Walker is going to need a miracle, it appears, to get into Cooperstown. What a shame.
JAWS and the 2015 Hall of Fame ballot: Larry Walker - MLB - SI.com
Larry Walker's Hall of Fame chances aren't looking good, Jay Jaffe concludes. It's a shame, too, because even after sufficiently tackling perhaps the biggest elephant in the room (Coors Field, duh), the numbers still show Walker is worthy of Cooperstown. But his inability to stay on the field throughout his career, the Coors conundrum that people just can't shake, and limited space on the ballot are causing voters to look the other way. Walker is in danger of disappearing off the ballot, and it's just unfair for that to happen in his fifth year of candidacy.
If you're wondering why I -- along with Jaffe -- have come to that conclusion, take a look at how the percentage of votes Walker has received is trending:
| 2011 | 20.3 |
| 2012 | 22.9 |
| 2013 | 21.6 |
| 2014 | 10.2 |
The Top-Five Mets Prospects by Projected WAR | FanGraphs Baseball
This seems relevant given all of the Troy Tulowitzki rumor mongering. Kevin Plawecki projects to be the best of the Mets prospects in terms of potential production in 2015. He definitely needs to be part of any deal involving Tulo, although I'll say it again: the Rockies don't need to trade him to improve their contention chances for 2016 and beyond.
I think I'll just start using that line with every Tulo/Mets link I share from here on out. Sorry in advance.
Examining the Projected Team Defenses | FanGraphs Baseball
The Rockies were an average defensive team last season and project to be right around that again for 2015. I'd bet a move to right field for Carlos Gonzalez and -- surprise! -- health for him, Tulowitzki and Nolan Arenado would result in a much better than average defense.
Rockies Festivus | Rockies Zingers Colorado Rockies Baseball
There are a lot of grievances to be aired and not a lot of feats of strength to be talked about, although to be fair, six 2014 Rockies find themselves on this list:
Bonus 2014 "Feats of Strength" leaderboard of the day Who had longest avg HR distance in 2014 (minimum 10 HR) pic.twitter.com/4f15R1sQxI
— Mark Simon (@msimonespn) December 23, 2014