SPORTS

ESPN writer: Trammell, Morris will get in Hall next year

The Detroit News

This week's election of Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez to the Baseball Hall of Fame will be part of continuing trend for former Tigers, an ESPN writer forecasts.

Tigers teammates on the 1984 World Championship team Alan Trammell and Jack Morris are on deck for entry to Cooperstown in 2018 by a veterans committee vote, David Schoenfield predicts.

The author of the SweetSpot blog predicted every Hall of Fame class through 2045. Click here to read the full story.

Former Tigers manager Jim Leyland will be elected in 2019, Schoenfield says.

Schoenfield writes of Trammell: "While Hall of Fame players on the committee are never eager to increase the size of their club, Trammell was a respected player and clearly above Hall of Fame standards for his position. He got lost in the BBWAA votes because he entered the ballot when shortstops such as Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter and Nomar Garciaparra were putting up big numbers, but he was a good all-around player for a long time."

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The ESPN writer is equally complimentary of Morris:

"Morris is the pitcher whom stat guys don't like, but he peaked at 67 percent on the BBWAA ballot, and that means it would be unprecedented for him to not eventually get in. The people voting will be Hall of Famers who played against him when he was viewed as an ace and media members who covered him when he felt like a Hall of Famer, as opposed to those looking at a statistical résumé on Baseball-Reference.com."

There is no mention of Trammell's double-play partner Lou Whitaker making the Hall, though.

Schoenfield appears less convinced about Leyland's credentials.

"Leyland's career winning percentage is barely over .500, and he won just one World Series in three tries, but everyone seems to describe him as 'Future Hall of Fame manager' Jim Leyland, so I'll go along," Schoenfield writes.

The writer predicts current Tigers Miguel Cabrera (2031) and Justin Verlander (2032) are shoo-ins for the Hall.