Joe Mauer announces retirement: HOF? Make Your Case:
 

Three Batting Titles, Three Gold Gloves, one MVP

is that enough?


http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/2...innesota-twins

Great player, borderline HOFer. But winning three batting titles as a catcher is extraordinary.

You mean he didn't announce it at the beginning of the season so he could get all those gifts from every team and say goodbye in every city like Jeter, Rivera and Ortiz did ? I guess he has more class. He will be a Hall of Famer someday in my opinion.

Like it or not, Mauer fits right in the HoF with other catchers who are already there in terms of WAR and JAWS.

It’s enough for me, he would get my vote. Passes the eyeball test and has enough WAR as a catcher.

I think Yadier Molina will also get in...as will Buster Posey.

Here's a general comparison of their stats, achievements and awards:

MAUER- 15y; 1858g (921 @ c); 6930abs; 2123h; 428dbs; 143hrs; 923rbi, .306/.388/.439; 33% CS; .995
MVP; 3-Time Batting Champ; 5-Time Silver Slugger; 3-Time Gold Glove; 6-Time All-Star

POSEY- 10y; 1144g (886 @ c); 4170abs; 1276h; 246dbs; 133hrs; 635rbi, .306/.375/.465; 33% CS; .993
ROY; MVP; 3-Time WS Champ; Batting Leader; Gold Glove; 6-Time All-Star; 4-Time Silver Slugger

MOLINA- 15y; 1876g (1836 @ c); 6551abs; 1850h; 355dbs; 146hrs; 859rbi; .282/.334/.406; 41% CS; .995
2-Time World Series Champ; 9-Time All-Star; 9-Time Gold Glove; Silver Slugger

No way.

You can't really compare his stats to other catchers in the HOF when less than 50% of his career games were at catcher! He was a kind of hybrid C/1B/DH. To view him as a catcher, he had to play at least 75% or more of his career games at that position, IMO.

He only had one great season (2009). Bad postseason numbers. No WS titles. Barely cracked the 2,000 hit and .300 AVG milestones and had less than 150 HRs.

You want to see a real HOF catcher? Pudge Rodriguez. Now there's a catcher!

60% of Mauer's games were in the role of catcher, as were his games played.

I'm not going to compare Mauer to Pudge, as it's an unfair comparison. That's like comparing Jim Rice to Ted Williams or any other great of the game at the same position.

In terms of COMPS, Mauer has a strong case for consideration to the HALL.

To poke the bear a bit, Molina has a HORRIBLE JAWS comp to other catchers all-time. He ranks like 25th or so, and not even close in that category. Basic numbers he stacks up, but the components of the JAWS ranks him very low.

good to hear from the Department of Redundancy Department again.

Touche Mr. Culpepper!

I'd rather have Jorge Posada on my team than Joe Mauer and Posada fell off the ballot after 1 vote. Joe isn't a HOFer in my opinion.

I agree. Do you believe too much value is put into WAR and JAWS and the basic stats and eye test are discounted?

Then you need to have your eyes tested. Three batting titles--are those stats basic enough for you? How many catchers in MLB history have won ANY batting titles? I believe the answer is 4. How many AL catchers did so who are not named Mauer? Zero.

A couple of my favorite Mauer highlights, and then one for fun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfeJMiuKbf4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBO2sQnIs9A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hb_Z2kKYy3Y

Where are you getting 60%?

Mauer appeared in 1,858 games.

In 921 of those games, he played catcher (921/1858 = 49.5%).

In 885 of those games, he started the game at catcher (885/1858 = 47.6%).

Three batting titles are basic stats. Posada caught almost twice as many games and was an offensive machine for almost a decade. I don't think either are HOFers but I'd rather have Posada.

I didn't account for games as a DH. You are spot on. I have been a total cluster F*** on this thread.

Deleted.

