Joe Mauer announces retirement: HOF? Make Your Case:

[Bagwell-1994]

Originally Posted by orioles93

Personally I think Mauer gets in eventually, and is deserving. But just curious on everyone's thoughts on Mauer's career versus the likes of Ted Simmons, Lance Parrish, and Victor Martinez.

Simmons was an 8-time all-star with highest MVP finish at 6th and never led the league in any significant category, 4 seasons over 5 WAR (50.3 total BWAR). Parrish was also an 8-time all-star but similarly highest MVP finish was 9th and never led the league in anything notable, 1 season at 5 WAR (39.5 total BWAR). Martinez was a 5-time all-star with a 2nd place MVP finish in 2014, only ever led the league in OBP & OPS in 2014 and has the lowest career WAR (32.2) of anyone in the conversation, 2 seasons above 5 WAR.

Mauer was a 5-time all-star, MVP winner in 2009, 3 time batting champ: 2006/2008/2009, led league in OBP/SLG/OPS/OPS+ in 2009, led league in OBP in 2012. Had 5 seasons over 5 WAR (55.1 total BWAR).

https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/jaws_C.shtml

This table at BBreference lists Mauer as the 7th best catcher ever regarding WAR and JAWS as performance measuring metrics. Admittedly Ted Simmons is 10th best ever per the chart, but as stated above, he lacks the league-leading stats/MVP that Mauer accumulated.

I'm not sure I would even vote for Mauer for HOF due to his relatively low counting stats in areas ("only" 2123 hits) but his .306/.388/.439 career slash line is impressive. Combine that with his stellar MVP season, 3 batting titles and 7th place position in WAR/JAWS all-time among catchers and I think he's a sure-fire HOFer at some point.

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