Angels: Three current players who could become Hall-of-Famers

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Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels. (Photo by Masterpress/Getty Images) /

Besides Mike Trout and Albert Pujols, who on the Los Angeles Angels roster could one day find their way to Cooperstown as a Hall-of-Famer?

This is an interesting exercise for the Angels roster because there are two candidates who are obvious Hall-of-Famers, and then there aren’t many options to choose from.

Albert Pujols and Mike Trout represent two of the best players in baseball since the turn of the century; Pujols achieving the majority of his accolades in the early 2000s, while Trout has filled his trophy case over the past decade.

The last Angels player to reach Cooperstown was Vladimir Guerrero, who was inducted with 92.9 percent of the vote in 2018. While Guerrero spent a large portion of his career with the Expos, he entered the Hall wearing an Angels cap. A situation that is quite different than Pujols, even though he will end up playing nearly half of his career in Anaheim.

In thinking about who on the Angels roster could make the Hall-of-Fame, my mind immediately went to the new middle of the lineup, with recently acquired third baseman Anthony Rendon set to hit in front of two-way star Shohei Ohtani.

While I couldn’t make the case for Rendon, his career too advanced to accumulate the necessary accomplishments to be considered for Cooperstown, an argument can be made for Ohtani, which is where we will start.

Shohei Ohtani

Arriving from Japan in 2018, Shohei Ohtani presents a unique case in modern baseball as a player with the potential to dominate at both hitting and pitching. We have not seen a player like that since Babe Ruth. If Ohtani can live up to his potential in the Majors, the 25-year-old has a chance to reach legendary status.

Ohtani won the Rookie of the Year Award in 2018, batting .285/.361/.564 while smacking 22 home runs and stealing 10 bases. He also dominated on the mound with a 3.31 ERA over ten starts, striking out 63 batters in just 51.2 innings of work. His season ultimately cut short by injury, the corresponding surgery preventing him from pitching again until sometime in 2020.

To say Ohtani is likely to become a Hall-of-Famer is a stretch. While he has excited fans across the globe, he still has a lot of work to do, stats to compile, and major awards to win before he can be truly considered as a Cooperstown candidate.

But at 25-years-old, he has plenty of time to build on his resume. And if he can prove dominant at two positions, even if he falls short of Hall-of-Fame worthiness at one, it’s possible he could be judged on the entirety of his body of work in becoming a Hall-of-Fame candidate by the end of his career.

Albert Pujols

The Angels are paying Albert Pujols for his Hall-of-Fame resume. It’s too bad they didn’t get to enjoy the full fruits of his labor. The first baseman has accomplished everything there is to accomplish over his 19-year career, doing most of his damage with the St. Louis Cardinals. It’s not a matter of “if” he will become a Hall-of-Famer, but when.

Before arriving in Anaheim, Pujols won three MVP Awards, six Silver Slugger Awards, two Gold Gloves, and an NLCS MVP en route to one of his two World Series championships.

When all is said and done, Pujols will have played nearly as many seasons in Anaheim (ten) as he did in St. Lous (eleven), but his true Hall-of-Fame credentials were earned playing in the Midwest. That said, Pujols tenure with the Angels can’t be ignored, no matter how disappointed some Halos fans might be in his performance.

When highlights are played in Cooperstown of Pujols’ career, there will still be plenty with him wearing Angels red. The first baseman has used his longevity to sprinkle the Angels’ franchise top ten lists. His 211 home runs ranks fifth most by an Angel. He has accumulated the ninth most hits in franchise history, and the fifth most runs batted in.

You can’t talk about current Hall-of-Fame players without mentioning Pujols.

Mike Trout

The biggest challenge in front of Mike Trout, besides his team’s challenge of winning a World Series, is how far up the all-time leaderboards he can climb before his career is over.

The three-time American League MVP has accomplished enough over his first nine seasons in the big leagues to justify a Hall-of-Fame enshrinement already. Besides the MVPs, he has won the Rookie of the Year Award, seven Silver Slugger Awards, Wilson’s Overall Defensive Player of the Year Award, and has appeared in eight All-Star games, winning the MVP Award in two of those contests.

The 28-year-old centerfielder has led the league in runs scored four times, in on-base percentage four times, and was the American League’s most dominant hitter in terms of slugging percentage three times. If getting on base isn’t enough, he also led the league in stolen bases with 49 in 2012. His 200 career steals rank 12th among active players.

In their primes: Trout or Pujols?. Next

Mike Trout can do it all, and has done it all. It’s amazing to think he still has the entire prime of his career ahead of him.

The latest projections by ZiPS on FanGraphs don’t see him slowing down anytime soon. He is projected to hit 117 home runs over the next three seasons, nearly 50 percent of what he has already hit. Enjoy every minute you get to watch Trout play, because he is a first ballot Hall-of-Famer who should enter the Hall as an Angel for life.

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Besides Mike Trout and Albert Pujols, who on the Los Angeles Angels roster could one day find their way to Cooperstown as a Hall-of-Famer?

Shohei Ohtani

Albert Pujols

Mike Trout

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