Examining the Hall of Fame case for San Francisco Giants legend Bobby Bonds

That rWAR is tied for 212th all-time. Among the modern Hall of Famers (players with the majority of their career after World War II), just above him are Yogi Berra (59.6), Vladimir Guerrero, Sr., Mike Piazza (both at 59.5), and Jim Bunning (59.4). Just below Bonds is Enos Slaughter (57.7), Willie Stargell (57.5), Whitey Ford (57.0), and Larry Doby (56.5).

All eight those Hall of Famers were, arguably, not as good as Bobby Bonds as they all played at least two more seasons than Bonds.

When you compare Bonds to Hall of Fame right fielders, his case gets stronger.

His 129 OPS+ is just below two modern Hall of Fame right fielders in Roberto Clemente and Dave Winfield, who both had a career OPS+ of 130. Four Hall of Fame right fielders have a career OPS+ below Bonds, including modern Hall of Famers Harold Baines (121) and the aforementioned Enos Slaughter (124).

His rWAR is 23rd all-time among right fielders. Here are the right fielders around him. Bold indicates a Hall of Famer

20) Ichiro, 60.0 WAR

21) Vladimir Guerrero, Sr. 59.5

22) Sammy Sosa, 58.6

23) Bonds, 57.9

24) Enos Slaughter, 57.7

25) Sam Rice, 54.4

26) Willie Keeler, 54.2

27) Harry Hooper, 53.5

Ichiro hasn’t been on a Hall of Fame ballot yet but will get in once he’s eligible. Sosa would be in if not for his PED suspicions.

WAR7 looks at a player’s WAR in their top 7 seasons and Bonds case gets stronger. His WAR7 is 19th all-time among right fielders at 41.1. Just above Bonds are Hall of Famers Tony Gwynn (41.3) and Guerrero (41.2). Just below Bonds are modern Hall of Famers Tony Oliva, Dave Winfield, and Slaughter.

JAWS balances both WAR and WAR7 and with that, Bonds is 22nd all-time among right fielders. Within 2.0 JAWS above Bonds are two modern Hall of Famers. Below Bonds, in general, are 10 Hall of Famers, including two modern HOFers.