Being a diehard Twins fan I can see it both ways. His first 7 years, first ballot HOFer, his last 9 were average at best. His averages for the last 9 years were .290 avg, 8 hr and 56 for 162 games and he was a first baseman, brutal stats. It's tough to make the playoffs when your 1st baseman has 7-10 hrs with 55 rbi and Verlander said it best "When Joe's up the worst thing that will happen to you is a single to left". I'm leaning towards a veterans committee induction.

Tough call
 

If you flip his career he probably gets in as it is it will be borderline in my opinion. Id vote for him but i am easy.

Hall of the Very Good, IMO. Posada had significantly more power. Mauer probably hurt by playing in relative obscurity, but he just doesn't move me.

This is exactly the kind of debate I had imagined would take place the minute he announced his retirement. I think Chase Utley will spark the same kind of debate to a lesser degree. Personally Mauer does not scream Hall of Famer to me, but I can certainly see the case for his enshrinement being made. As someone else mentioned I think he would be more likely to get in through one of the era committees than the writers ballot but I certainly wouldn't be surprised if he goes in one day, and I wouldn't be up in staunch opposition either.

How the hell are we putting Mauer and Posada in the same discussion, with some people putting Posada above Mauer?

Mauer won 3 batting titles, WAS A LEAGUE MVP, 6x All Star, amassed 2123 hits in 15 years (1858 games), and played for the same team his entire career - something that will be taken into consideration with today's free agency climate.

Is Posada as highly thought of without the Yankees component? 500 less hits with 2 additional seasons, I don't consider him to have significant "power" with 275 HRs, and I think he largely benefited from the NYY factor in regards to his popularity.

I like Posada, and he was a good catcher, but hitting the ball is one of the biggest parts of the game and Mauer was consistently one of the best throughout his career. It's not the Hall of HRs.

I think Mauer is a late-ballot Hall of Famer.

His stats don't jump out as being truly great. Not enough for the Hall.

He had one Hall of Fame worthy season, in 2009. He was the MVP that year and won the batting title with an impressive .365/.444/.587.

He had another noteworthy season, in 2006, with an elite .347 average. Another batting title.

His third batting title came in 2008, when he hit .328. He won that batting title by sheer luck with such a low average. A well earned batting title is usually in the .330 range, pushing .340.

The rest of his career was average.

Average players shouldn't make the Hall of Fame.

If Larry Walker doesn't make the HOF, Mauer shouldn't either. Walker had better career stats and also won 1 MVP and 3 batting titles.

"His third batting title came in 2008, when he hit .328. He won that batting title by sheer luck with such a low average."

What a moronic statement. Sheer luck my ass. He finished second in offensive WAR and fourth in MVP, was that by luck? Was that well deserved? No one else was hurt--he finished ahead of Mags, Ichiro, Hamilton and the rest who won in other years.

Again, he was a catcher. ZERO catchers have won a batting title in the A.L. except for Mauer. Posey, Hargrave and Lombardi are the only other catchers to ever win one, with Lombardi doing it twice. BTW, Mauer also finished second, third and fourth in BA in other seasons. And his .365 avg in 2009 has not been topped since-- in either league.

I am a lifelong Yankee fan and Posada was one of my favorite players, but the comparison with Mauer isn't even close. One can only wonder how many HRs Joe would have hit in New York if he was able to develop his swing for the short porch and not the tall Hefty Bag wall of the Metrodome, which led him to focus on driving the ball the other way. He had nearly 50 more doubles and 20 more triples than Jorge, so he was hardly powerless. And the difference in defense between the two was substantial.

I predict Joe will go into the HOF on the second or third try.

Kudos
 

Forgot to mention: Congrats to Joe and Maddie Mauer, who celebrate the birth of their third child and first son, Charles Joseph Mauer. Fantastic post-season award for Joe!

You keep talking about his batting titles but he won those within the first 5 seasons of his career. He was pretty pedestrian after even with a few more 300 seasons. I don't think his peak surpassed Nomar's and Nomar is nowhere near the HOF. Nomar won 2 batting titles while playing a premium position. It was equally rare for Nomar to win an AL title as a shortstop. Only A-rod had won at the position before, unless I'm mistaken.

