Hall of Fame Candidate Thread: Chris Workman

[RonCo]

Here's the place to talk about the career of:

Chris Workman

Second Baseman

Active Career: 2021-2038 (18 seasons)
2,180 hits, 236 HR, 529 SB, .266/.364/.420, 55.7 WAR
Landis Memorial Winner 2023
Charles Puckett Golden Bat: 2022, 2026, 2027
5-Time All-Star

Hall of Fame Metrics: (average HoF)
JAWS: 45.7 (57)
Black Ink: 10 (23)
Gray Ink: 76 (112)
HOF Standards: 46 (53)
HOF Monitor: 54 (128)
# 55 Career WAR make the conversation possible, and the fact is that Chris Workman was the definitoin of a professional hitter. He grinded with the best of them, and hitting from the left side of the plate gave him a value. He was a 5-WAR kind of star with Huntsville in the earliest days. Then solid for a half-decade in California.

At the end of the day, though, he seemed more of a tweener. His glovework at second was spotty enough that--especially later in his career, he had to move to 1B (where he was pretty good) and DH. As a 1B/DH, however, the bat was lacking the power you'd traditionally like to see there.

Great player though, who made an impact for nearly two decades.

[bcslouck]

Nah. Nice player to have, especially in his prime. Some of his metrics are probably closer than I thought they'd be though.

[7teen]

Falls short. Very good player. Just not enough to be considered a HOF in my eyes.

[Ted]

Agree with above. Had his glove held up and not detracted from his overall play, he'd probably be in, because the bat stayed good enough long enough. I recall Workman as the first player in what has become a plague of poor range 2B who lose the ability to play the position by their late 20's. Not the kind of trend setter you want to be, but there it is.

[RonCo]

Yes, I look at Workman against Lucas McNeill, who had a similar profile. But McNeill is only 31 now and already had 60 WAR because his bat translates to 1B better than Workman. And, to be honest, I still think McNeill needs another season or two of solid play before any serious decline hits in order to be able to make a better than average case. That one dumpster fire of a season may have pretty deep ramifications.

So, for me Workman will be a no.

[usnspecialist]

Here is the stat breakdown of Chris Workman compared to all 2nd basemen (both individually and against the total mean). Players are sorted by total JAWS score, and any bolded names are on the HOF ballot this year. The mean listed does NOT include anyone on the ballot, just guys who have actually been elected to the HOF.