Jeff Kent
13) Bobby Grich
14) Larry Doyle
15) Billy Herman
16) Joe Gordon
17) Nellie Fox
18) Lou Whitaker
19) Bobby Doerr
20) Willie Randolph

Chase Utley has a pretty good chance of joining this group somewhere. It'll be fun seeing how his career unfolds and what type of historic 2B Utley develops into.

[Unassisted]

Having the highest career HR total for a 2B should help his HOF case.

[paulrichjr]

Originally Posted by Unassisted

Having the highest career HR total for a 2B should help his HOF case.

Doing it during the steroids era won't help though. I'm not saying he did it but I think a lot of voters will hold it against anyone that played during this time that hit a lot of home runs.

[cincrazy]

Originally Posted by Cyclone792

Kent deserves to get in, IMO, as I believe he's pretty easily amongst the top 15 2B of all-time. Of course, I also think he's neck-and-neck with Bobby Grich, and Grich isn't in (Kent the better hitter, Grich the better fielder, overall value extremely close). I'd take both over Joe Gordon, whoI think is borderline yet just got elected via the Vets' Committee this year.

I'd probably rank the top 20 second basemen of all-time something like this:

1. Eddie Collins
2. Rogers Hornsby
3. Joe Morgan (I go back-and-forth on Collins/Hornsby/Morgan often; this is very interchangeable, IMO)
4) Nap Lajoie
5) Craig Biggio (easy HOFer, IMO)
6) Jackie Robinson
7) Roberto Alomar (easy HOFer, IMO)
8) Charlie Gehringer
9) Ryne Sandberg
10) Frankie Frisch
11) Rod Carew
12) Jeff Kent
13) Bobby Grich
14) Larry Doyle
15) Billy Herman
16) Joe Gordon
17) Nellie Fox
18) Lou Whitaker
19) Bobby Doerr
20) Willie Randolph

Chase Utley has a pretty good chance of joining this group somewhere. It'll be fun seeing how his career unfolds and what type of historic 2B Utley develops into.

Not seeing D'Angelo Jimenez on that list anywhere. You must have erred.

[GADawg]

Dibble and and especially Seth what his face were killin' Kent on XM today though both agreed he should get in the hall. Neither could think of anything positive to say about him as a person....not a hall requirement to be sure.

[MrCinatit]

I think he will make it, eventually. Probably not a first-year inductee - and not because of his numbers, but because of his occasional feuds. I'm not saying that is right, but I would not put it past the baseball writers (see: Blyleven, Rice).

[WMR]

If--and this is a BIG IF--B.Phil had a couple more historic 30-30 seasons and played at a generally high level until his mid-late 30's, could he make a case for the Hall? (maybe sprinkle in another gold glove or two as well)

[VR]

I think Kent and many others will lay low the 1st few months of the year, and then get gobbled up when teams start getting pennant fever.

[Ravenlord]

Originally Posted by MrCinatit

I think he will make it, eventually. Probably not a first-year inductee - and not because of his numbers, but because of his occasional feuds. I'm not saying that is right, but I would not put it past the baseball writers (see: Blyleven, Rice).

i agree. that's why i think he won't be first ballot. but really, how many players averaged 100+ RBIs in a 162 game season, and how many of them played second base? i bet Kent's the only who played second...maybe Hornsby...

[Rojo]

In his day, Kent would've been the perfect pairing with Dunn.

[Cyclone792]

Originally Posted by WilyMoROCKS

If--and this is a BIG IF--B.Phil had a couple more historic 30-30 seasons and played at a generally high level until his mid-late 30's, could he make a case for the Hall? (maybe sprinkle in another gold glove or two as well)

As Phillips stands now, he pretty much has little to no shot. What little shot he has involves him doing one of three things:

1) Doubling his walk rate, which makes huge OBP strides and also greatly helps him sustain that 30 HR power on an annual basis (i.e. significantly boost his SLG too). He'd then be a serious offensive weapon far beyond what he is now. As it is now, that 30 HR power will be few and far between without a boost in walks.

2) Start hitting about .320+ consistently year after year. That would also obviously enable him to become a serious offensive weapon.

3) Become this generation's version of Bill Mazeroski with the glove. And while Phillips is very good with the leather, but he's no Maz.

Phillips' seasonal win shares from 2006-08 are 14, 18, and 18. Most HOF second baggers have at least a few 30+ win share seasons (or several seasons in the high 20s).

Also, Phillips' win shares per 162 games average as a Red is 18.08 (this isn't including his abysmal production as a Cleveland Indian), and while that's a nice player, it's nowhere near HOF caliber. He pretty much has to get that number up to 23+ for his career, and that would take several seasons of the 30ish variety to do so.

[WMR]

Originally Posted by Cyclone792

As Phillips stands now, he pretty much has little to no shot. What little shot he has involves him doing one of three things:

1) Doubling his walk rate, which makes huge OBP strides and also greatly helps him sustain that 30 HR power on an annual basis (i.e. significantly boost his SLG too). He'd then be a serious offensive weapon far beyond what he is now. As it is now, that 30 HR power will be few and far between without a boost in walks.

2) Start hitting about .320+ consistently year after year. That would also obviously enable him to become a serious offensive weapon.

3) Become this generation's version of Bill Mazeroski with the glove. And while Phillips is very good with the leather, but he's no Maz.

Phillips' seasonal win shares from 2006-08 are 14, 18, and 18. Most HOF second baggers have at least a few 30+ win share seasons (or several seasons in the high 20s).

Also, Phillips' win shares per 162 games average as a Red is 18.08 (this isn't including his abysmal production as a Cleveland Indian), and while that's a nice player, it's nowhere near HOF caliber. He pretty much has to get that number up to 23+ for his career, and that would take several seasons of the 30ish variety to do so.

I knew you'd have the scoop, Cyc.