But Nomar isn't a serious contender for the HOF. Joe Mauer was a catcher. What he did with his bat was unusual but except for one single season, never otherworldly.

Piazza changed the position with his bat, as did Campanella and Pudge. Joe Mauer had a nice average but still only hit 306 over his career. I don't see that getting you into the HOF.

Mauer was a fake catcher. More than half of his games were at positions other than catcher.

It hasn't even been 10 years. Not saying .365 isn't impressive, but it doesn't get him in the Hall.

All the debate and no cards.

Here are a few of his T206 rookie cards.
Attachment 334270

"Mauer was a fake catcher. More than half of his games were at positions other than catcher."

More idiocy. He put up his numbers as a catcher. He could have been hit by a bus after the 2010 season and we would be talking about his numbers as a catcher. Had he put up his "pedestrian" remaining seasons as a catcher he still would have shone as a catcher. A real one-- gold glover and defensive stud who could throw out baserunners and frame pitches; cf. Jorge Posada.

Ernie Banks played fewer games at shortstop than at 1b, although he won 2 MVPs and was an All-Star in eight seasons at short. Is he a HOF first baseman?

If you flip his career, all you get is the same arguments but the added PED questions. It has never been questioned f Joe took PED's, but if you flip the career, they would be everywhere.

I am a huge Mauer fan, and I would love to see him in the HOF. I think he is borderline. If he doesn't suffer from the concussions and stays at catcher, he is first ballot. As it stands, I am not sure. Think of what could have been if he had stayed injury free.

I'm sorry, but this statement is really ignorant. Hey, Carl Yastrzemski won the batting title in 1968 hitting .301 a year after he won the Triple Crown. Just luck, right?

Forget the fact that he was the only man in the entire American League to hit .300. The second place finisher, Danny Carter, hit .290.

Maybe Mauer's .328 AVG was a bit low because the pitching in the AL that year was that good?

Christian Yelich won the batting title this year hitting .326. He was lucky, too, right? Nevermind he was two home runs, and 1 RBI shy of the first Triple Crown in the National League in over 80 years!

Context is needed in evaluating statistics. Clearly you don't get it.

I think there is room for saying some people do have bad luck sometimes. Posada hit 338 in 2007 but he happened to do that while Magglio Ordonez inexplicably hit 363. If Posada won that title, would he be a HOFer?

Posada finished fourth that year in BA, so Ordonez was not his only "bad luck". Ordonez is also a lifetime .300 hitter, making his 2007 season not so inexplicable. What is far more inexplicable is Posada's .338 average--the only season he topped even .290 and 65 points higher than his lifetime BA. Had anyone else finished second to him that year, they would have a far better argument for bad luck. In contrast, Mauer hitting anywhere over .300 is pretty "explicable".

Hold yourself to your own standards though. Ordonez hit 43 points higher than he'd ever hit before that year too. And answer the question: if Posada lucks out on a batting title in 2007, is he a HOFer?

The question is pointless, because he was nowhere near the batting title. He finished fourth. Shave another twenty points off of Mags' BA and he still finished ahead of Posada's one-year wonder. And did I mention, that would still leave Posada fourth, and more than ten points behind #2 Ichiro.

So to flip the question, if Mauer leapfrogs over not three players (like Posada) but one in 2013 and two in 2010, then he has five batting titles. Would that be enough for you to consider him a HOFer?

Despite what my posts might suggest, I do not like even somewhat dissing Jorge Posada, who was one of my favorite players for the greatest sports franchise in the USA. But he isn't even the best Yankee catcher not in the HOF-- that would be the Captain--and an argument can be made that he was no better than Ellie Howard either, who won an MVP and who could play the position. Without even crunching other catcher careers, it is easy to say Posada was not as good as Ted Simmons, and really was not better than Lance Parrish. So no, he is not a HOFer.

