Statistical Snubs
Eligible players outside the National Baseball Hall of Fame whose on-field record looks like an inductee's: a model trained on every eligible career gives them at least a 50% chance. 39 players clear that line. Probabilities are out-of-fold: each player was scored by a model that never saw his own outcome.
Rankings as of 2026-10-03, as declared by the corpus that produced them.
| # | Player | Career VAL | Peak | Top-1% / led | Classes | Model |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barry BondsLF · 1986–2007 · 21 seasons | 358.7 | 21.9 | 14 / 7 | 14 | >99% |
| 2 | Alex RodriguezSS · 1995–2016 · 21 seasons | 300.4 | 20.8 | 5 / 2 | 5 | 99% |
| 3 | Pete Rose1B · 1963–1986 · 24 seasons | 266.4 | 15.7 | 0 / 0 | 35 | 95% |
| 4 | Roger ClemensP · 1984–2007 · 24 seasons | 278.2 | 15.3 | 9 / 3 | 14 | 94% |
| 5 | Rafael Palmeiro1B · 1987–2005 · 19 seasons | 260 | 17.4 | 1 / 0 | 16 | 92% |
| 6 | José CansecoRF · 1986–2001 · 16 seasons | 194.2 | 18.8 | 2 / 2 | 20 | 90% |
| 7 | Gary SheffieldRF · 1989–2009 · 21 seasons | 255 | 18.8 | 2 / 0 | 12 | 89% |
| 8 | Rusty StaubOF · 1963–1985 · 23 seasons | 223.5 | 15.6 | 0 / 0 | 36 | 88% |
| 9 | Frank TananaP · 1974–1993 · 20 seasons | 176.9 | 14.6 | 3 / 2 | 28 | 83% |
| 10 | Manny RamirezLF · 1994–2010 · 17 seasons | 254.8 | 18.8 | 3 / 1 | 11 | 81% |
| 11 | Sammy SosaRF · 1989–2007 · 18 seasons | 225.8 | 20.3 | 2 / 0 | 14 | 77% |
| 12 | Dwight EvansRF · 1973–1991 · 19 seasons | 233.8 | 17.2 | 2 / 0 | 30 | 77% |
| 13 | Darrell Evans3B · 1971–1989 · 19 seasons | 222 | 16.3 | 1 / 0 | 32 | 74% |
| 14 | Tommy JohnP · 1964–1989 · 25 seasons | 193.2 | 11.7 | 0 / 0 | 32 | 71% |
| 15 | Andres Galarraga1B · 1986–2003 · 17 seasons | 196.5 | 17.9 | 0 / 0 | 18 | 69% |
| 16 | Jason Giambi1B · 1995–2013 · 19 seasons | 202.2 | 19.4 | 2 / 0 | 8 | 65% |
| 17 | Vada PinsonCF · 1959–1975 · 17 seasons | 202.8 | 16.1 | 0 / 0 | 46 | 64% |
| 18 | Chili DavisOF · 1982–1999 · 18 seasons | 203.6 | 14.4 | 0 / 0 | 22 | 64% |
| 19 | Brian DowningDH · 1973–1992 · 20 seasons | 186.5 | 14.2 | 0 / 0 | 29 | 64% |
| 20 | Dwight GoodenP · 1984–2000 · 16 seasons | 144.9 | 15.1 | 2 / 2 | 21 | 63% |
| 21 | Sherry MageeLF · 1904–1919 · 16 seasons | 207 | 18.9 | 2 / 0 | 102 | 63% |
| 22 | Luis TiantP · 1964–1981 · 18 seasons | 168 | 14.5 | 1 / 1 | 40 | 62% |
| 23 | Bobby AbreuRF · 1997–2014 · 17 seasons | 203.6 | 16.2 | 0 / 0 | 7 | 61% |
| 24 | Luis GonzalezLF · 1991–2008 · 18 seasons | 202.1 | 17.1 | 1 / 0 | 13 | 61% |
| 25 | Fred LynnCF · 1975–1990 · 16 seasons | 182.6 | 17.4 | 1 / 1 | 31 | 61% |
| 26 | Mickey Vernon1B · 1939–1959 · 18 seasons | 182.3 | 14.8 | 0 / 0 | 62 | 60% |
| 27 | Graig Nettles3B · 1969–1988 · 20 seasons | 197.2 | 14.9 | 0 / 0 | 33 | 59% |
| 28 | Mark McGwire1B · 1987–2001 · 14 seasons | 206.7 | 19.8 | 3 / 1 | 20 | 59% |
| 29 | Jack QuinnP · 1909–1932 · 22 seasons | 180.2 | 11.5 | 0 / 0 | 89 | 59% |
| 30 | Dale MurphyCF · 1978–1991 · 14 seasons | 193.3 | 18.1 | 5 / 2 | 30 | 56% |
