Fantasy Leaguers Can Save the Hall of Fame

From a fantasy perspective, it doesn't matter if a player was a steroids user or if he never merited serious consideration for Cooperstown. All that matters is whether his statistical performances helped his fantasy teams during his career.
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There are plenty of flaws in the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) Hall of Fame process:

  • The rules for voter eligibility are flawed
  • The rules for candidate eligibility are arbitrary
  • The criteria for induction are too broad and subjective

Last week, the MLB Network's Brian Kenny tweeted, "I do know this: the only approach that will stand the test of time, is 'performance only'."

From a fantasy baseball perspective, that's the truth. It doesn't matter if a player was a steroids user, or if the media had a grudge against him. It doesn't matter if his stats were inflated because of his home ballpark, or if he never merited serious consideration for Cooperstown. All that matters is whether his statistical performances helped his fantasy teams during his career.

The voting results of the BBWAA Hall of Fame ballot will be announced on January 8. While this year's ballot has generated its fair share of controversy, we have created a Rotisserie Hall of Fame at ShandlerPark.com that provides a more definitive assessment of merit.

Here is how players are evaluated for the Roto Hall:

All players must have a minimum of 10 seasons in the majors and finish ranked among the annual top 15 of all batters or pitchers at least once. In addition, BATTERS must meet at least two of these three criteria:

  • Minimum of 20 average dollar value over the course of his career
  • Minimum of 25 average dollar value during his peak 10 years
  • Must have finished ranked among the annual top 15 of all batters at least four times

PITCHERS must meet at least two of these three criteria:

  • Minimum of 15 average dollar value over the course of his career
  • Minimum of 20 average dollar value during his peak seven years
  • Must have finished ranked among the annual top 15 of all pitchers at least four times

And there is no waiting period for induction. If a player meets the other criteria, he can be inducted as soon as he officially retires. What's going to change in five years, or 15, anyway?

Here are the players on the BBWAA ballot and how they fare using the Roto Hall system:

Moises Alou is a non-qualifier, with a $19 career, $24 peak and two Top-15 finishes.

Jeff Bagwell would have already been inducted after the 2005 season. His 1994 season earned a whopping $52.

Armando Benitez is a non-qualifier, with a $9 career, $18 peak and one Top-15 finish.

Craig Biggio would have already been inducted after the 2007 season.

Barry Bonds would have already been inducted after the 2007 season. He already had eight Top-15 seasons under his belt before there was even a hint of steroids. Take away every season after 1998 and he's still a shoo-in.

Sean Casey is a non-qualifier, with a $12 career, $15 peak and no Top-15 finishes.

Roger Clemens would have already been inducted after the 2007 season. Had he retired after his tenure with Boston, he still would have more than qualified, with eight Top-15 seasons.

Ray Durham is a non-qualifier, with a $19 career, $21 peak and no Top-15 finishes.

Eric Gagne is a non-qualifier, with a $10 career, $14 peak and three Top-15 finishes. Those three seasons were his only truly productive years.

Tom Glavine would have already been inducted after the 2008 season.

Luis Gonzalez is a non-qualifier, with an $18 career, $24 peak and one Top-15 finish.

Jacque Jones is a non-qualifier, with a 10-year career that earned just $15 and no Top-15 finishes.

Todd Jones is a non-qualifier, with an $8 career, $12 peak and no Top-15 finishes.

Jeff Kent would have already been inducted after the 2008 season.

Paul LoDuca is a non-qualifier, with a $7 career, $9 peak and no Top-15 finishes.

Greg Maddux would have already been inducted after the 2008 season. He was a Top-15 player for 10 seasons, eight of them consecutive.

Edgar Martinez generates some interesting discussion, however, he misses qualifying. He had an $18 career, $25 peak and one Top-15 finish.

Don Mattingly would have already been inducted after the 1995 season. While his career tailed off early, the perception of his productivity was colored by the lower offensive seasons in which he played. For instance, the 14-86-.288 line he put up in 1992 -- pedestrian by today's standards -- was a $26 season back then.

Fred McGriff would have already been inducted after the 2004 season.

Mark McGwire would have already been inducted after the 2001 season. This is perhaps one player whose Roto Hall eligibility was boosted by steroid use.

Jack Morris would have already been inducted after the 1994 season, but just barely. The questions about his BBWAA eligibility are real, and if not for his 1987 season, he would have fallen short.

Mike Mussina would have already been inducted after the 2008 season. Despite just one 20-win season, he finished in the Top-15 of all pitchers nine times.

Hideo Nomo is a non-qualifier, with a $10 career, $15 peak and two Top-15 finishes.

Rafael Palmeiro would have already been inducted after the 2005 season.

Mike Piazza would have already been inducted after the 2007 season.

Tim Raines would have already been inducted after the 2002 season.

Kenny Rogers is a non-qualifier, with a $7 career, $12 peak and one Top-15 finish.

Curt Schilling would have already been inducted after the 2007 season.

Richie Sexson is a non-qualifier, with a $15 career, $18 peak and no Top-15 finishes.

Lee Smith would have already been inducted after the 1997 season.

J.T. Snow is a non-qualifier, with a $10 career, $14 peak and no Top-15 finishes.

Sammy Sosa would have already been inducted after the 2007 season.

Frank Thomas would have already been inducted after the 2008 season.

Mike Timlin is a non-qualifier, with a $6 career, $8 peak and no Top-15 finishes.

Alan Trammell is a non-qualifier, with an $18 career, $24 peak and one Top-15 finish. His defense makes him a more viable candidate for the BBWAA Hall.

Larry Walker would have already been inducted after the 2005 season, Coors product or no.

Twenty of the 36 players on the BBWAA ballot are already in the Roto Hall.

The 2014 inductees to the Rotisserie Hall of Fame will be announced on Tuesday, January 7, 2014 at ShandlerPark.com.

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