World Series Round-Up

The World Series put the spotlight on many potential Hall of Famers. Mariano Rivera, Pedro Martinez and Derek Jeter already are Hall bound, and A-Rod is likely. But there are a number of interesting players who are moving into that gray area of borderline candidate. A projection of their prospects:

Chase Utley – A great all-around 2nd baseman, Utley has the power and speed tools. What he needs is longevity. Given his go-for-broke style, that may be a challenge. He’ll have to stay healthy another six or seven years.

Jorge Posada – A key contributor to five World Series champions, Posada has played in the shadow of other stars for most of his career. He’ll probably need 300 career HRs to have a good shot. Right now he’s at 243.

Johnny Damon – Hard to believe this guy has almost 2,500 hits. He’ll need to get to 3,000, which is possible if he stays healthy. Staying in New York—with its high profile—would help his prospects.

Ryan Howard – Despite a disappointing series, he’s still a dominant force in the game. But his future is hard to predict. According to Baseball-reference.com, the players most similar to him at this stage are Richie Sexson and Cecil Fielder. The next two years should tell a lot about his HoF prospects.

C.C. Sabathia and Cliff Lee – The team aces have long roads ahead. Sabathia is a little younger and more durable. With 136 victories to date, he’s on course. But a 20-win season would be nice. Lee would have to maintain his 2008-’09 level for quite a few years. At age 31, he still has fewer than 100 victories.

Andy Pettitte – With the addition of the Division Series, players from this era have more playoff games than any previous group. Pettitte may be the test case to see how this affects HoF voting. He’s already won a regular season’s worth of playoff games – 18. The HGH admission will hurt him some. Probably needs 275 regular season and playoff victories to have a chance. Right now he’s at 247.