| 31 | Jamie MoyerP · 1986–2012 · 24 seasons | 171.7 | 10.9 | 0 / 0 | 9 | 56% |
| 32 | Norm Cash1B · 1959–1974 · 16 seasons | 199.4 | 17.5 | 1 / 0 | 47 | 55% |
| 33 | Julio FrancoSS · 1983–2007 · 20 seasons | 179.3 | 14.5 | 0 / 0 | 14 | 55% |
| 34 | Paul Konerko1B · 1998–2014 · 17 seasons | 191.1 | 15.9 | 0 / 0 | 7 | 54% |
| 35 | Lou Whitaker2B · 1978–1995 · 18 seasons | 191.1 | 14 | 0 / 0 | 26 | 53% |
| 36 | Dennis MartinezP · 1977–1998 · 22 seasons | 169.1 | 11.6 | 0 / 0 | 23 | 52% |
| 37 | Al OliverCF · 1969–1985 · 17 seasons | 193.8 | 14.8 | 0 / 0 | 36 | 51% |
| 38 | Jack ClarkRF · 1977–1992 · 16 seasons | 191.1 | 16 | 0 / 0 | 29 | 51% |
| 39 | Reggie SmithRF · 1967–1982 · 16 seasons | 198.8 | 16.3 | 0 / 0 | 39 | 50% |
The same model applied to careers still in progress (appeared in 2025 or 2026), on what they have done so far. A trajectory, not a forecast: a young player's number can only rise with the seasons he has not played yet.
| # | Player | Career VAL | Peak | Top-1% / led | Model |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andrew McCutchenDH · 2009–2026 · 18 seasons | 189.7 | 16.8 | 0 / 0 | 62% |
| 2 | Freddie Freeman1B · 2011–2026 · 16 seasons | 220.5 | 17 | 3 / 1 |
Last appeared before 2025 but inside the waiting period, so no class has considered them yet.
| # | Player | Career VAL | Peak | Top-1% / led | Model |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Albert Pujols1B · 2001–2022 · 22 seasons | 312.4 | 20.4 | 7 / 4 | >99% |
| 2 | Miguel Cabrera1B · 2003–2023 · 21 seasons | 258.6 | 20.1 | 3 / 2 | 97% |
One logistic regression for the MLB, fitted on 2,468 retired, eligible players of whom 265 are in the National Baseball Hall of Fame (base rate 11%). Retired, last season ≤ 2020 (at least one induction class chosen since he became eligible), and ≥ 10 seasons in the VAL corpus. Inductees below the floor are excluded from training. 15 inductees fall below that floor — mostly careers played largely before or outside this league's corpus — and are not trained on. League-best seasons are ranked within VAL group (e.g. batters vs pitchers, skaters vs goalies).
The model reads on-field value only: career and peak VAL, league-best seasons by VAL, playoff VAL and longevity. It cannot see awards voting, championships beyond playoff VAL, pre-league or international careers, eligibility bans, or character clauses. Every training player's probability is out-of-fold (scored by a model that never saw his own label). Active players (appeared in one of the last two seasons — the corpus has no retirement flag) and retired players still inside the waiting period are scored on their career to date by the full-data model — a trajectory, not a forecast. A non-inductee who is still eligible may yet be chosen, and a player still playing outside the league is not eligible however long ago he left it. Black ink is shown for context but is not a model input: its season coverage is shorter than the VAL corpus.
