If you missed the first part of my annual Future Hall of Fame series focusing on the Hitters, you can read Part 1 here and Part 2 here. I think they turned out pretty well, in part because I’m in a rhythm at this point after years of doing it. I know what to cover, what particularly stands out more than usual, the recent history of major players, what worked in the past, all of that. In contrast, the process of predicting which starting pitchers will get into Cooperstown one day feels...
5 days ago • 2 min read
We’re back with the second half of this year’s Future Hall of Fame Hitters breakdown, picking up right where we left off last time. If you missed that one (or need a refresher on the methodology), covering younger players up through age 31, you can catch up on it here! Today, we’re looking at the much more established players. The first part of the starting pitcher piece should hopefully be coming out by the end of this week as well.Age 32: 48.7 WAR Median; 79.46% of all players at this mark...
11 days ago • 1 min read
Opening Day 2026 is fast approaching, but before we get there, I have one more major offseason piece to publish: my annual Future Hall of Fame Series! It feels like the last few editions have all been special occasions that beget nostalgia, like anniversaries or major milestones, but this year in contrast looks rather quaint in comparison; this entry isn’t a round number, and while one of this year’s two BBWAA inductees was once again a former inclusion in this series, it was Carlos Beltran,...
15 days ago • 2 min read
And finally, my End of 2025 Playlist is available! It’s a little later than I wanted, but I ran into some delays over the last few weeks, and figured delaying it would be better than rushing things. I think part of my anxiety about being late is how most places end up doing their year-end lists before the year itself even ends, which I maintain is just wrong; you might still find cool stuff in December! But I suppose it’s too much for me to change everyone else’s mind there. And I guess this...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
For the third year in a row (and tenth time in the last twelve elections), the Baseball Writers Association of America has inducted multiple players into the Hall of Fame. For 2026, centerfielders Carlos Beltrán and Andruw Jones will be joining Veterans Committee pick Jeff Kent on the stage in Cooperstown this July. And behind them, we saw a lot of interesting developments with downballot candidates that will end up shaping the next few Hall of Fame ballots. But first, let’s start with the...
2 months ago • 2 min read
In my piece about ‘Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom’ from last year, I originally had a brief digression about the genre name, and I ended up removing it because it kind of destroyed the flow of the piece. But… I can also just write that as its own thing, I don’t actually need to cram every varied idea I have while playing a game into a single article I write about that game. In fact, play your cards right and it can even become a vehicle to discuss other games! Who knew?!?). Sarcasm aside,...
2 months ago • 1 min read
It’s been a month since we got our last big piece of news on the 2026 Hall of Fame election, that the first member of this year’s class of inductees would be Veterans Committee choice Jeff Kent. In the time since, we’ve gone fullbore on the main question of Hall of Fame Season: who the Baseball Writers will induct off the main ballot. However, the actual ballots are technically all submitted (the deadline for that was the start of the new year), and there’s not really going to be any real...
3 months ago • 2 min read
On Sunday, we got our first official Hall of Fame announcement for the Class of 2026, with the Veterans Committee’s Contemporary Era panel revealing the results of their election. And somehow, the results were both very predictable and rather baffling. But first, we’ll start with the big headline: Jeff Kent will be joining the Hall of Fame in 2026.I wrote severalpieces previewingthis election (thank you to everyone who read them!), and if you read those, this is in some ways unsurprising. I...
4 months ago • 1 min read
Earlier this week, I reviewed the Veterans Committee ballot ahead of their upcoming December 7th announcement. Part 1 (which can be read here) covered the cases of Gary Sheffield, Carlos Delgado, Fernando Valenzuela, and most-likely inductee Jeff Kent; Part 2 (which can be read here) covered the new rules shenanigans that are likely to impact the candidacies of Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Don Mattingly, and Dale Murphy. Check both of those out if you haven’t already, I think I did a pretty...
4 months ago • 1 min read
