A Crowded Ballot

Royals Hall of Fame fan voting is now open. Everyone on the ballot has a case.

It’s one of my favorite times of the year. No, not Christmas, although that is also special. Rather, I mean fan voting is now open for the Royals’ Hall of Fame. This year’s ballot is tough. Nine candidates, all of whom have plausible cases for inclusion. Thankfully, fans can select five players instead of the three we were limited to in 2022. But this is still a tough decision.

The candidates, in alphabetical order, are: Carlos Beltran, Billy Butler, Johnny Damon, Wade Davis, Jarrod Dyson, Alex Gordon, Kelvin Herrera, Joakim Soria, and Yordano Ventura. Four of these (Beltran, Butler, Damon, and Ventura) are holdovers from 2022, when Ned Yost was the only inductee selected.

To me, there are two obvious selections: Beltran and Gordon. As I wrote two years ago (link below this paragraph), Beltran had the best career of the four holdovers, and should be in Cooperstown someday. His Hall of Fame caliber career includes 24.8 bWAR and a Rookie of the Year award during his time in Kansas City, plus top-10 leaderboard appearances in position player WAR, slugging percentage, OPS, triples, and stolen bases.

Gordon is on the ballot for the first time and should be an easy choice. With a bWAR total of 34.4, all compiled in Royal blue, Gordon is a top-10 player in team history. While he was no slouch offensively (a .257/.338/.410 and 102 OPS+ for his career, and a .281/.359/.450 and 121 OPS+ in his peak years), Gordon will be remembered for exceptional defense. After transitioning from third base to left field for the 2010 season, Gordon collected eight Gold Gloves and two Platinum Gloves. Throw in three All-Star selections, a prominent role on the 2014 and 2015 teams, and one of the most iconic home runs in team history, and Gordon is definitely on my ballot.

At the other end of the ballot…well, as I said, everyone here has a plausible case for inclusion. So it pains me to cut any of them from consideration right away. However, I do think there are two candidates clearly on a lower level: Dyson and Herrera. Again, there is nothing wrong with them being nominated, or even getting votes. I just don’t think they quite measure up to the other candidates.

Dyson is credited with 11.8 bWAR as a Royal and was a key part of the 2014 and 2015 teams as well. And no statistic could sum up what he brought to those teams. His swagger was like a splash or two of hot sauce in a recipe; while he wasn’t a main ingredient, he definitely gave those dishes a noticeable kick. Dyson was not a starter, but a tremendous pinch-running weapon and late-inning defensive replacement, and he filled those roles in exceptional fashion. Given that and my longtime admiration for the super-speedy type of player, Dyson was one of my favorite players in that era of Royals baseball. It’s just difficult for me to vote for him on this ballot.

Herrera is an interesting case because, while he was also an important member of the 2014-15 squads, he was mainly a setup man. It wasn’t until Greg Holland and Davis were both gone that he took over the closer role, and then it was really only for a year and a half before he too was traded away. In total, Herrera had 57 saves as a Royal, nestled between Doug Bird and Scott Barlow on the team’s leaderboard. Saves definitely don’t tell the whole story of Herrera’s career as a Royal, but I’m not sure he can make the cut, especially on this ballot.

So that leaves Butler, Damon, Davis, Soria, and Ventura for me to consider. Davis has a similar problem to Herrera in my mind; in fact, Davis had even fewer saves (49) than Herrera as a Royal. In fact, by their Royals careers, Herrera might have a better case than Davis, leading him in saves and bWAR (10.6 to 6.6). I would say Davis was more dominant at his peak (and two top-10 finishes in Cy Young voting back me up, I think) but again, given the depth of this list, it’s hard for me to select players who were really only stars for two or three seasons. I don’t think the Royals’ Hall would be lessened with Davis or Herrera included, but on this ballot it seems like there are more deserving candidates.

Since we’re on the subject, of the three relievers listed, Soria certainly has the best statistical case. Third on the team’s all-time saves list with 162, Soria also made two All-Star teams and finished 10th in the Cy Young vote in 2010. In his first four seasons, he had a 2.01 ERA and 218 ERA+. His fifth year in Kansas City and his second act as a Royal (2016-17) weren’t as successful, but he still ended up with 14.3 bWAR in KC. Is that enough?

Ventura is yet another question mark where longevity is concerned. He was pretty clearly headed for a Hall-worthy career before his untimely death with 7.7 bWAR in three full seasons and a handful of games in 2013. Like Dyson, he added a bit of swagger to the 2014-15 teams and there really isn’t a way to quantify that.

Two years ago, my final vote came down to Butler and Damon, and I went with Butler. I would repeat that decision but this time, with five choices available, I can vote for both. So that gives me a ballot of Beltran, Butler, Damon, and Gordon. I think I would go with Soria for the fifth spot, mostly on longevity and his saves total. But I also think there are no wrong answers here, just some choices that are better than others.