Mookie Betts has accomplished quite a bit in his career. He is a seven-time All-Star, three-time All-MLB first team, a former American League MVP and batting champion, and a two-time World Series champion.
He climbed one more step on the ladder toward Cooperstown by reaching a career WAR of 70.1.
For those unfamiliar with the terminology of wins above replacement, the stat measures a player’s value in all facets of the game by deciphering how many more wins he’s worth than a replacement-level player at his same position.
According to Baseball Reference , Betts is the 71st player in the database to surpass 70.0 career WAR, which means he has forced his way into the Hall of Fame conversation. All the players surrounding him on the career WAR list (other than those whose careers were tainted by performance-enhancing drug use) are already in.
Betts is a Hall of Famer now. Is he a first-ballot legend?
He currently ranks No. 69 in career WAR, tied with Carlos Beltran and Scott Rolen.
Rolen was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2023. It was his sixth year on the ballot after finishing a career that saw him hit .281 with 1,287 runs batted in, 1,211 runs and an on-base plus slugging percentage of .854 combined with the Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, Toronto Blue Jays and Cincinnati Reds. Numbered among his 2,077 hits were 517 doubles, 43 triples and 316 home runs.
Beltran appears to be on his way after he received 220 votes (57.1 percent) out of 385 ballots cast by voting members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America this year. It was only his second year on the ballot and his career finished with a .279/.350/.486 slash line and a 119 OPS+. He had 2,725 hits, 435 homers, 565 doubles, 1,587 RBIs and 312 stolen bases. He was an October legend, with a 1.021 OPS and 16 home runs in his postseason career (65 games).
Of the 64 AL/NL position players to reach 70 career WAR in the Modern Era (since 1900), all but nine — including Beltrán — are Hall of Famers.
This brings us back to Betts. His career isn’t close to over, and he will continue to move up the ranks passing players like Gary Carter, Barry Larkin, and Derek Jeter if not this year, then next.
At this point in his career, Betts has a career average of .295 with 1,603 hits, 370 doubles, 38 triples, 269 home runs, 822 RBIs, 186 stolen bases, and 1,065 runs scored.
Betts reached 10 years of service time in June, and his career statistics practically guarantee he’ll be enshrined in Cooperstown someday. If he reaches any milestones like 400 home runs, 200 stolen bases, or 3,000 career hits, he will improve his chances of being a first-ballot Hall of Famer.
Photo Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
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