Pittsburgh Pirates: Examining Three Players on the Hall of Fame Ballot

Aramis Ramirez

Aramis Ramirez came up through the minors with the Pittsburgh Pirates. After a slow start from 1998 to 2000, Ramirez had a big breakout campaign in 2001. During this season, Ramirez collectd 655 plate appearances and hit .300/.350/.536 with 40 doubles, 34 home runs, a .374 wOBA and 125 wRC+. He was also a pus fielder with +4 total zone runs saved, coming to a 4.7 fWAR and 4.1 bWAR.

Ramirez had a down 2002 season and was infamously part of one of the worst trades in Pirate history in 2003. Ramirez, at just 25-years-old and having a bounceback season, was traded with veteran all-star center fielder Kenny Lofton to the Chicago Cubs for Bobby Hill, Matt Bruback and Jose Hernandez.

It was in Chicago where Ramirez’s career took off. Ramirez played nine seasons with the Cubs, batting .294/.356/.531 with 239 home runs, a 126 wRC+ and 25.7 fWAR/29.9 bWAR. Ramirez also made two all-star games with the Cubs while winning a silver slugger. While he never finished very high in MVP voting, he still collected some MVP votes in four different seasons.

Ramirez also spent some time with the Brewers. From 2012 up through the 2015 trade deadline, Ramirez was the Crew’s starting third baseman. Here, he hit .284/.342/.473 with 65 home runs, a 121 wRC+ and 9.4 fWAR/7.4 bWAR. Ramirez ended his career where it started, with the Pirates in 2015. The Bucs had acquired him from the Brewers at the 2015 deadline, but wasn’t quite the batter he was during his prime. He stepped to the plate 214 times and hit just .245/.299/.413 with 20 extra base hits, placing him as a slightly below average bat.

Throughout all 18 seasons of Ramirez’s career, he hit .283/.341/.492 with a 115 OPS+/wRC+, a 32.4 bWAR/38.8 fWAR, 2303 hits and 386 home runs. Ramirez wasn’t much of a fielder throughout his career with -60 total zone runs saved and -70 defensive runs saved, which hurt his overall value. Ramirez has an uphill battle to make the Hall of Fame.

Among position players who played their careers in a Post-World War II era, only Monte Irvin has a lower career bWAR, but he is mainly honored for his play in the Negro Leagues. While his career 30.9 JAWS isn’t the worst on the ballot, it ranks 21st among the 25 total players on the ballot. In comparison, the average Hall Of Fame JAWS for third basemen is 55.7. But his home run total ranks 65th all time and his hit total is top 15 among all time third basemen. While he did have an underrated career, his chances of making the Hall, at least through the ballot, are going to be slim.