I guess the issue here is that I don't see so much separation between the HOF cases for Mauer and Posada. They were both able to do unique things with their bats at the position. So, if you think Mauer winning batting titles makes him a HOF catcher, I'd also call the best offensive catcher of his era (Posada) a HOFer too. The only catchers with bats to match were Pudge and Piazza, both known cheaters.

I only brought up 2007 because Posada put up a high average as a catcher and didn't win. But even if he did I don't think that makes him more of a HOFer than he already was. Whereas you might say "no one has done this before" in terms of Mauer's batting titles, I would say "no one hit like" in terms of Posada's bat.

Huh? Look at Lance Parrish's numbers, as but one example. A few more RBI than Posada and nearly 50 more HR, playing fewer seasons. More recently, Brian McCann's numbers are going to end up around the same as Posada. The words "no one hit like Posada" are pretty laughable.

Jorge finished with top-ten numbers in OB% OPS+, Doubles and BB. He had 4 seasons among the leaders in OB%, never higher than third. Mauer had 7 such seasons, twice leading the league. Posada had a 6th and 10th place finish in OPS+. Mauer had 4 top-ten finishes, including first place. Jorge finished in the top-ten in walks three times--same as Mauer. So even these more non-traditional categories--the only ones where Posada's name appears, do not show him to be all that remarkable.

Is it laughable? Parish's career overlapped with Posada's for exactly 1 game. McCann's career began while Posada was 33 years old. I don't see what either has to do with Posada's reign as the best hitting catcher in his league (minus a cheating Pudge). There aren't too many players who were the premiere offensive player at their position for a decade that aren't in the HOF. Posada fits that bill. Between 1998 and 2007, who was better?

Oh, I misunderstood your position. You're using what I call the Bill Freehan argument; i.e., I was the best catcher during the ten years I pick out and at a time when the league was either down at my position or there were a few guys with good years but nothing as consistent as me, never mind that my seasonal or "era" numbers never approach anything noteworthy. You added a twist, claiming he's not even the best unless you throw out cheaters. Got it.

But are you saying that Mauer doing what no AL catcher ever did, thrice, is essentially no better than how Posada was the most consistent hitter at his position over a specific ten-year period (leaving aside one other cheater and the fact that the last three years of that span both Mauer and VMart were better hitters and that even Jason Varitek put up similar numbers as Jorge over another three year or so stretch). I don't think so. But hey, you've inspired me to take another look at my Bill Freehan cards, who BTW, was also a better catcher than Posada.

Can a person help when they're alive? Are you of the opinion that a guy cheating to play well and a guy playing well naturally are on equal footing? Is a decade not enough time to show you're better than the people around you?

I don't know. Ask Bill Freehan.

I will send him an e-mail now.

I don’t discount what you’re saying but you’re not allowing for any weaknesses in Mauer’s career to count against him. We’re talking about a guy (Posada) who caught almost twice as many games as the other.

There is no need to bring up Pudge's "cheating". Posada was the better hitter anyway w/an enormous fifty point edge in OPS.

He has a higher OPS than Freehan, Howard and Munson too.

If you honestly believe Jorge Posada was a better hitter than Ivan Rodriguez, I would simply ask: When's the last time you changed the bong water?

Never. I was a bambu guy in my smoking days.

I'm just wondering when it became "known" that Piazza was a user. Only thing I ever heard was some beat writer saying he had back acne once. Did he fail a test or get implicated in a Mitchell Report-esque list that I'm unaware of?

Nope.

Cecil Cooper hit .352 in 1980. Normally, that's a good bet to win the batting title. Unfortunately for him, George Brett decided to hit .390.

It doesn’t even matter anymore. Just let everyone in. Or heck, draw names, and i’m sure there will be plenty of excuses to justify putting them into Cooperstown.

So yes, Mauer gets my vote.


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I think Mauer is deserving. Maybe not first ballot, though. I mean, he's not a closer. :rolleyes:

Come on, the guy was the best pure hitter in baseball for eight years. Except for his injury-riddled 2011 when he hit .287, and a .293 season in 2007, he hit .300 every year between 2006 and 2013, hitting .328 for those 1,012 games. In those seasons, he hit .347, .328, .365, .327, .319, .324.

