Edgar Martinez didn’t make the cut for Cooperstown. The 2018 Hall of Fame class was revealed on Wednesday (Jan. 24), and Martinez wasn’t a part of it. Chipper Jones, Vladimir Guerrero, Jim Thome, and Trevor Hoffman received the required 75 percent to make the cut, but Martinez is going to have to wait at least one more year. So will Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and Mike Mussina.

The 2019 Hall of Fame ballot is the last time that Edgar Martinez will be eligible for induction by the Baseball Writers Association of America. Martinez will need to receive more support from the voters who left him off their ballots and presumably find support from new members of the BBWAA.

A lot of MLB analysts are assuming he should make the cut. Will the BBWAA voters agree with the baseball experts?

Edgar has a Hall of Fame career

Edgar Martinez played his entire baseball career with the Seattle Mariners and he now serves as the hitting coach for the team. During his 18 years of playing time, Martinez posted a career .312 batting average, a .418 on-base percentage, and a .933 OPS. He was simply an on-base machine that rivals some of the best to ever play the game. It is one of the reasons that so many people feel Martinez should already be in the Hall of Fame. Maybe during his 10th year on the ballot, he will finally get over that bump. He was only 19 votes short this time around.

That wasn’t all he achieved, as Martinez won two batting titles, led the league in on-base percentage three times, and also had 838 extra base hits in his career. His OPS+ was 147 with a WAR of 68.3 over the span of his career. That WAR is much higher than a lot of the best hitters in the history of the game. That list includes Boston Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz, who is far below Martinez in the WAR rankings.

Will voters still favor Ortiz when he becomes eligible, even if he has lesser stats?

Martinez was also a postseason star for the Mariners, racking up the numbers during his ALDS appearances. That included huge hits during the 1995 and 1997 playoffs. Martinez had a combined a .375 batting average, .481 on-base percentage, 1.262 OPS, seven home runs, and 20 RBIs over 17 ALDS games.

Had he made it to the postseason more often, MLB analysts might have been discussing his name as one of the best postseason players in the history of the game.

A legacy in baseball history

While names like Pete Rose have generated more controversy for not being in the Baseball Hall of Fame, Edgar Martinez deserves a spot in Cooperstown. The annual award for the best DH in baseball is called the Edgar Martinez Award. That says more than any of his stats ever could. Maybe Commissioner Rob Manfred needs to just put Edgar in the HOF himself, just to correct this egregious error by the BBWAA voters. Outside of that happening, Martinez will have to wait until the 2019 HOF ballot comes out to continue dreaming about Cooperstown.

There is going to be a lot of debate, especially invlving Seattle Mariners fans, many of whom feel that Edgar Martinez should already be in the baseball Hall of Fame. It is very likely that there will be even more fan-promotion during the 2018 MLB season in order to draw more attention to the famed DH. The Mariners may also end up posting more to their social media accounts, showcasing all of the accomplishmnets he had during all that time playing at the Kingdome and Safeco Field.

BBWAA you are officially on notice to get it right with the voting for the 2019 Hall of Fame class.

© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED