Jorge Posada: Hall of Fame Worthy?

Jorge Posada, having spent all 17 years of his major league career with the New York Yankees, has officially hung 'em up. He'll be remembered as one of the figureheads of the legendary Yankee dynasty of the late 90s and for his consistent, outstanding offensive seasons for the majority of the 2000s.

The question I'd like to briefly examine is whether or not Posada is worthy of being enshrined in the hall of fame.

Yes, I understand that Posada won't be eligible for induction until 2017. That's a very, very long time to mull over the decision.

There are currently 16 members in the hall of fame that served primarily as a catcher in their playing days. Three of those players; Josh Gibson, Louis Santop, and Biz Mackey, played only in the Negro Leagues.

Of the remaining 13 players, the most notable are legends such as Yogi Berra, Johnny Bench and Carlton Fisk.

Baseball Writers Association of America has fairly subjective voting when it comes to the Hall of Fame. Some voters stress offensive production more than defensive play. Others include "intangibles" such as leadership in the clubhouse when considering candidates.

Posada was not known for his defense. While it wasn't necessarily poor his entire career, it was never stellar or near the top of the league. Offensively, however, is a different story. In the last 20 years, only two catchers had higher WAR value than Posada (Ivan Rodriguez at 73.4 and Mike Piazza at 66.7). It's worth mentioning that Rodriguez played exactly 700 more games than Posada did.

Posada's career WAR is 47.6, all according to FanGraphs.com.

Scanning Baseball-Reference quickly, it's funny to compare the breakdown of oWAR and dWAR between those three players:

Posada: 47.6 oWAR, -2.9 dWAR

Piazza: 67.4 oWAR, -8.3 dWAR

Rodriguez: 50.4 oWAR, 16.9 dWAR

The chart beyond the jump is the basic offensive categories for all current HOFers that are catchers. It has been taken directly from Baseball-Almanac.com.

Catchers BOLD Indicates Statistical Leader For HOF Catchers
Name [Link To Full Stats]	AVG	OBP	SLG	HITS	HR	RBI	RUNS	SB
Johnny Bench	.267	.345	.476	2,048	389	1,376	1,091	68
Yogi Berra	.285	.350	.482	2,150	358	1,430	1,175	30
Roger Bresnahan	.279	.386	.377	1,252	26	530	682	212
Roy Campanella	.276	.362	.500	1,161	242	856	627	25
Gary Carter	.262	.335	.439	2,092	324	1,225	1,025	39
Mickey Cochrane	.320	.419	.478	1,652	119	832	1,041	64
Bill Dickey	.313	.382	.486	1,969	202	1,209	930	36
Buck Ewing	.303	.351	.456	1,625	71	883	1,129	354
Rick Ferrell	.281	.378	.363	1,692	28	734	687	29
Carlton Fisk	.269	.343	.457	2,356	376	1,330	1,276	128
Gabby Hartnett	.297	.370	.489	1,912	236	1,179	867	28
Ernie Lombardi	.306	.358	.460	1,792	190	990	601	8
Ray Schalk	.253	.340	.316	1,345	11	594	579	177
Name [Link To Full Stats]	AVG	OBP	SLG	HITS	HR	RBI	RUNS	SB
Hall of Fame Catchers

Here are Posada's career numbers in the same categories:

Jorge Posada: .273 AVG, .374 OBP, .474 SLG, 1664 HITS, 275 HR, 1065 RBI, 900 RUNS, 20 SB

Posada, in the traditional statistic sense, could be thrown in with these names. I won't run through all these numbers and draw a narrative off them. To each their own subjective weight given to specific offensive or defensive categories.

However, if his offensive numbers are any indicator, he's got a chance down the line to be enshrined in Cooperstown one day.

If it were up to me, I'd vote him in sometime after his first ballot.

How would you classify Posada? And would you give him the nod?