Again, this is a catcher doing this. And he wasn't a bad defender, winning three Gold Gloves. So he didn't hit a lot of home runs. You had a catcher, the premium position in baseball, the hardest one to produce offense at a high level, hitting .328 in his prime. Why is he not a Hall of Famer, yet Tony Gwynn, widely considered one of the best pure hitters of the modern era, if not the best, is? Gwynn hit .338. Didn't hit for power. Stole bases early, but that stopped when he hit 30.

Compare their career slash lines

Mauer .306 AVG/.388 OBP/.439 SLG/.827 OPS 124 OPS+
Gwynn .338 AVG/.388 OBP/.459 SLG/.847 OPS 132 OPS+

Gwynn's average for his career is much higher. Yet their on base percentage is identical.

Now, look at Mauer's prime.

'04-'13 .323 AVG/.405 OBP/.468 SLG/.873 OPS 135 OPS+

That's across 5,006 PAs. A catcher with 35% above league average OPS.

Why is there any question as to his worthiness?

What's a pure hitter anyhow? I would take Miggy and ARod over the same stretch 100 times out of 100. I have to think about who else.

It is not really fare to compare Joe to Tony. Joe had his prime when he was young. Tony had his prime years from age 33 to 37 like normal players.:eek:

The Tony to compare Mauer's stats to is Oliva. Both lifetime Twins, 15 year careers, batting titles, gold gloves, 5 times Sporting News All Stars, injuries. Mauer was a catcher, but Oliva hit for more power while often protecting Killebrew in the lineup.

Of the two I would take Oliva, the best pure hitter of his day. Not saying Oliva is therefore a HOFer, just saying, if one goes in, so should the other as they are about equally deserving or undeserving.

… Oliva Mauer
AB 6301 6930
R 870 1018
H 1917 2123
2B 329 428
3B 48 30
HR 220 143
RBI 947 923
AVG .304 .306
OBP .353 .388
SLG .476 .439

He got better as he studied more.:)

Mr Bonds must have studied a lot too.:)

Personally I think Mauer gets in eventually, and is deserving. But just curious on everyone's thoughts on Mauer's career versus the likes of Ted Simmons, Lance Parrish, and Victor Martinez.

How about Bill Freehan? 11x All-Star and 5x Gold Glove winner plus a World Series Ring. Never understood how little he is appreciated by the voters.

Simmons was an 8-time all-star with highest MVP finish at 6th and never led the league in any significant category, 4 seasons over 5 WAR (50.3 total BWAR). Parrish was also an 8-time all-star but similarly highest MVP finish was 9th and never led the league in anything notable, 1 season at 5 WAR (39.5 total BWAR). Martinez was a 5-time all-star with a 2nd place MVP finish in 2014, only ever led the league in OBP & OPS in 2014 and has the lowest career WAR (32.2) of anyone in the conversation, 2 seasons above 5 WAR.

Mauer was a 5-time all-star, MVP winner in 2009, 3 time batting champ: 2006/2008/2009, led league in OBP/SLG/OPS/OPS+ in 2009, led league in OBP in 2012. Had 5 seasons over 5 WAR (55.1 total BWAR).

https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/jaws_C.shtml

This table at BBreference lists Mauer as the 7th best catcher ever regarding WAR and JAWS as performance measuring metrics. Admittedly Ted Simmons is 10th best ever per the chart, but as stated above, he lacks the league-leading stats/MVP that Mauer accumulated.

I'm not sure I would even vote for Mauer for HOF due to his relatively low counting stats in areas ("only" 2123 hits) but his .306/.388/.439 career slash line is impressive. Combine that with his stellar MVP season, 3 batting titles and 7th place position in WAR/JAWS all-time among catchers and I think he's a sure-fire HOFer at some point.

