Best players not in the Hall of Fame

[Rice4HOF]

The writer of "Baseball: Past and Present" does an annual post where readers vote for the best players not currently in the Hall.  Everyone is eligible - Shoeless Joe, players who have dropped off the ballot, etc.  In the past he has had some interesting results worth a read.  Not only do you vote on the best players, but you get to say whether or not they should be in the HoF. Last year Fat Billy was 6th on this list, but only 98 out of the 119 votes he received thought he should be in the Hall.
 
Anyhow, I encourage everyone to vote - the more intelligent fans that participate, the more likely the results will be meaningful.  This year's post is here: http://baseballpastandpresent.com/2013/12/07/vote-50-baseball-players-hall-fame-version-4-0/
 
The list of ~500 names that you may want to include is here https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ApP1yDGO72LHdEltUmQ2OHRVcGdwZ3hrUzhOLThhSWc&usp=drive_web#gid=0
 
The actual ballot is here https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/embeddedform?formkey=dEl4ejIxNVZQMkdxRUhzQmMyN2RaRXc6MQ
 
 
 

 

[Kliq]

Very cool, the most interesting name on the ballot was Sadaharu Oh. I didn't know how much thought he had been given for the HOF, but from a production standpoint he is a no-brainer and he would be a great start to include some Japanese legends. I found this piece on him, which I thought was interesting:http://baseballguru.com/ctomarkin/analysisctomarkin07.html

 

[keninten]

Wanted to vote JR Richard and Bo Jackson but they just didn`t play long enough. I also surprised myself that I didn`t vote for Schilling.

 

[Merkle's Boner]

Wanted to vote JR Richard and Bo Jackson but they just didn`t play long enough. I also surprised myself that I didn`t vote for Schilling.

At the risk of starting another HOF debate, how could you possibly find 50 names on that list more worthy than Schilling? Hell, I included Rick Reuschel!

 

[terrisus]

Very cool, the most interesting name on the ballot was Sadaharu Oh. I didn't know how much thought he had been given for the HOF, but from a production standpoint he is a no-brainer and he would be a great start to include some Japanese legends. I found this piece on him, which I thought was interesting:http://baseballguru.com/ctomarkin/analysisctomarkin07.html

 

 
Now that it is long after Oh retired, Japanese players are still partially banned from MLB, because they are required to wait nine years and in many cases ten years before they can leave Japan.

 
Off the top of my head, I'm pretty sure that they can come straight over to the US out of school if they want - it's only once they sign a contract with a Japanese team that they're locked into Japan until being posted/becoming a free agent.
 
EDIT: On checking more, yes, that is the case. See, for example, Junichi Tazawa.

 

[Kliq]

The results are in: http://baseballpastandpresent.com/2014/01/06/50-baseball-players-hall-fame-version-4-0/
 
Don't know how Maddux isn't number one, but that is a different debate.

 

[Tim Salmon]

The results are in: http://baseballpastandpresent.com/2014/01/06/50-baseball-players-hall-fame-version-4-0/
 
Don't know how Maddux isn't number one, but that is a different debate.

 
Either I misunderstood the point of the exercise or a lot of other people did.  Bonds should be on every single ballot.

 

[Rice4HOF]

I agree. I provided the author with the same feedback last year. Bonds should be #1 - this is independent of whether ot not he should be in the Hall. I liked that voters get to make 2 choices. Is he in top 50? Bonds, Clemens, Rose, Shoeless etc should be definite yes. Should he be in the Hall? Feel free to leave out whomever you don't like for off the field reasons.

 

[SumnerH]

Off the top of my head, I'm pretty sure that they can come straight over to the US out of school if they want - it's only once they sign a contract with a Japanese team that they're locked into Japan until being posted/becoming a free agent.
 
EDIT: On checking more, yes, that is the case. See, for example, Junichi Tazawa.

I think it's still unclear what would happen if a player was drafted but not signed by an NPB team. Tazawa told the NPB teams before the draft that he would hold out if drafted, and in his case that worked and nobody picked him. But it's not guaranteed.

The other two non-posted/FA players in recent years were Mac Suzuki and Kaz Tadano. Suzuki moved to the US at age 16 and played indie ball and then joined the Mariners' system, he wasn't in Japan for the draft. Tadano had a scandal (he made a gay porn video) that dissuaded teams from drafting him; he moved to the US and signed with the Indians.

 

[ForceAtHome]

I think it's still unclear what would happen if a player was drafted but not signed by an NPB team. Tazawa told the NPB teams before the draft that he would hold out if drafted, and in his case that worked and nobody picked him. But it's not guaranteed.

The other two non-posted/FA players in recent years were Mac Suzuki and Kaz Tadano. Suzuki moved to the US at age 16 and played indie ball and then joined the Mariners' system, he wasn't in Japan for the draft. Tadano had a scandal (he made a gay porn video) that dissuaded teams from drafting him; he moved to the US and signed with the Indians.

 
My understanding is that a NPB draftee can spurn the drafting team and come to the US if he wants. Until he actually signs, he's free to do as he wishes. However, I assume the punishment that was put into place after Tazawa made his move is still in place -- a three year ban from playing in the NPB if a player signs overseas.
 
Shohei Otani is the notable recent example. He was a super high profile Japanese high school player who had major interest from MLB teams. He made a public statement saying that he wanted to go straight to MLB/MILB rather than play in Japan. Nonetheless, he was drafted first overall in the 2012 NPB draft. As I understand it, Otani had the right to refuse a contract from the NPB team who drafted him and sign in the US a la Tazawa. However, he ended up succumbing to pressure/changing his mind and signed in Japan.
 
In his rookie season of 2013, during which he was 18/19 years old, he both pitched (11 starts, 2 relief appearances) and played RF (77 games). In other words, he's like the Japanese Jameis Winston, minus the football, playing professional baseball instead of college baseball, and half a year younger. So he's nothing like Winston! Well, other than the fact that both throw very hard and play RF/P.