As you may have heard, Scott Rolen was voted into the Hall of Fame this week. Last month, I wrote how I didn’t feel Bobby Abreu merited enshrinement in Cooperstown. I really should have written about Rolen instead, because while I don’t think either man should be in the Hall of Fame, at least I like Bobby Abreu.
Beyond my personal bias against Rolen, I’ve admitted that my Hall of Fame standards aren’t very scientific, and it’s more of a feel thing. I think to merit inclusion in the Hall of Fame, a player needs to be undeniably great or have some sense of transcendence rather than simply being “worth” as many wins above replacement as some players previously enshrined.