It's a big debate topic since his recent retirement. What does everybody think? Does Joey Votto deserve to be in the Baseball Hall Of Fame

In my mind, Votto is another one of those that belong in the Hall of Very Good. He hits none of the major benchmarks, and I don't think was ever considered a top 5 player during his time. He had what amounts to 10 really good years, only one of which came in his last 6 seasons. I think if he had another MVP, a World Series or Playoff MVP or a couple other really great seasons, he be much closer to a sure thing. Right now, I think he gets in, but probably on his second or third try. But I wouldn't be mad nor do I think it would be a crime if he didn't get in.

His resume seems a little light at first glance. His primary bona fides: 1 MVP, 1 Gold Glove, 6-time all-star. A deeper dive shows more. Second in rookie of the year voting to practically forgotten Cubs catcher Geovany Soto in 2008 and you can argue Votto had a better year. Cubs won 97 games that year. Reds won 74. So there's that. Votto was a top 7 MVP vote getter 6 times. Got MVP votes 9 times in 17 seasons. Hit .300 or better in 9 seasons. Led the league in on base percentage 7 times, a feat surpassed by some guys you might have heard of: Ted Williams, Barry Bonds, Babe Ruth and Rogers Hornsby. Had 7 seasons with at least a .300, AVG, .400 OBP and .500 SLUG. Career: .294/.409/.511. Hit 20 HRs 9 times. Hit 30 doubles 10 times. Had 100 RBI 3 times. Scored 100 runs 5 times. Played at least 158 games in 5 seasons. Over 2,000 hits, over 350 HRs. At one point, his lifetime batting average was .311. At one point his lifetime slugging was .533, higher than Mike Schmidt and Willie Stargell. One of the best Canadian baseball players ever and already in the Canadian baseball hall of fame. Played his entire MLB career with one team. He signed with Toronto but never made the big league club. Certainly a Reds all-time great:

Walks: All-time leader for the Reds with 1,365.
Homers: Second with 356.
Extra base hits: Second with 837.
Times on base: Second with 3,581.
Total bases: Third with 3,644.
RBI: Third with 1,144.
Runs: Fourth with 1,171.
Hits: Fifth with 2,135.

Three-homer game with a walk-off grand slam: In 2012 against the Cardinals. Slam came with two outs in the bottom of the ninth.

Exceptional hitting precision: Went six years without pulling a foul ball into the stands and four years without popping up on the pull side.

The Prince of Process: Knighted by Brian Kenny. 

Short answer, yes. He will get in. 

I get the arguments against, but several players in the hall already would trade stats with him in a heartbeat.

Yes.  Not a first ballot guy.  Maybe not second or third.   But he will get in and deserves to get in.

6 hours ago, Crazy Legs said:

 Had 7 seasons with at least a .300, AVG, .400 OBP, .500 SLG

 

This is the key stat line and is the modern standard for a Hall of Fame player. I believe I heard today there are only 7 players who have more seasons with that stat line than Votto.

I agree he won't be first ballot but he is a Hall of Famer.

Pretty amazing spread.

Fringe player. Needs a weak class in the next few years before he becomes an afterthought. 

Since when did longevity qualify you for the Hall???

4 hours ago, Mustang said:

Since when did longevity qualify you for the Hall???

Since the Hall of Fame opened.There's plenty of guys who are in based solely on accumulating nice numbers over a long career without truly being great.

1 MVP.

6 seasons top 10 in MPV.

9 seasons received MPV Votes.

Longevity actually works against Votto, if you eliminate the last four seasons (3 of which he missed considerable time) his career batting average jumps to .307 from career .294 and obp jumps to .421 from career .409. From a pure productivity standpoint every metric looks better if he had left four years earlier. The last four years did allow him to pass 2000 hits, which is why I figured he stayed as long as he did.