[lex24]

Jeff Kent is perhaps the most underrated player of his era. .290/.356/.500/.855. 377 HRs. Most in history for 2nd baseman 1320 Runs. 1518 RBIs. He drove in over 100 runs 8 times. An RBI machine. One of the greatest hitting second baseman in the last 50 years. He was an average at best second baseman. Very limited range. But he turned the DP quite well. Had a strong arm.

He gets dinged unfairly because of the Bonds factor. No question he benefited tremendously from hitting before or after Bonds all those years. So, what. The slash line is his and his alone. And he continued to put up big numbers, particularly for a second baseman, after he left the Giants. He also gets hurt with the voters because he was an jerk. Petty baseball Hall of Fame voters crap.

Jeff Kent  should be in the Hall of Fame. It’s his last year on the ballot.  He’s never gotten close. That is a travesty. 

My brother in law was a baseball player and was at Cal when Kent was there. His reputation as a jerk was well-founded.

Still, I agree completely, he should be in the HoF. I don't know that he benefited all that much by being around Bonds -- his SFG OPS was .903, but his Houston OPS was .870 and his LA Dodger OPS was .847...basically normal age-related declines. And at the same time, he thrived during the steroid era when he himself didn't do steroids. He was a very slightly below average 2nd baseman (-3 Rtot), but a slightly above average first baseman (+1 Rtot). 

As for HoF arguments, there's 1/2 dozen HoF 2nd basemen with worse numbers, and there's only two candidates with better numbers that aren't yet in the Hall of Fame...Lou Whitaker and Willie Randolph. Kent is hamstrung by the fact that he didn't really accelerate until he got to the Giants. He was a good player in his 20s and great player in his 30s.

Kents offensive numbers are better than either Whitaker or Randolph.  In fact Randolph’s aren’t close.  Kent’s numbers are also better than Sandberg’s and Alomars. All are better defensively.  Randolph and Alomar significantly.  For 9 years Kent  28 HRs 110 RBIs 93 runs. His OBP was .860 or above in 8 of those 9.  With a low of .795 and a high of 1.021. 

And, of course, for players that played 2/3rds of their games at 2b he has the most HR’s in history.

[lex24]

Jeff Kent is perhaps the most underrated player of his era. .290/.356/.500/.855. 377 HRs. Most in history for 2nd baseman 1320 Runs. 1518 RBIs. He drove in over 100 runs 8 times. An RBI machine. One of the greatest hitting second baseman in the last 50 years. He was an average at best second baseman. Very limited range. But he turned the DP quite well. Had a strong arm.

He gets dinged unfairly because of the Bonds factor. No question he benefited tremendously from hitting before or after Bonds all those years. So, what. The slash line is his and his alone. And he continued to put up big numbers, particularly for a second baseman, after he left the Giants. He also gets hurt with the voters because he was an jerk. Petty baseball Hall of Fame voters crap.

Jeff Kent  should be in the Hall of Fame. It’s his last year on the ballot.  He’s never gotten close. That is a travesty. 

My brother in law was a baseball player and was at Cal when Kent was there. His reputation as a jerk was well-founded.

Still, I agree completely, he should be in the HoF. I don't know that he benefited all that much by being around Bonds -- his SFG OPS was .903, but his Houston OPS was .870 and his LA Dodger OPS was .847...basically normal age-related declines. And at the same time, he thrived during the steroid era when he himself didn't do steroids. He was a very slightly below average 2nd baseman (-3 Rtot), but a slightly above average first baseman (+1 Rtot). 

As for HoF arguments, there's 1/2 dozen HoF 2nd basemen with worse numbers, and there's only two candidates with better numbers that aren't yet in the Hall of Fame...Lou Whitaker and Willie Randolph. Kent is hamstrung by the fact that he didn't really accelerate until he got to the Giants. He was a good player in his 20s and great player in his 30s.

Kents offensive numbers are better than either Whitaker or Randolph.  In fact Randolph’s aren’t close.  Kent’s numbers are also better than Sandberg’s and Alomars. All are better defensively.  Randolph and Alomar significantly.  For 9 years Kent  28 HRs 110 RBIs 93 runs. His OBP was .860 or above in 8 of those 9.  With a low of .795 and a high of 1.021. 

And, of course, for players that played 2/3rds of their games at 2b he has the most HR’s in history.