Bobby Abreu projects to come well short of reaching the Hall of Fame once again this year But a model of consistency that steadily improved during his career, Abreu shouldn't be written off yet, writes NickSelbe
Through it all, two things stand out when assessing Abreu’s body of work: the staggering level of consistent mastery and the stark absence of notable accolades. In his prime—which lasted an incredibly long time—Abreu could do it all. From 1998 to 2009 , Abreu posted an on-base percentage above .400 eight times. He drew 100 or more walks eight times, hit 40 or more doubles six times and stole 25 or more bases nine times.
By the time he retired, he became one of just four players ever to amass 250 home runs and 400 stolen bases while maintaining an on-base percentage of at least .390. Also in the club are two inner circle Hall of Famers and the greatest player who ever lived . In an era with historic power outputs, though, quiet consistency was never going to garner the same praise that gaudy moonshots did. In his 18-year career, Abreu never finished better than 12th in MVP voting . There is scarce black ink on his: He led the majors in triples in 1999, led the National League in doubles in 2002 and topped the majors in walks in ’06, the same year he was traded midseason to New York.
Spending nearly two decades getting overlooked does not mean that Abreu’s Cooperstown fate is sealed. While he still projects to fall well short of the 75% threshold needed for induction this time around, he’s. And there’s precedent for someone making strides toward 75% after starting from a similar place: Abreu’s former Phillies teammate, Scott Rolen, received 11.9% of the vote in 2018, his first year on the ballot. He got 69.
Abreu has a ways to go to reach the necessary level of support. But if there’s one lesson to take from his 18 sensational years in the big leagues, it’s that, in the long run, it’s unwise to count him out.
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