San Francisco Giants legend Buster Posey officially announced his retirement on Thursday.
During a press conference, he offered some insight into his decision and explained why he’s opting to hang up the cleats.
“I want to do more stuff from February to November with family,” Posey said. “Physically, it’s much harder now. It’s hard to enjoy it as much when there is physical pain that you’re dealing with.
“It was getting to the point that things that I was enjoying were not as joyful anymore.”
The league won’t be the same without Posey.
He’s undoubtedly one of the best catchers of this generation, and it’ll take a while to get used to the fact that he’s not going to be on the field anymore.
Amid the news of his retirement, a lot of fans have been discussing his Hall of Fame chances.
Will he get into Cooperstown?
Let’s look at both sides of the coin.
The Argument Against Posey Being In The Hall Of Fame
We’ll start with the case against Posey’s Hall of Fame hopes.
Really, there are two main things that might hurt his chances.
First, he’s retiring after just 12 years at the MLB level.
That’s a relatively short career.
For many Hall of Fame voters, longevity matters when evaluating a player.
Moreover, as a result of Posey’s somewhat short career, a lot of his counting stats (i.e. hits, home runs, etc.) aren’t as high as they could have been had he decided to play longer.
Second, and this is related, Posey’s WAR might come back to bite him.
He’s retiring with a bWAR of 44.9, and the average WAR for a Hall of Fame catcher is 53.8.
WAR is a massive data point these days, and some voters might be turned off Posey’s.
It’s another stat that would have gotten a big boost had he decided to play for a few more seasons.
The Argument For Posey Being In The Hall Of Fame
Alright, let’s move on to the other side.
There are a LOT of things working in Posey’s favor regarding his Hall of Fame chances.
First off, he’s a three-time World Series champ.
That’s incredibly rare, and to make it even more impressive, he was a crucial part of all of those title runs.
There’s no telling if the Giants would have won any of those championships without Posey.
There are three Hall of Fame catchers who have won three or more World Series titles:
Yogi Berra, 9
Bill Dickey, 7
Mickey Cochrane 3Buster Posey, who is retiring, also has won 3 WS championships
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) November 3, 2021
Second, Posey was always an elite two-way player.
In other words, he got the job done both offensively and defensively.
For his position, that’s very uncommon, as catchers are typically not good offensive performers.
But Posey always was.
For his career, he posted a slash line of .302/.372/.460, OPS+ of 129, and wRC+ of 129.
For context, those last two stats (OPS+ and wRC+) suggest that he was 29 percent better than the league-average hitter during his career.
Defensively, he’s widely regarded as an all-time great.
He never finished a season with a negative defensive bWAR.
To wrap up, Posey has a long list of accolades that will help his case.
Over his 12 seasons, he earned seven All-Star selections, four Silver Sluggers awards, and one of each of the following: Gold Glove award, batting title, MVP award, and Rookie of the Year award.
The Verdict: He Should Be In
It took Posey one season at the MLB level — his rookie campaign — to establish himself as a superstar.
He maintained that status throughout the entirety of his playing days.
As his career continued, he racked up accomplishments year after year.
For a 12-year stint in the majors, he checked every box you could have possibly asked for.
The final home run of Buster Posey's career was a memorable one: pic.twitter.com/EVUKdiX73l
— Alex Pavlovic (@PavlovicNBCS) November 3, 2021
He shouldn’t be punished for going out on his own terms.
Put Posey in the Hall of Fame.
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