Todd Helton: Hall of Famer?

[The Brain]

A couple weeks ago I created a thread asking if Roy Halladay is a future hall of famer. I have a small obsession with the MLB Hall of Fame so I thought I would do a bit of a series asking if others are future hall of famers. I will ask about players who I feel are borderline candidates that are either still active but at the end of their careers or are already retired and will be coming on the ballot in the next few years. I won’t be asking about guys like Greg Maddux and Mariano Rivera or anyone else that is an obvious hall of famer. The man to be discussed in this thread is still playing but will likely be retiring in the next year or two. Let’s talk about Todd Helton.

Todd Helton had an amazing start to his career. In my opinion Helton should have won the NL Rookie of the Year in 1998, and that’s coming from a die hard Cubs fan (Kerry Wood won the award). Helton hit .315 with 25 home runs and 97 RBI as a rookie and he was just scratching the surface. From 1999-2004 Helton averaged .343 37 121. It was a crime that his 2000 season of .372 42 147 with 216 hits, 59 doubles, a .698 slugging percentage and .463 on base percentage only got him a fifth place finish in the MVP voting. Helton was as dominant as anybody for a seven year stretch. Since 2005/2006 Helton has been more ordinary. Helton hasn’t hit 20 home runs since 2005 when he hit exactly 20. He hasn’t topped 100 RBI since 2003. He’s still been a great player but hasn’t performed at a hall of fame level for quite some time.

I’m on the fence about Helton. He had hall of fame numbers for his first seven years but is that a long enough stretch to earn him the highest honor a player can earn? What do you think? Is Todd Helton a future hall of famer?

 

[smizzy]

I'm a snob when it comes to the Hall of Fame. I hold it to the highest of standards. Helton has a lot of what I'm looking for in a Hall of Famer: high batting average, a lot of hits, great defender, great teammate, and I could go on. I also love that he's a Rockies lifer, a lost quality (go to hell, Pujols).

But to me, while he has a way above-average career line, I still don't think he's in that upper echelon of the all-time greats. One of the ways I judge a player's HoF worthiness is I literally list their name aloud along with other guys that are in at the same position: Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Todd Helton? He's just not up to that level.

Or is he? His stats are actually quite similar to a couple first basemen that are already in (Orlando Cepeda in particular,) but whether I believe they're worthy to be in is a whole other debate. I reitterate, I'm very snobby when it comes to the HoF, and I just don't think Helton is at that superior, elite, all-time best level.

 

[miz2676]

Todd Helton had amazing years early in his career and was a house hold name he still is doing decent and is keeping a steady pace will he be a hall of famer I hope so but I can see him not being a hof because he doesn't have the spectacular numbers that every one wants

 

[Megatron]

Hall of very good, not great. 61 bWAR and 56 fWAR are very good and make him a solid guy for his era, but not necessarily HOF worthy. His defensive metrics rate him as an above average defender even while missing some of his earlier years (stats only go back to 2002/03) so he has that going for him, and despite hitting in the bandbox of Coors Field his advanced metrics (wRC+ and wOBA) are better than I anticipated. However, he just doesn't have the longevity of greatness that I think is deserving in a HOF. He only made 5 all star games. Never finished above 5th in the MVP voting.

A very similar comp I found was Lance Berkman. Berkman isn't going to the HOF I'd say. Neither should Helton.