If Mariano Rivera’s unanimous election to the Hall of Fame opened the floodgates, it’s only logical Derek Jeter would be next.
The legendary Yankee shortstop, up for election next year, has a no-doubt Hall of Fame résumé, with the championship rings and pedigree to back it up. Tradition — that, if Babe Ruth wasn’t unanimous, how could anybody be — was often the reason given for withholding votes to such players in the past.
That argument is now out the window. And Joe Torre, who managed both Jeter and Rivera, sees no reason why anything but unanimity would be in the cards for Jeter.
“I think, Mariano being the first this year, I expect Derek to be on everybody’s ballot next year,” Torre said Wednesday on “The Dan Patrick Show.” “I wouldn’t think of a reason why he wouldn’t be, because he was so respected around baseball, and he was such a special player.
“More so than just ability, Dan. His character and the way he conducted himself. The fact that he played so well under pressure, again, that high expectation to say I bet you’ll get 100 percent. I don’t expect it to be any different than Mariano got.”
The exact bar for a unanimous trip to Cooperstown has yet to be debated and discussed, but, as Torre said, it’s hard to see Jeter not clearing it. His credentials — 14 All-Star Games, five world championships, five Gold Gloves, five Silver Sluggers, a World Series MVP, a Rookie of the Year Award, 3,465 hits, a lifetime .310 average, among other qualifications — leave little to question. By JAWS, a metric that aims to measure a player’s Hall of Fame credentials via WAR compared to other players at his position, Jeter is squarely in the Hall.
Whether it’s unanimous, we’ll have to wait and see.