2023 Baseball Hall of Fame voting results: Jeff Kent blames ‘stats people’ after losing ballot on 10th down

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The National Baseball Hall of Fame announced Tuesday night that Scott Rolen was the only member of this winter’s ballot to have been inducted into Cooperstown by appearing on more than 75% of Baseball Writers Association of America ballots. While Rolen had reason to celebrate, others had reason to be disappointed, including Jeff Kent, who failed in what amounted to his 10th (and final) year on the BBWAA ballot.

Kent, of course, has appeared in parts of 17 major league seasons, mostly as a second baseman. He made five All-Star Games and won four Silver Slugger Awards. He also won the National League Most Valuable Player award in 2000. Kent racked up 123 OPS+ for his career, along with 377 homers and 55.4 wins over substitution. Nonetheless, he appeared on less than 47% of ballots this year, crossing the 35% threshold for the first time.

Kent explained why he fell well short of the induction, blaming “a few non-voting statists”.

“Voting over the years has been too embarrassing,” Kent said in a text to the San Francisco Chronicle. “Baseball is losing a few generations of great players who were the best of their time because a few non-voting statisticians keep comparing those players to already-voted players from past generations and swaying the votes. It’s unfair to the best players of their time. own time and those already voted, in my opinion.”

Our own Matt Snyder happens to be one of those people who uses statistics and precedents to analyze the Hall of Fame. He noted that Kent’s offensive production had given him a strong “Hall of Famer” attraction, but also warned that Kent’s potential induction would likely come down to a committee vote due to how his defense below the league. average has lowered its total value measures.

To quote Snyder:

Kent ranks 19th in WAR among second basemen, well below the current Hall of Famer average and in the base ballpark of Ian Kinsler, Dustin Pedroia and Tony Phillips. In JAWS he is 21st and actually trails Pedroia and Kinsler. He’s not too far ahead of Ben Zobrist. All great players, to be clear, but not the company a foolproof Hall of Famer would keep.

Unfortunately for Kent, the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee met last winter when it chose to induct Fred McGriff. They won’t meet and vote again until the winter of 2025. That means Kent might be heading to Cooperstown after all, but he won’t be able to deliver his speech until 2026.

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