Astros: Will Jose Altuve be a Hall of Famer?

Let’s address the elephant in the room: is Jose Altuve a Hall of Famer?

The Houston Astros have had two players inducted in the MLB Hall of Fame — Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio. Both of these occurred in recent history, and both are from the 2005 National League pennant Astros.

When that era ended, the next superstar to come to fruition for the ball club was Jose Altuve. He is the first member of the “golden age” of Astros baseball. I have talked about Future Astros Hall of Famers in a previous article, but I felt that Altuve’s verdict needed to be expanded upon further.

1. By the Numbers

Altuve, lifetime, has managed a .307 batting average, an .824 OPS and a 174 OPS+. On Baseball Reference, Altuve passes two of the four Hall of Fame Tests. He is above the threshold on the Black Ink and Hall of Fame Monitor tests, but he just barely fails the Gray Ink and Hall of Fame Standards test.

For more info on how these tests are measured, click here.

The player that Altuve lines up best with through age 31 is Ryne Sandberg, who is in fact, in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Verdict: Numbers alone, I believe that Altuve is a Hall of Famer.

3. By the Scandal

As we know, the Astros were proven to have cheated during the 2017 season, therefore tarnishing the trophy to some degree forever. That season was arguably the best of Altuve’s career, and he won the AL MVP award for it.

However, baseball writers may leave out that season as one that counts towards Altuve’s Hall of Fame odds, as it was a cheating season for his team. However, there also is evidence that exists that proves Altuve did not cheat during that season, but who knows whether or not the baseball writers will believe this evidence, or even consider it.

The problem comes when we look at the other similar cases that have already occurred. Shoeless Joe Jackson, who also had evidence presented that could to some prove his innocence when it comes to the fixing of the World Series in 1919, is still banned from baseball and the Hall of Fame to this day.

Jackson played phenomenally in the series, managing a .375 batting average. I believe it is safe to say that he was not throwing the series. In 1921, a Chicago jury acquitted Jackson of any cheating. With both of these facts in place, Jackson has still been banned from baseball and the Hall of Fame to this day.

Pete Rose is one of the greatest baseball players and hitters of all-time. However, during his managing career, he was proven to have bet on games he was managing, although he claims to only have bet for his team to win.

This has left him banned from baseball and the Hall of Fame to this day. Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens were never proven to have used PEDs, yet just with the speculation of having done so, both remain out of the Hall of Fame.

Here’s the deal. Jackson was in a very similar situation to Altuve, but with one key difference. Jackson was banned from baseball shortly after the scandal came to light, whereas Altuve was not only not banned, but he was given immunity by MLB.

This would lead me to believe that Altuve has a great shot of getting in, but this becomes a slippery slope, because if Bonds and Clemens remain out just for suspected cheating, why would they let it Altuve? It really depends on what Altuve does with the rest of his career, and what information comes out about whether other teams were cheating in 2017.

Verdict: I believe that Altuve needs a clean World Series championship in which he plays a key role, in order to secure his chances of getting into the Hall of Fame.