Held-out Brier
0.0589
base-rate guess 0.0958
Brier skill
39%
better than the base rate
AUC
0.916
ranks an inductee above a non-inductee
Folds
5
stratified, deterministic
| 3 | Clayton KershawP · 2008–2025 · 17 seasons | 192.9 | 15.2 | 6 / 3 | 59% |
| 4 | Mike TroutCF · 2011–2026 · 15 seasons | 202.2 | 19.1 | 7 / 2 | 58% |
| 5 | Bryce Harper1B · 2012–2026 · 15 seasons | 196.9 | 18 | 2 / 1 | 54% |
| 6 | Justin VerlanderP · 2006–2025 · 18 seasons | 188 | 14.9 | 4 / 2 | 52% |
| 7 | Aaron JudgeRF · 2017–2026 · 9 seasons | 147.9 | 23.2 | 4 / 3 | 41% |
| 8 | Paul Goldschmidt1B · 2011–2026 · 16 seasons | 205.1 | 19 | 4 / 0 | 37% |
| 9 | Nolan Arenado3B · 2013–2026 · 14 seasons | 171.7 | 16.7 | 0 / 0 | 36% |
| 10 | Jose Altuve2B · 2011–2026 · 16 seasons | 180.5 | 15.9 | 0 / 0 | 28% |
| 11 | Manny Machado3B · 2012–2026 · 15 seasons | 177.7 | 16.3 | 1 / 0 | 27% |
| 12 | Carlos Santana1B · 2010–2025 · 16 seasons | 161.4 | 13.7 | 0 / 0 | 26% |
| 13 | Max ScherzerP · 2008–2026 · 19 seasons | 183.6 | 14.6 | 7 / 1 | 17% |
| 14 | Giancarlo StantonDH · 2010–2025 · 14 seasons | 168.1 | 17.3 | 2 / 0 | 17% |
| 15 | Christian YelichDH · 2013–2026 · 14 seasons | 154.9 | 17.2 | 2 / 0 | 16% |
| 16 | José Ramírez3B · 2014–2026 · 13 seasons | 159.9 | 17.7 | 2 / 0 | 15% |
| 17 | Eugenio SuárezDH · 2014–2026 · 13 seasons | 138.2 | 15.5 | 0 / 0 | 14% |
| 18 | Francisco LindorSS · 2015–2026 · 12 seasons | 145.5 | 16.2 | 0 / 0 | 13% |
| 19 | Mookie BettsSS · 2014–2026 · 13 seasons | 170.1 | 18.3 | 3 / 0 | 12% |
| 20 | Salvador PerezDH · 2011–2026 · 15 seasons | 133 | 12.9 | 0 / 0 | 12% |
| 21 | Chris SaleP · 2011–2026 · 14 seasons | 151.4 | 14.7 | 5 / 1 | 11% |
| 22 | Marcell OzunaDH · 2013–2026 · 14 seasons | 134.2 | 15.8 | 1 / 0 | 11% |
| 23 | George SpringerDH · 2014–2026 · 13 seasons | 143 | 15.1 | 0 / 0 | 10% |
| 24 | Shohei OhtaniTWP · 2018–2026 · 9 seasons | 134 | 21.1 | 4 / 1 | 9% |
| 25 | Marcus Semien2B · 2014–2026 · 13 seasons | 124.2 | 14.9 | 0 / 0 | 9% |
| 3 |
| Nelson CruzDH · 2006–2023 · 18 seasons |
| 188.7 |
| 16.4 |
| 0 / 0 |
52% |
| 4 | Joey Votto1B · 2008–2023 · 16 seasons | 191.2 | 17.6 | 2 / 0 | 44% |
| 5 | Robinson Canó2B · 2005–2022 · 17 seasons | 182.5 | 15.6 | 0 / 0 | 42% |
| 6 | J.D. MartinezDH · 2011–2024 · 14 seasons | 153.1 | 17.3 | 1 / 1 | 32% |
| 7 | Justin UptonLF · 2007–2021 · 15 seasons | 155.1 | 15.3 | 0 / 0 | 25% |
| 8 | Zack GreinkeP · 2004–2023 · 19 seasons | 173.5 | 13.7 | 2 / 0 | 25% |
| 9 | Evan Longoria3B · 2008–2023 · 16 seasons | 155.1 | 14.6 | 0 / 0 | 23% |
| 10 | Ryan Zimmerman3B · 2006–2021 · 15 seasons | 141.4 | 14.4 | 0 / 0 | 16% |
| Predicted | Players | Mean predicted | Actually inducted |
|---|
| 0–10% | 1888 | 3% | 3% (50) |
| 10–20% | 204 | 14% | 15% (30) |
| 20–30% | 94 | 24% | 21% (20) |
| 30–40% | 76 | 35% | 36% (27) |
| 40–50% | 54 | 44% | 46% (25) |
| 50–60% | 33 | 55% | 61% (20) |
| 60–70% | 28 | 65% | 57% (16) |
| 70–80% | 25 | 74% | 84% (21) |
| 80–90% | 25 | 85% | 84% (21) |
| 90–100% | 41 | 96% | 85% (35) |
| Input | Pool mean | Coefficient |
|---|---|---|
| Career VAL | 99.224 | +1.267 |
| Best 3-season VAL average | 11.031 | +0.4187 |
| Seasons in the top 1% of the league by VAL | 0.241 | -0.2683 |
| Seasons as the league's VAL leader | 0.092 | +0.4011 |
| Career playoff VAL | 12.247 | -0.1252 |
| Seasons played | 13.086 | +0.4423 |
| Intercept | -3.2634 |