Abreu? Hall of Fame?
I never considered the thought.
But Baseball Musings makes the case that Bobby Abreu may be HOF material. So I looked up his stats and I must admit his stats do warrant attention.
Six straight years with 20+ homers (and certainly on his way to a seventh). Six years with 20+ steals (again on his way to a seventh). Three 100 rbi seasons and four 100 run seasons. And maybe overlooked, six straight years with 100+ walks.
He is probably the best chance at a 40-40 season in the MLB right now.
I’ll be watching Bobby a little closer now.
No one knows what will happen the next 5 years. Maybe Abreu will really break out and be something special.
But, so far, not good enough, IMO.
Abreu is 31 years old (3/11/74). At age 30 – the completion of 2004 – the ten most statistically similar hitters in baseball history, according to BaseballReference.com, are Bernie Williams, Dave Parker, Tough Tony O (Tony Olivo), Fred Lynn, Wally Berger, Magglio, Raul Mondesi (yes, THAT Raul Mondesi), Reggie Smith, Larry Walker and Mike Sweeney.
While several of those guys are not yet eligible, most were good players, and I think I could make a case for Reggie Smith, NONE are Hall of Famers.
I think Bobby Abreu will have to step it up several notches in his 30’s to talk HOF.
It seems as though Abreu has really stepped it up since saying adios to his hot little conchita.