The Hall of Fame case for former Twins, Mets starting pitcher Johan Santana

Former Minnesota Twins and New York Mets starting pitcher Johan Santana has a good case for the Baseball Hall of Fame.

With the Era Committees for the Baseball Hall of Fame, they have been able to induct dozens of people into the Hall, including many who never played the game but still were integral to the sport in yesteryear. They also have been able to right some of the wrongs that the BBWAA has made over the decades.

Case in point, the 2023 Contemporary Baseball Era Committee inducted former Braves first baseman Fred McGriff into the Baseball Hall of Fame, someone that was long overdue for induction.

One player that has yet to appear on a committee ballot but has a very good case for it in the near future is former Minnesota Twins and New York Mets ace Johan Santana.

Santana was on the BBWAA ballot in 2018 for the first time and it ended up being his only time on the ballot. He received 2.4 percent of the vote, far below the 5 percent required to stay on the ballot. However, he has a very good case for the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Johan Santana’s case for the Baseball Hall of Fame

Johan Santana only appeared in the major leagues with the Minnesota Twins and New York Mets for parts of 12 seasons, which is something that undoubtedly hurt him for the BBWAA ballot for the Hall of Fame.

Usually, players will have played 15-20 years in their career to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. But, as you may expect, there are some exceptions to that, especially when a player is so dominant for a five- to six-year window. For Santana, he even has a little bit longer than that.

His top eight seasons came from 2003 through 2010 and here is what he did with his rankings in that period among pitchers with at least 1200 innings pitched.

• 122 wins (3rd, behind HOFer Roy Halladay and C.C. Sabathia)
• 60 losses (1st)
• 267 games (3rd)
• 2.89 ERA (1st)
• 8.88 K/9 (2nd)
• 2.20 BB/9 (7th)
• 3.31 FIP (2nd, behind Halladay)
• 40.7 WAR (2nd, behind Halladay)

In that span, Santana led the majors in wins once (19 in 2006), led the majors and/or AL three times with ERA, strikeouts, ERA+, FIP, K/9, and H/9, led the majors and/or AL in WHIP four times, an average of 209 regular season innings pitched (including three years with 230+ innings).

In this span, he also was a four-time All-Star, won two Cy Young Awards, finished in the top seven in Cy Young voting four more times. His worst season in this span by ERA and FIP was in 2007, when he had a 3.33 ERA and a 3.82 FIP. He was still an All-Star and came in fifth in AL Cy Young Award voting.

Of current Hall of Famers, the starting pitcher that is most comparable is Sandy Koufax. Here’s how the two compare in their best six seasons (2003 through 2008 and 1961 through 1966) as well as their overall careers.

Provided by Stathead.com: View Stathead Tool Used
Generated 12/23/2022.

Provided by Stathead.com: View Stathead Tool Used
Generated 12/23/2022.

Overall, Santana has a career WAR of 51.7. Among starting pitchers, that is higher than Koufax 48.9 as well as recent inductees Jim Kaat and Jack Morris, Chief Bender, Bob Lemon, Satchel Paige (who was obviously impacted by the color barrier in MLB), Bill Foster, Dizzy Dean, Herb Pennock, Addie Joss, Jack Chesbro, Catfish Hunter, and a few others.

Considering all of that, the Contemporary Era Committee would be remiss in not including Johan Santana when he’s eligible. To be on a ballot, a player has to be “retired for more than 15 seasons.”

For Santana, he last appeared in the majors in 2012 but he signed minor league deals in attempts of a comeback through 2015. However, he never appeared in an MLB Spring Training game or a minor league game so he may be eligible to be on the ballot as early as 2027.