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I'm not a huge Mauer fan but I would rate him ahead of those guys. As for Freehan he definitely was the best catcher in the AL for a long stretch but his absolute numbers aren't that great IMO.

Mauer wasn't good enough for long enough. I really don't see how he can be looked at any differently than Nomar, who I think had a much better career and isn't talked about at all. Mauer played catcher briefly and he was briefly very good at what he did. But so are a lot of people. His catching record for batting titles doesn't mean much to me at all. Winning three titles at any position isn't a HOF-worthy stat (ask Bill Madlock, who won 4 or Larry Walker and Tony Oliva who won 3 and are still out).

When we discuss a HOF candidate the player is compared to others at his position. Mauer played the majority of his career at catcher so any comparisons have to be done among other catchers. Mauers stats are 2123 hits, .306 ba, 923 rbi, 1018 runs along with 6 as, 3 gg and an mvp award. First, there are 4 other catchers who won mvp. 3 are in the hof and the other is Thurman Munson who would be and probably should be. Among hof catchers, His hit total is 3rd behind Berra and Fisk and his BA is 3rd behind Cochrane and Dickey (tied with Lombardi). His run and rbi totals are in the range of other hof catchers. His stats are good enough compared to others already there. The mvp award is huge and weighs heavily for a candidate because it shows dominance. Not every player who wins an mvp will be in the hof but for many it will make the difference to put someone in. When I put all of the factors together I think Mauer will be a HOF member as one of the best catchers of his generation whose numbers put him among the all time greats.

Nomar just goes to show why you can't anoint a 25-26-27 year old young man as a lock all-time great or even HOFer.

Very unfortunate about Nomar. He had a heck of a career trajectory from 1997-2003.

Your statement is 99.99% true... with one exception! 27-year old Mike Trout, who is already rated as the 7th or 8th most valuable center fielder ever based on the ever popular WAR and JAWS metrics. He barely has over 1,100 hits, but I'd bet if Trout's career ended today, he would still eventually be enshrined at Cooperstown, simply due to the insane level of value he provided over his 7 year career.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/l.../jaws_CF.shtml

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Elston Howard won an MVP too. He's not in the HOF either. I don't think the MVP means much for Mauer. The season was a total aberration. He never came close to repeating that performance. Among catchers all time he's probably the best pure hitter, but that's it. He was never an elite all world catcher like Johnny Bench or Pudge (cheating aside). I don't think he was as dominating a player as you're making him out to be. His career OPS of 827 is lower than Jorge Posada's 848.

double post

You’re right on Howard. An oversight on my part. Ellie’s career numbers were well below hof caliber but Mauers are not. I’ll use your own words - among catchers probably the best pure hitter. That’s saying a lot. If you’re the best then you belong among the immortals.
Posadas numbers are 1664 hits, 275 hr, .273 ba, 900 runs, 1065 rbi and 5 was rings. You could make an argument for Jorge but there is a much better argument for Mauer. Ops+ is a better indication of a players value taking ballparks and league into account - Mauers is 124, Posada is 121. Jorge has a higher ops because he hit a lot more hr - probably because he played in Yankee stadium. He has a lower ops+ because everyone hits more hr in Yankee stadium. 3 batting titles and an MVP make Mauer an elite hitting catcher and gold glove awards help to show his value at the position which Jorge does not have.
An mvp award means he was the best player in the league for a season and he received all first place votes. If that’s not dominant then I’m not sure what is.

Dominant for one season only. That's not a HOFer. He wasn't anywhere near elite any other time in his career. And when I say pure hitter, I mean able to hit 300. There are plenty of players who hit 300 over their careers (like Mattingly) who are not HOF players (even catchers like Bubbles Hargrave; Manny Sanguillen hit 300 as a catcher though his career average is 296).

Even while trying to take away from Posada, you listed a stat that Mauer leads by only 3 points. Posada was off the ballot in one vote and despite what might be popular opinion, I would take Posada over Mauer every time they stood next to each other.

