Sports Illustrated: Carlos Beltran: Hall of Famer?

They both established themselves rather late: Guidry didn't become a full time starter for the Yankees till 1977 when he was 26. Koufax broke in earlier (when he was 19) but didn't post a sub-3.00 era until his 8th season. After that he was just off the charts dominant. Guidry had a nice career but he didn't have nearly the same number of highs as Koufax in terms of cy youngs (3 to 1); an MVP for Koufax and two runner up finishes. Guidry stayed on the ballot for nine years, but the highest vote percentage he ever got was 8.8 percent. The black ink on his b-r page is kind of spread out. Koufax's all in one five to six year stretch. Plus retiring from injury at 30 had the what-if element. No one much wondered what-if with Guidry. He was done at 37

 

I said it five years ago, and I'll say it again: You want to make a case for Guidry being in the Hall, I'll listen. Might not bite, but I'll at least admit he might deserve more consideration than he has.
It's a loooonnnng stretch to go from there to saying he was one of the most dominant pitchers of the era.

 

He was for a year.

 

Lots of guys were for a year.

 

Dave Stewart, Jack Morris, Luis Tiant and Denny McLain are amused. Tommy John thinks that's a cute comment too.

 

Bump. Beltran announces his retirement.

Definitely a hall of famer, in my opinion.

 

Manky, who receives a lot of criticism at times, had by far the best post on page 1 of this thread.

His career numbers compare favorably with a lot of Hall of Famers. His 2016 season was really good, especially for a 39-year-old.

 

I can't imagine sitting down with my grandkids and telling them Carlos Beltran was one of the greats.

 

In October of 2004 he sure as hell was.

 

Led the league in one category in his entire career — games played in 2002. One top 10 MVP finish — a 4th place. Great player but not a hall of famer

 

Yep. For a fringe guy like this I'm looking for black ink and he doesn't have enough. Postseason is nice but Daniel Murphy and Mark Lemke had great postseasons, also.