Comments on: Todd Helton ready to play what will likely be his final season

By: dirtydrew

dirtydrew — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 15:34:07 +0000

One of the last of the ” Steroid Era”. Not a hall of famer due to roids and Coors Field inflated numbers. Good player though.

By: flosox

flosox — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 14:20:58 +0000

He’s a different player at sea level…

Coors: 350/447/613, HR/AB 17 (3800 AB’s)
Road: 289/389/475, HR/AB 27 (3700 AB’s)

If he had all his AB’s away from Coors field, he’d project to hit 275 HR’s or so…Not the end all be all, but when you compare to other 1B of his era it sticks out for me.

Still great numbers, but imo not HOF maturial

I will also go on record saying i’ve always loved to watch this dude play. He’s the type of player every team would want.

By: paperlions

paperlions — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 12:53:32 +0000

How many 1B from the last 20 years do you want to put in the HOF?

Here are 1B with at least 3000 PA since 1990 ranked by wRC+ (also park adjusted, but a far better metric than OPS+)

Albert Pujols 164
Mark McGwire 163
Joey Votto 156
Frank Thomas 154
Jeff Bagwell 149
Miguel Cabrera 148
Lance Berkman 146
Jim Thome 145
Prince Fielder 143
Jason Giambi 142
Carlos Delgado 135
John Kruk 135
Todd Helton 134
Adrian Gonzalez 133
Rafael Palmeiro 132
Ryan Howard 132
Mark Teixeira 132

Helton is 13th. He did play good defense, which helps his case. But he wasn’t a top 5 1B of his era.

By: kyzslew77

kyzslew77 — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 10:00:58 +0000

Well I know, but I’m just saying, he’s WAY better than Rice. I don’t like the idea of every single fringe HOFer from now until forever saying “But Jim Rice is in!!!” But here I think there’s a little more of a comparison because both played for the same team for their whole careers (barring a deadline trade to a contender for Todd this year, something I’d totally be happy about as a Rockies fan), and Helton is going to face the same climb that Rice did. If he gets in it’ll be within a couple years of falling off the ballot.

By: personalspaceinvader

personalspaceinvader — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 08:29:56 +0000

They say Todd is getting paid too much for what he’s able to contribute lately but Todd earned that money years ago during the Todd & the Toddlers era. He could have left Colorado for Boston but chose to stay and help build the team. He’s earned every cent of his contract, no doubt in my mind.

I remember reading a quote from him last year saying, “[he'd] rather burn out than fade away.” In this, very likely his final year, I hope he’s able to contribute what he’s always contributed; driving up pitch counts, doubles to the gaps, and good contact until he can’t go anymore.

Good luck, Toddfather. We’re gonna need you again to help turn this thing around.

By: ezthinking

ezthinking — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 07:55:41 +0000

Jezus, don’t compare him to Rice. Rice is in the category of “worst” HOF’r.

By: skerney

skerney — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 06:59:20 +0000

The Rockies have had only two opening day first basemen in franchise history.

By: kyzslew77

kyzslew77 — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 06:51:59 +0000

His OPS+ (that’s park adjusted, for the haters) of 135 is excellent and makes him HOF worthy. It’s comparable to or better than dozens of guys who are already in and who, like him, didn’t play premium defensive positions. His WAR total (also park adjusted), if you want to check HOF credentials that way, is either just short of the 60 threshold or just over it depending on if you prefer fWAR or rWAR. Coors inflates OBPs, of course, but his career mark of .419 is completely bonkers (20th all time) and would likely be over .400 regardless of where he played.

It’s a shame injuries robbed him of the ability to pile up the counting stats that would have made him a sure thing HOFer, but he should still get in somewhere down the line. Certainly not on the first few ballots but I hope he builds up momentum and gets in eventually. He’s like Duke Snider or Ron Santo at a less valuable position but with better counting stats; Orlando Cepeda but better; Jim Rice but much better; Eddie Murray but without 5 extra seasons of piling up counting stats while being a replacement player.

Small hall people won’t want him in and I can respect that. What I cannot respect is people saying HERPA DERP COORZ FEELD NO WAY. Too bad that’s probably how much of the BBWAA will react when he’s on the ballot.