It's insane to think Mauer belongs in the HOF when Mattingly does not, whatever the shortcomings of Mattingly's career stats.

I think this is due to comparing him to his peers at his position. Mauer ranks as the 7th most valuable catcher ever when measuring via WAR/JAWS. Mattingly ranks as the 40th most valuable 1st baseman: https://www.baseball-reference.com/l.../jaws_1B.shtml

Mattingly had an outstanding stretch from 1983 to 1987 primarily, including an MVP, and 8 gold gloves. But when compared to the sheer number of heavy hitters at 1st base all-time in the HOF, he simply falls way down the list, unfortunately.

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Since Baines (but, he's such a nice fellow) got in, isn't it time to start a grass-roots campaign for Paul Lo Duca?

.

I’m sure this was meant to be a joke but in all seriousness Baines has 2800+ hits and 380+ hr. If there is someone else with those numbers I would give them support.
If you want to make that joke I would say that since Edgar Martinez got in then we can start the campaign for the guys who are similar to him - Will Clark, Magglio Ordonez and Moises Alou. Edgar’s numbers are nowhere near HOF caliber for any player whose primary skill was hitting.

I seem to recall MLB naming an award after Edgar Martinez. The other players with awards named after them are: Cy Young, Rod Carew, Tony Gwynn, Roberto Clemente and Hank Aaron.

There is no Joe Mauer award.

Personally I never understood why they named the award after him. It seemed like all at once they took all of the awards and attached a players name to it. You could have done a lot better than the Carew and Gwynn awards - like the Cobb and Hornsby awards. They could have done a lot better than the Edgar award. They named the award after a guy who wasn’t in the hall and didn’t belong.
No, there should not be a Mauer award because there isn’t an appropriate award to name after him. There isn’t an award named after most hof players but it doesn’t mean they don’t belong.

The guys who would be most similar to Baines not in the HOF would be Al Oliver, Rusty Staub and Dave Parker. They were similar hitters OPS+ 121-124 and 2700+ hits. The guys you mentioned had a lot fewer hits ~2100.

The guys I mentioned were similar to Edgar.

You said Edgar doesn't belong. If he doesn't belong, why did MLB name an award after him? If there were better players at his position, why did they choose him?

In my opinion it was because there hasn't been a player better than him at his position.

First, in my opinion he didn't have a position - that's why he was a DH. That's a guy with a bat who is a liability in the field. He had a spot in the lineup not on the field. At the time they named the award Frank Thomas, Paul Molitor and Harold Baines had done more and that's not even talking about David Ortiz.
Now, for someone who is inducted into the HOF and had an award named after them at DH you should have done something pretty special. Edgar had 2200 hits and 300 hr. That is absolutely pedestrian. He had no extras - no WS, no MVP, no great accomplishment or moment that defined him and he was never close to being the best player on his team. If he had played the field we wouldn't even be talking about him in the hall.
I don't know how voters can elect Edgar before they put in Jeff Kent, Fred McGriff, Omar Vizquel and Lou Whitaker among others. It was irresponsible of MLB to name the award after him and it seemed like they rushed to do so and it seemed like that made it an obligation to put him in the hall. They should never name an award after someone who isn't already in.

Glad you brought up David Ortiz because Edgar's WAR is 68.4 compared to Ortiz at 55.3. That's a HUGE margin of difference for a guy you say had some kind of prestige number that Edgar didn't. Not to mention that both Edgar's OPS and OPS+ are each higher than Ortiz, as is his career on base.

For a guy who wasn't very good, he seems to be better than anyone you brought up.

Edgar. 2247 hits, 309 hr, 1261 RBI, 312 ba, 933 ops
Ortiz. 2472 hits, 541 hr, 1768 RBI, 286 ba, 931 ops
Seriously? Ortiz has 200+ more hits, 200+ more hr and 500+ more RBI not to mention 3 ws rings and Edgar is better because of WAR and OPS? I guess in your opinion. I'm not sure how many would agree.