New York Yankees: Is Mark Teixeira a Hall of Famer?
By Jason Evans
With New York Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira announcing his retirement after the season, is he a hall of fame candidate?
New york Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira has had himself a fantastic career. A World Series ring. Multiple Gold Gloves and All-Star Game appearances. The big part of a blockbuster trade deadline deal that looked bad and now doesn’t that much anymore.
Now it’s time to figure out, is he a Hall of Fame candidate?
One the plus side, Teixeira is only of five switch-hitters ever to hit over 400 homers in his career. He has a higher career OPS than Orlando Cepeda and George Sisler who are hall of famers. He is 18th all-time in homers at first base which is higher than Cepeda, Tony Perez, Johnny Mize and Hank Greenberg. He has more RBI than Greenberg and Sisler. In terms of WAR, he’s above Cepeda and Frank Chance.
More from Call to the Pen
- Philadelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis Cardinals
- Philadelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore
- Boston Red Sox fans should be upset over Mookie Betts’ comment
- Analyzing the Boston Red Sox trade for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen
- 2023 MLB postseason likely to have a strange look without Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals
Teixeira had 10 years of 30 plus homers and eight seasons of over 100 RBI. He won five Gold Gloves at first base (Yes, Rafael Palmeiro won one only playing 28 games at the position but I digress).
On the other side, once Teixeira joined the Yankees, his average plummeted. After his first season where he hit .292, he didn’t hit above .256 in any season.
He was an All-Star just three times. He finished top 10 in MVP voting just twice. The only season he led the league in homers and RBI was 2009. The average WAR of a Hall of Fame first baseman per Baseball Refrence is 65.9. Teixeira is at 52.1 for his career.
Part of that was a lack of health in recent years. From 2005-2011, Teixeira played in over 155 games every year. After 2011, he only played in over 100 games three times and never more than 125 games.
Jeff Bagwell had a better career than him and he’s not in yet. Teixeira is a contemporary of Miguel Cabrera and Albert Pujols, both of whom are going to be first ballot Hall of Famers. Keith Hernandez, Will Clark and John Olerud all have a higher career WAR than Teixeira and they won’t be in the Hall either.
Next: Can the Tigers catch the Indians?
Teixeira will go down as a top switch-hitter, but I don’t believe he is a Hall of Famer. His career is very comparable to that of Fred McGriff and Carlos Delgado, both of whom lasted on the Hall of Fame Ballot as long as a Snapchat. Tex belongs in the Hall of Very Good, but not quite Hall of Fame worthy.